Mobile Facebook

 

 

I was never an online person. It was only 2 years ago when I got engaged that I began realizing that there was this entirely different world of Internet which I had missed out on. I am sure you might be thinking "Who is this gal who did not know about Internet. Was she from a remote corner of the country?"

 

Nope. I am very much from India but my schooling and friend circle and even the family's financial condition did not allow an encounter with a computer. No PC, no internet.

 

When I got engaged, it was my fiancé who introduced me to internet and email. Once married, he told me about websites, online ticket bookings and email of course. As fate would have it, I had to travel to a distant land with my hubby and I was totally disconnected from my family, relatives and friends. Here 'disconnected' does not mean 'disconnected from internet' as most people would think these days. I was physically disconnected from the world I grew in and put into a strange land with everything unfamiliar.

 

My hubby introduced me to Facebook, Gmail video and audio chat, Skype and some VOIP services as means of connecting with family, relatives and friends. Found it difficult at first but gradually and surely got the hang of it. I began spending up to 6 hours online every day of the week (while hubby was away in office) and only during the weekend I would be off-line.

 

I was totally ADDICTED to this new world I had discovered. And then I discovered FB contests. I even a few contests and bagged some nice prizes.  This only meant that my addiction became even more pronounced with my online time increasing from 6 to almost 9 hours a day.

 

Life was cool and I was enjoying this new life … when Life took another turn (twist in the tale)

 

We came back to India and I had to take up the role of a 'ideal daughter-in-law' … I could no longer spend time in front of my laptop and on FB. I hardly went online on certain days. Life of a housewife under the 'guidance' of a mom-in-law is not really internet friendly J

 

This problem got resolved by my hubby by a solution which surprised himself (and of course, me too). He got me a internet connection on my phone (with a warning that mom-in-law should not find me peering into the mobile phone again and again. One complaint from Mom-in-Law and the connection would be withdrawn.

 

WOW !! I was back online. Of course, I wasn't online like I used to be earlier but still managed a 10 minute here and a 5 minute there on several occasions throughout the day. At night I would spend some time on the laptop (it is definitely more convenient on the laptop). But the mobile internet became a saviour for me. Now I am back on FB and Gmail/chat ….

 

This blog post was inspired by a contest on IndiBlogger.in with support from Vodaphone www.vodafone.in/fun

 

P.S. I wrote about my hubby being surprised by his own idea. Well, that is because in spite of being well versed with the internet for more than 20 years, he was never interested in using his mobile for internet surfing. So we both were surprised when he suggested that to me. In fact, he now has mobile internet BUT he got it on his phone AFTER he got it got it on My Phone J

Back Seat Driving on 2 Wheels

Girls and Bikes are not something that go well together … unless we are talking about the back seat. Yes of course, there are exceptions and I have seen female bikers around but I am not from the exception category. I have been always on the backseat of the 2-wheeler troubling the one on the front seat with my back seat driving and instant feedback of their driving skills and the conditions of the road.

While I sit comfortably on the back seat, I am constantly bickering about the uncomfortable drive on the 2-wheels and my preference for the comfort of the air conditioned 4-wheeler!! I keep telling my brother and more recently my husband on how to drive and how bad drivers they are when they drive over speed breakers and pot holes.

I clutch onto their shirts and shoulders with dear life as the 2-wheels jump into and over the geological disturbances of the Mumbai roads. In fact, my hold on their shoulders tightens even in the anticipation of an upcoming pothole or sped breakers.

My husband often tells me that he feels the geology of Mumbai roads on his shoulders BEFORE he sees the actual pothole/speed-breaker. My husband is a 2-wheeler fan and although we have a car, he hasn't taken me out in his car even once.

Can you imagine that? Not even once has he driven me around in his car.

So that's about it … My biking and back seat driving experience. 

This post was inspired by a contest on IndiBlogger.in in collaboration with Castrol Biking 

Do have a look at Castrol Biking

Mujhe Change Chahiye …

Oh there are so many things that I would like to change in this world …

Hunger for one - So many people sleep hungry and so many of them die every year due to malnutrition or hunger. Wish there could be a change which would take care of basic food requirements for all.

Financial Inequality – With sooooo much disparity between the ultra rich and ultra poor, there are so many problems in the society. Wish there was an equalizing mechanism in that. My hubby tells me that economic disparity is important and often the driver of growth.

Security for women – Women have stepped up in life and are now walking and working shoulder to shoulder with men. Yet, the cities are not safe for women travelling alone. They are in constant fear and danger of eve teasing, molestation, rape … I wish a change in the society's mindset so as to make the world safer for women. On second thought; not just women … the society should become safe for all its residents.

Personally …. I would love if the days became shorter and night became longer. I could dream more and spend a good part of my life in the dream world of my making. I love my sleep. This is one change which I would love to see. (My hubby says I should shift to one of the countries in the upper sections of the northern hemispheres; they actually have long nights and short days in winter)

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Stayfree believes that it is time to bring about a positive change in the world around us. You can have a look here - http://facebook.com/sftimetochange  

www.Indiblogger.in in collaboration with Stayfree has come up with this contest where they want us to tell us what we would want to change around us! This blog post is an entry to this contest. 

Travel Tales and Interesting People

Life is interesting and travel makes it more interesting.

Travel helps you see places and yes … meet lots of new people. You meet people at the new place and meet people while you travel. The places can be pretty interesting but the travel could become boring depending on how long they are. Long journeys are made interesting by people you see and meet in those journeys. You meet all kinds of people – good, interesting, grumpy, sleepy, snoring, chatter-boxes, silent mode guys, those-occupying-two-seats, those who carry food for everybody, those who eat-eat-eat, those who keep asking others to keep quite … the list is endless. These are the people who make our journeys interesting.

When I saw the contest on www.IndiBlogger.in about interesting people we meet while travelling (sponsored by www.Expedia.co.in … so apt), it gave me a rush of memories. Over the years, I have travelled between Mumbai, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Dubai etc etc via trains and places; of course local travel within the city via buses, taxi, rickshaw, local train etc … and one tends to find interesting people all around.

If I had to record all the interesting people I have met in past so many years, it would become a decent sized novel and it would have various shades being a collection of various kinds of people. Let me try and mention a few of those interesting people I met …

Interesting Incident / Person No.1 – The Transformation !

I have travelled to Rajasthan often to my native place and most usually it would be during the summer school holidays. Travelling would be hot humid sweaty and soooo irritating. And that would be not just me but all the passengers. Atmosphere would usually be charged with a lot of irritation unless you had a lively group around playing antakshari or dumb charades or cards or some other travel games. This incident occurred when I was travelling in a rather boring boring and irritated compartment with all sad-irritated-angry looking passengers. Everyone was silent and sleepy and sweaty. They would get angry and irritated by even the slightest cause of disturbance. Even the arrival of TC (poor guy was just doing his job) made people angry. And that is when it happened.

A poor woman (dirty clothes, haggled look, hair disheveled) with a 2-3 year old baby entered the bogey and edged towards our compartment. She wasn't a beggar. She wasn't begging. She was looking for some space to sit. There was no seat, since the train was full with extra passengers all around. She was just looking for some space (even on the floor) where she could sit. She found some space on the floor opposite our compartment and sat down. She clearly seemed to be travelling without a ticket and people were not at all happy to have that dirty lady sitting near them eyeing her suspiciously and securing their own luggage.

The child in her hand was hopping in her lap and looking at all the people around. The baby could probably sense the general atmosphere around and was looking at all the gloomy faces. I was on the upper seat sleeping and watching all this. The kid was looking curiously at an old lady who was sleeping and suddenly the lady woke up with a lurch. The baby chuckled. In the noise of the train, somehow everyone seemed to have heard the chuckle and looked at the baby. All heads turned towards the baby and saw his smiling face. And immediately the gloom of our compartment disappeared. Everyone was smiling. Each and every face in the compartment and some of those in nearby compartment were all smiling looking at the baby. No one seemed to mind the dirty looking lady now. There were smiles all around. I was pleasantly surprised to see the transformation and whenever I think of that incident, I wish I had a digital camera in those days; at least I could have captured some of those moments.

(Before blogging, I told this incident to my hubby and he surprised me by giving me a book to read. The title says "How to win friends and influence people" and he says I would enjoy it. I think it has something to do with this incident but can't understand what. I don't really read a lot and this book would take months to read)

 Interesting Incident / Person No. 2 – The working kid with high self-respect !  

This was 2 years ago when I visited Mahabaleshwar with my hubby. We were to go on a tour of Mahabaleshwar tourist spots and had engaged a tour guide for the same. At the appointed hour, we got a surprise when his son arrived instead of him. The kid (who was hardly 14) told us that his father was having high fever and could not come. We told him it was ok and would look for another guide; he said that he has come in replacement for his father. We were not sure about his 'tourist guide' abilities but he requested us to allow him to come along. He mentioned that he needed the money for his father's medicines so he needed to do it himself rather than handover to another guide. We were in a dilemma and then he gave an offer which we could not refuse.

He said that we pay him ONLY and ONLY if we are satisfied by his tour guide role. If we are not satisfied, he would not accept the money. We were compelled to think of this as courageous (and we were also equally impressed by this lad's confidence) and my hubby decided to give him a chance.

The half day tour was GOOD. He was rattling facts about Mahabaleshwar and its various places like a kid talking about a movie. He knew everything by heart and he shared the stories with such passion and dramatic story telling that it made for an interesting tour. We were sooo impressed by the kid that my husband decided to give him 100 bucks as bonus which the kid simply refused. (We were surprised and shocked at this) He said that his father had taught him not to accept money that is not earned.

We asked the kid to visit us again the next day so that we could have him as our tour guide for Panchgani and other places around. He agreed. The next day was equally enjoyable with him. But this time around, since our travel times in the cab was more, our conversations veered towards the kid's personal life. He told us about his family, his education, his father's feeble and seasonal income, his own dreams, problem with his education and so on. We felt so much for him. He reminded me of the other side of life. We live our comfortable lives and don't think much about the plight of others. He changed my view of life. He changed the way I looked at life. My hubby tells me it is called Paradigm Shift. (He is an MBA and keeps throwing such random heavy words at me often; which I never seem to understand; but he said I should include this here in the post so that the reader understands what I underwent)

Well … we really wanted to do something for the kid but he had already refused to accept money. My hubby (an avid reader of books) found a solution … (he usually does find solutions to all sorts of small and big problems I keep coming up with). He bought the kid some books. Books he would find interesting and would be helpful to him in realizing his dreams. We even had a chat with the book stall owner about possibly funding the school books for the kid. He gave us the contact details of his school. I left it to my hubby to take it forward with him.

I will always remember the sweet innocent and intelligent face of that kid (I am sooo guilty of not remembering his name now) and will never forget the 'paradigm shift' he gave me that day.  

 

Well … so here are just few of the numerous interesting incidents and people that travelling around made me experience. I am sure everyone has interesting experiences to share and if you have read so far and have an equally interesting incident to share; feel free to put it in the comments.

I would also like to thank www.IndiBlogger.in and www.expedia.co.in for giving me a bout of nostalgia :)

Does Distance makes the heart go fonder ???

Long Distance Relationship ... Do they really work.

Well, I never thought about it till it began to happen to me. And no, it is not happening to me in the traditional sense. It is happening to me in a different manner, such that most won't consider it as a 'long distance relationship' variety.

My husband isn't away in foreign lands for extended periods while I am stuck in India … so we aren't exactly in a long distance relationship.

BUT he needs to travel every month for a week or two and THAT is when he is AWAY from me! THAT is enough for me to qualify as a Long Distance Relationship because I don't like it. This separation from him, even for a few days, is something I don't like. I lose my sleep ad cry ever so often in his absence.

Nothing seems to be cheerful or enjoyable in his absence. I have attended a party, a wedding, some family get together and even family functions … without him and I have enjoyed none. I would have loved to have him by my side and that would have made the whole event enjoyable for me. 

Bowling

 

I had never been to a bowling alley before my marriage and it was one of the things that me and my husband had put on the things-to-do-after-marriage list.

We did get a chance to go but it happened only after going to Dubai. The bowling alley was on the 24^th floor of a building (hubby said he had never seen a bowling alley that was NOT on the Ground floor)

He told me that he would teach me … so he went first and showed me how to select the ball (go for the lightest he said), how to stand, how to swing the ball and finally how to throw it (taking care that the fingers are out of the holes in the ball when the ball is released from the hand or it will be disastrous).

Looked easy

He hit the pins and some of them fell down. He showed it to me once again and told me that each player got 2 chances to down all the 10 pins. And then he asked me to do it.

I did.

And ….

All the Pins went down on my first ever bowling attempt.

I looked at him … to ask what do I do now in the second chance since none of the pins were standing. He was standing there looking at the fallen pins with his mouth wide open. I was worried that I has done something wrong and all he did was turn to me and ask "Jhooth bolti ho" (You lied).

Well … he then explained that what I had just managed to do was called a 'Strike' and all players aim for a strike but it's not so easy and requires quite a lot of practice! Now I understood his expression and open mouth.

Well … It was a pretty unique experience for me … it was something like a hole-in-one shot of Golf (as described by my hubby)

The rest of the evening was fine. I managed a couple of more strikes while he struggled and managed none J  

Busy Busy and Sad

Have been busy with a marriage in the family so no updates for quite a few days ...

Hubby was supposed to return from him trip in 10 days ...

ts already 16 days now and he is still stuck due to some immigration/visa process :(

 

Life and its twists and turns ...

 

He missed the wedding ... And the wedding lost its charm and importance for me ...

 

So for whom do I dress up and make up and get decked ... would have loved to have him around ...

 

I would have enjoyed the wedding had he been around ... without him ... fun is no fun at all ...

 

SAD :(