Friday was indeed a day of reckoning. We were at a talk when there were these hushed whispers all over the room…five bombings in Bangalore…no no its seven…Madivala for sure. Double Road? No may be Richmond Road…and through it all we were all the perfect participants at the lecture, laughing when we should and clapping when we should. Is it because we thought, wait, this is Bangalore, Really? Bombings? May be they were rumours…Well as the country learnt that they were indeed bombings in Bangalore.
Last night watching a debate between Renuka Chaudhuri and Rajeev XXX (the spokesperson for BJP)…Huge discussion on bombings of course. Of course they were really upset…BJP this and Congress that, they argued. Really, who cares a fuck if it’s a political party led bombing….the final result is that 50 people lost their lives (of course they were compensated…isn’t their life worth atleast Rs 5 lakhs) and lots were physically injured. (their injuries were worth Rs50,000) I do not use the word physically injured lightly here. The number of people injured mentally were billions. These bombings did exactly what they were meant to- create insecurity in the minds of the common man.
What happened after 9/11? The entire country united against the terrorists. I didn’t hear what the Republicans did and what the Dems didn’t do. Rudy was a Republican and what he did for NY was in no way connected to Republicans. What we went through in San Fran, uniting against the threats on the Golden Gate Bridge, the assurances we received from all that we are going to be ok. We can go on having faith in our police, in our politicians, in our teachers and preachers …this was what kept the US alive…fighting against terrorism. When is that going to happen here? Who is crediting the bomb squads who are risking their lives to unwire live bombs? Who is thinking of their lives? Is anyone saying thank you? No. All, we are having is two politicians on National TV calling each other names, behaving like children setting in minds of the viewers a further lack of security.
I am definitely confused about my future. On one hand, I want to do all the things I always wanted to do. Isnt life so unpredictable? Who knows when I might die? I deserve to be happy. I need to quit work and follow my passions. On the other hand, can I do so? After all if I can die so can Sudarshan, right? What about Sujay? Should I quit my work so that I can spend my time being a great mom. After all, with life being so unpredictable, shouldn’t I spend my time with Suj. And what about more children? Should I even bother? What if I die? Will Sudarshan be able to look after two children on his own. What if he dies? Will I be able to cope with two children on my own? See, all these question…they never occurred to me. I was happy. Not worrying about things like life, death, insurance but now all my decisions and big ones especially seem to be tainted with the negativity that has arisen due to the bombings. If I can be dealing with these kind of questions, I am sure atleast half the country is thinking of the same. Obviously the terrorists have won, haven’t they? They have managed to mentally injure billions of people.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
First ever Hampi Heritage Run
Sam and Sabine have relatives in Hampi area. They visit it often and on one of their visits decided 
that it would be fun if we could have a “Cultural Run” there. A few of us thought that was a great idea and Sabine started working on it. And Sabine as only Sabine can do had it all mapped out. Tickets were booked, hotel rooms were reserved and all other planning matters were underway.
Sudarshan’s uncles and his grand dad live in Hospet. We have been meaning to visit them for a while and saw this as an opportunity to do some great running as well as meet family. We were really excited. I was down with a cold on Thursday and Sudarshna was slightly pissed that I hadn’t taken any medicine. After exchanging a few words, to put it mildly, we decided to cancel. Well, egos clashed as they always clash in our house and finally I swallowed a Sinarest and dozed off. Next day I called in sick. Look, if nothing else I try to keep my priorities in order. Should I go to work or rest at home so that I can be fit as a fiddle and be in Hampi over the weekend? It was a no brainer. I called in sick.
Come Friday night, we were all packed. Sujay was of course coming with us. He was all excited. We picked up Leona and got ourselves to the train station. Reena was there as were Sindhu, Athraya, Anjana, Anjana’s mom and Avni (Anjana’s eighteen month old). Amit and his wife were meeting us in Yeshwantpur. Manoj was coming on his silver bullet and Shantanu and Prateek were driving. Sam and Sabine were already in Hampi.
The train ride was a blast. I always liked Reena but I dare say that I think we really forged a friendship that evening. Athraya, Reena and myself were awake till after midnight just laughing and joking about things. I saw a very different side of Athraya that evening as well. Finally we went to sleep because we were so afraid that thia guy who was sleeping on the top berth might yell at us.
Next morning we arrived in Hami at about 7:30. Sam and Sabine were there with two seven seater autos. Sudarshan’s cousin wa there too to pick us up. All went to the hotel in the autos which looked like a lot of fun actually and we went off to Sudarshan’s uncle’s house…
That evening we met at the Power Canal for a power canal run. That was super cool. I didn’t really run it as I was tired (read lazy) and happily walked the entire loop with Reena. Th
at was nice actually. One thing that I will treasure is that that I think this was a nice beginning to a nice friendship with Reena. She is cool. I was a little apprehensive about Suj. But Sam’s cousin had a bike and that of course was the most super cool thing that could have happened. Suj loved it. He was on the bike the whole time. He was honking and being totally noisy and loving it.
The next morning was our first ever Hampi Cultural Run. It was great. Just looking at all the temples, running by them etc. No better way to see Hampi. And again, thanks to Sam’s cousins, Suj was fully occupied on the bikes and Sudarshan and I could have a great run/walk/sight seeing.
All in all, it was a great experience where old friendships were strengthened and new ones were created. It was a great experience and I would love to do it again.
that it would be fun if we could have a “Cultural Run” there. A few of us thought that was a great idea and Sabine started working on it. And Sabine as only Sabine can do had it all mapped out. Tickets were booked, hotel rooms were reserved and all other planning matters were underway.Sudarshan’s uncles and his grand dad live in Hospet. We have been meaning to visit them for a while and saw this as an opportunity to do some great running as well as meet family. We were really excited. I was down with a cold on Thursday and Sudarshna was slightly pissed that I hadn’t taken any medicine. After exchanging a few words, to put it mildly, we decided to cancel. Well, egos clashed as they always clash in our house and finally I swallowed a Sinarest and dozed off. Next day I called in sick. Look, if nothing else I try to keep my priorities in order. Should I go to work or rest at home so that I can be fit as a fiddle and be in Hampi over the weekend? It was a no brainer. I called in sick.
Come Friday night, we were all packed. Sujay was of course coming with us. He was all excited. We picked up Leona and got ourselves to the train station. Reena was there as were Sindhu, Athraya, Anjana, Anjana’s mom and Avni (Anjana’s eighteen month old). Amit and his wife were meeting us in Yeshwantpur. Manoj was coming on his silver bullet and Shantanu and Prateek were driving. Sam and Sabine were already in Hampi.
The train ride was a blast. I always liked Reena but I dare say that I think we really forged a friendship that evening. Athraya, Reena and myself were awake till after midnight just laughing and joking about things. I saw a very different side of Athraya that evening as well. Finally we went to sleep because we were so afraid that thia guy who was sleeping on the top berth might yell at us.
Next morning we arrived in Hami at about 7:30. Sam and Sabine were there with two seven seater autos. Sudarshan’s cousin wa there too to pick us up. All went to the hotel in the autos which looked like a lot of fun actually and we went off to Sudarshan’s uncle’s house…
That evening we met at the Power Canal for a power canal run. That was super cool. I didn’t really run it as I was tired (read lazy) and happily walked the entire loop with Reena. Th
at was nice actually. One thing that I will treasure is that that I think this was a nice beginning to a nice friendship with Reena. She is cool. I was a little apprehensive about Suj. But Sam’s cousin had a bike and that of course was the most super cool thing that could have happened. Suj loved it. He was on the bike the whole time. He was honking and being totally noisy and loving it.The next morning was our first ever Hampi Cultural Run. It was great. Just looking at all the temples, running by them etc. No better way to see Hampi. And again, thanks to Sam’s cousins, Suj was fully occupied on the bikes and Sudarshan and I could have a great run/walk/sight seeing.
All in all, it was a great experience where old friendships were strengthened and new ones were created. It was a great experience and I would love to do it again.
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