50 Fun Facts about India

India is a country where -

• Success is relative. More the success, more the relatives.
• On the streets, everyone seems to be in a hurry but no one is ever on time.
• All over the world time is precious. In India, it's auspicious!
• People fight to be termed 'backward.'
• The only question asked by our relatives "So is your son an engineer or a doctor?"
• Éclairs and Melody are given as "change."
• People first become engineers and then figure out what they want to become.
• They don't cast their vote, they vote their caste.
• Baba’s are more famous than Scientists.
• We have two birthdays, official and original.
• People worship "GODDESS" for a "SON."
• Arranged marriage is often an agreement between two broken hearts.
• If its scientific competency is under question, India reminds the world about the invention of zero.
• Given a law, we'll find a loophole.
• Given a situation, we'll make a superstition.
• Given a name, we'll make it lucky by adding letters (numerology).
• They build roads and dig it again for constructing underground drains.
• People look for dusty cloth to clean dust.
• Every neighborhood aunty and uncle turns into an expert counsellor as soon as the results are out.
• Millions sleep without a roof on their head, but have built the Taj Mahal for the dead!
• 'Miss Call Communication' was invented.
• SIM cards are issued free of cost, while food is not.
• People put their parents in old age homes, and expect their children to worship them.
• People worship the “Goddess”, still rape girls.
• Every nook and corner will have a recharge shop, but people will still give missed calls.
• People become inquisitive on gossips about film stars, forgetting one’s own home.
• Two talcum powder bottles are free with one talcum powder bottle.
• People watch the news channel in-between the serial advertisements.
• Men sit on the bus seats declared for women.  
• All the water taps have leakage problem, still fight with neighboring states for water.
• People thank our national leaders only on national holidays.
• There are more engineering colleges than hospitals.
• People bargain on shops where there is a “NO BARGAIN” board.
• Shopping mall is not only for shoppers also for nomads.
• IITians are considered as the only brainy creatures in the universe.
• People go to malls for a photo-shoot.
• A guy’s CTC is directly proportional to hisnumber of marriage proposals.
• A most expensively-built mall is situated on a dirty road.
• People ignore serious issues, debate on film stars growth.
• Pizza reaches in 30mins but Police/ambulance/fire-brigade reaches after 3hour.
• People have a religion called cricket and Sachin is its God.
• Higher the gold rates are, crowded the jewelry shops are.
• Dead national leaders have memorials built all over the country, but homeless live home-less.
• People become mad when talking about corruption, but bribes in the temple for special darshan.
•  If there is a “Photography Prohibited” board, people stand there and click pictures.
• People are not aware of the national game or any sport except cricket.
• Every house will have a dad who searches the newspaper before the morning coffee.
• Every teashop will have newspapers spread over the benches outside.
• Government officials are late all occasions.
• Fight with our neighboring states, but still our children at school will pledge “ALL INDIANS ARE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS."

So what, I am still an Indian. And I am proud of it :) 

Reaching Great Heights in Life :)

“Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night.” 

                                                                                         ~Henry Wordsworth Longfellow

We all have ideas about the “heights” we would like to accomplish in our professions and in our personal lives.

But still we keep blaming about our own lives. We regret each and every aspect of life. We blame our parents, our siblings, spouse, friends and even our pet animals. We nag about our features like skin tone, voice, height and so many other features. Blame and excuses are the trademarks of an unsuccessful life.

Being a grown up is about the power to choose what you’re responsible for. Some people die never having grown up. They were men on the outside, but boys on the inside, running for what they never got. They were intelligent, hard-working women still seeking approval to go after their girlhood dreams. And they died waiting for the world to love them right.

You are totally responsible for your life. This is the foundation principle you must embrace if you plan for happiness and success in life and work.

“Whenever something negative happens to you, there is a deep lesson concealed within it.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ~Eckhart Tolle

Sometimes you feel that your life has had too many negative hits in a row. You feel agitated by the difficulties and obstacles that come your way. Life seems to be too much of a burden for you and happiness seems like abstract.

Don't forget that God is an existing energy to accelerate, rise, and guide our own energy. The infinite Power Source is a living elixir to lift up, sustain and establish our own spirit. Being negative takes the spirit out of you. What is the point of God increasing your spirit while you at the same time decrease it with negatives? If you refuse God's gift of an abundant life, then you must do without it.

There are people with so many drawbacks pertained to reach great heights in life. Here is a list of few people who made the world turn heads. The height they reached is not a single day deal. It took a long run. Each one has left the same lesson for us “NEVER BLAME YOUR LIFE”.

Here is list of eminent people who excelled in their lives by fighting their lives from scratch. Each of their life is a lesson to be known.

The secret of true happiness is to live life each day, moment by moment. Always expect the best and be prepared for the best. But when the worst comes, face it boldly!

A Long Journey from Home to Workplace

The luxury of travelling in an own vehicle was dragged away from my hands when my office shifted to RR Towers at Guindy Estate Area from GR complex at Nandhanam on January 6^th 2014. 

So leaving my Scooty Pep Babylicious all alone in a corner of my street, I took the next option of travelling by public transport.

For the past few days, my life has been centred on the 45B bus. Given that I've to travel to the Industrial Estate area from the heart of the city, boarding the bus from my place seemed to be the most viable option. This is the only bus that took to the Industrial Estate from Triplicane.

Travelling in a bus, that too in Chennai, is a poles apart experience. I am not sure about the other bus routes that run in the city, my knowledge is limited a very few buses .The people, the attitude of the driver, the frame of mind of the conductor, the endless noise that is always heard, everything is a fresh experience. Even the simplest matter will make the conductor go mad in the early hours of the day. For instance the conductor would sulk if you do not tender the exact change.

One might look at the people travelling in the buses and think of how unfortunate they are to travel so hard. Believe me getting there is not as easy as it seems. You have to be talented 3 aspects to be able to travel comfortably.

1.       To board the bus at the right time
2.       To be able to run with your bags
3.       To be talented to stand steady in a moving bus.

Let me elaborate.

If a bus is scheduled to leave at 8.00 am, in a perfect world, the bus would arrive at 8.15 am. Or in the other case it would arrive at 7:45 am. God only knows where the buses are.

Let us assume that the bus is approaching the bus stand. Here is the tricky part 2. Some bus drivers stop the bus at the bus stop. But, some of them refuse to stop the bus at the bus stop, making all of us (around 20, on any normal day) run with our bags and lunch bags, unmindful of the traffic. All this is because people prefer to sit and travel than to stand in a bus, which could turn out to be a nightmare. But in a way, I'm grateful to these drivers, they help compensate for the lack of any brisk activity throughout the day.

Here comes the tricky part 3. To be talented to stand steady in a moving bus. The problem here is, though we do not have enough space to stand, there is not enough support to hold on to. I guess the minimum qualification to be able to drive a bus is that, the person should have had experience in driving an auto, in Chennai. Now you get the idea of how a bus driver would drive and how the passengers would have to hold on to all the support they can find to avoid swaying in all directions. (Another workout of sorts is my guess).

Most of the drivers are known to be reckless when driving a bus, so much so that even the auto drivers stop to hurl abuses. Just imagine, an auto driver reprimanding someone for reckless driving. But on the brighter side, for all the Harry Potter fans there is something to look forward to. We did not have the privilege of going to Hogwarts; at least we have been given a chance of riding on the Knight Bus!

There are separate seats for women here, but when a seat is vacant and there happens to be a man and a woman standing, most of the time, the former offers the seat to the latter. When an elderly person steps in, people do think twice about offering their seats. One need not be alert all the time, you can ask someone seated to hold your bag and stand at the rear end of the bus, without having to check if the bags are safe. They will be. In fact men even offer to hold women's handbags.

I’ve been travelling for a month now in these buses and I make sure I board the 8 am bus. So there are a lot of familiar faces and people do not hesitate to talk.

The traffic sometimes irritates you. Stuck at a point for more than half an hour is irritating, but light music played on your mobile will keep you engaged. Even if there is no one around, the music played in the mobile would give you company. If that option is not available, just close your eyes and beg for forgiveness from God for all the sins you have committed.

The background score would be in sync :-)

On the whole, I am assured that my trip to and from work is lively and entertaining.

What a way to start (and end) the day!