Jack & Jill

Got this in a FWD mail and could'nt stop laughing.

Jackwa aur Jilwa
Gaye upar Hilwa
Pani bhari ke waste.
Jackwa gir gawa, uka khopdi fut gawa
aur jilwa aawat ludhkan pure raste!!!!!

:-)

Mom's Diary.

Feb'04

Today I packed a bunch of black grapes for Betu (is in class 1) instead of usual paratha or toast,Just to surprise him, as he is fond of it.
Did you share it with other guys?
“No”
Why? Shouldn’t you share?
“There was no need to share…they took themselves..”
And you? I enquired.‘I too had’, he replied carelessly.

He wants to "see the world". This is what he said when after showing him the spectacular tableau in a Deepawali function I asked him,
“Isn’t it nice? what else do u want to see?”.

 An avid reader.Archie’s fan
"
Noooooooo…. abhi loading hai" , he had shouted from the toilet, (he was not even 3 yrs old then) when I asked him should I come and clean him.
I didn’t know how to react to this computer addict!

The two guys who shared the grapes are given the role of robbers,Vibhu is in the lead role, and Avani is the tree…Ay you are not given any role to play?
“No” Why? “because I’m the narrator”……and jumped from the bed and ran away shouting:

“to infinity and beyond…

He is such a fine(cute) fellow.
My son…. 

Gurbaani

Gurbaani

Listening to the shabads of Gurbani is a sublime experience. Being a non panjabi , it is difficult for me to understand most of the it till someone explains it to me. One of the reasons to like this book is that it is a compilation of the hymns written by the saints from all the religions of India. I can sit at any religious gathering and enjoy(except the Jagrans where they sing songs loudly based on the tunes of hindi film songs )

Like other scriptures Gurubani also says that that God is one and Omnipresent.
Every living thing is a part of God.

Agam Agochar Alakh Apara….
Jal thal mahiyal bharpur lina..
Ghat Ghat jyoti tumhari.

The Aarti “Om Jai Jagdish hare..is very similar to Gurbaani.
“Tum ho ek agochar….”

That day I got a cassette(Mann Jeetai Jagjit) of Gurbani ,most of the words are in hindi.
It is sung by our very own Jugjit Singh. It is a treat to the ears.

A digital dictionary

Before I finished reading Khushwant Singh’s autobiography, a friend gave me “My Days”. Now reading RK Narayan after KS seems as if I’m reading Ramayan ki chaupaian (Couplets from Ramayan)
I don’t know what would I do without my Oxford Advance Learner’s (Dictionary.)
I have to use it quite frequently when words like ‘milksop’ and ‘Basket Case’ appear while reading books and now Blogs. The thick dictionary I use consumes a lot of my quality time . For many years I’v been  dreaming of a device called ‘digital Dictionary’ small and handy like a calculator or a digital Diary.
I wonder if such a device exists.

Oh that Maggu.

In somebody's blog I came across this word Maggu.
So writing this post.

I was awestruck even before I came to IITK, for people out here are the best brains of our country. My host (an IIT K alumnus) took me around the campus.

Coming out from Visitors' Hostel, we passed through Girls' Hostel (old), Health Centre, SAC, Academic area and we were at the library.

While I was admiring the fountain I heard my host nostalgically mumbling,"This place is also called “Magalaya” (a place for mugging-up for the exams). I know commenting on the lingo which is alien to you is not desirable. For instance, here a word bakait I guessed meant somewhat like dacoit but its exact meaning even a native can not explain in words. Anyway 'mugging’ for me simply meant the literal meaning of the word. I could not digest that Chapus (genius))out here could resort to such a thing as cramming, which I thought was a patent of those to whom God was not so kind while distributing grey matter.

This mugging business reminded me of an anecdote narrated by my father:

During 1960’s dad’s first job in account's services took him to Barabanki for a training program. There was this bunch of young recruits from the different parts of India. Since enthusiasm was common in all, soon they became buddies.

Of all the instructors, dad distinctly remembered Mr. Kar, a finance expert with excellent communication skills. To begin with the introduction, he asked everybody to tell about any special quality or skill that each one of them possessed. Everyone mentioned some quality or other of himself. One of them said,
“I am very good at cramming. Give me any printed matter and I would reproduce it as it is.”

“OK”, the wide-eyed Mr. Kar sighed and gave him a sheet of typed paper.

When the class assembled next day, the boy came forward and in parrot-fashion reproduced the contents of the given page without any pauses at commas, full-stops, etc. There was an uneasy calm in the classroom. The boy had proved his point. “Good”, exclaimed Mr. Kar, “Now it’s my turn. Go to the library and bring any book.” The boy came back with a thick book on Indian Penal Code!!

Mr. Kar asked him to open the book at any page and hand it over. Mr. Kar scanned the page for a few minutes and returned the book to the boy. Then he coolly reproduced the contents of the full page with all the sections, clauses, sub-clauses including the reference numbers, etc, and that too with proper pauses at the right places.

********

5 point someone

finished reading five point someone. .
It would have been a difficult task for the author to pen it down.
So many experiences at that time of one’s life, subtle & vivid memories
Ups and downs , so much to assemble in one book seems improbable.
An IITen can judge the book better.

http://manishchauhan.blogspot.com/2004/07/five-point-some-one.html#

Overall a good book. Outsiders always think : Tension and pressure in IIT
Nah!

Jassi jaisi koi nahi

I belong to the generation who had seen the golden age of Doordarshan with the serials like 'Ek Kahaani' and 'Kathaa Sagar' which were based on the stories from Tagore, Chekov, O 'Henry, Leo Tolstoy and many other Gods of literary world. Then there was Nasiruddin Shah as ' Mirza Gaalib'(Thanks MK for giving me the CDs of this serial now I watch it quite often)and Ashok Kumar as 'Bahadur Shah Jafar".Siddharth Basu's 'Quiz Time' and who can forget those BBC Classics like 'Great Expectations' on Sunday eves.Those were the days...Now I don't know any soap which can really entertain and make me sit in front of TV and suddenly Miss Jassi happened.The Idea behind the story is not new but presentation and acting by all the actors is good.Now they are also running out of ideas.
Jassi's infatuation for Armaan (Apoorve Agnihotri) reminds me these lines from Jane Eyre:

"It does good to no woman to be flattered by her superior, who cannot possibly intend to marry her; and it is madness in all women to let a secret love kindle within them, which, if unreturned and unknown, must devour the life that feeds it; and, if discovered and responded to, must lead, ignis-fatus-like, into miry wilds whence there is no extrication"

Gandhi by Attenbarough

We watched'Gandhi' on Doordarshan on every 2nd Oct and 15th Aug.
Bur DD doesn't show it any more. I want my daughter to watch this movie,
who is a huge fan of Baapu,Thanks to her history teacher.
After watching Bhagat Singh(ajay Devgan) she was a bit annoyed with baapu though...
Our CD guy doesn't have this and I don't know where to get this CD from