Gruhabanga

Hi all,


Wanted to share with you all about a book which sat in my mind for more than 15 days when I finished reading. Probably after a long time I read a book which impressed me so much. It is S.L.Byrappa's novel 'Gruhabanga'. The book was first published more than 20 years back. I got a chance to read it recently. The novel is said to be autobiography to Byrappa, though it is not mentioned any where.

I had seen few episodes of the serial taken by Girish Kasarvalli (if I remember right) which came in ETV. The serial had come out very well. I was impressed by acting of Lakshmi Chandrashekar, Malavika, Lohitasva, Shivram, chenniga, appana (do not know the name actors who played it). While reading book I could personify the characters with these people. The novel is picturise the life of people of Hassan and surrounding areas, from 1920's to 1950's.

Probably after reading the novel, I understood what does 'struggle for life' mean. The family in the story faces difficulties like famine, plague, war. These difficulties are well blended with the selfishness of the priests, patels and other powerful people of the village. The family I told above is mother with her 3 children, with her husband and mother-in-law last to face problems and first to make profit of a situation. In the whole book, the character of the mother is well built. She always thinks of what best she can do to come out of every worst situation she is in, instead of lamenting.

I was moved by her determination in one situation, where she would have married her daughter out of great difficulty to a nice guy and even before she goes to her husband's house plague would have attacked her. It gradually spreads to her second son, on whom she would have kept high hopes of educating him and bringing him up to a high position. In spite of all the medicines she gives, the kids die. The people who come back after burning the bodies do not find her in house. Few people think she would have attempted to suicide and starts searching near water bodies... But she would have come to a temple where her third kid is lying with initial stages of plague.
The novel has many such situations where she reacts with a very different state of mind than what I expected.

Probably if you are a person like me who get defeated even with small losings in life, we can get inspired by this... Happy weekend!!

Cant think of a heading!!

Hi all,

Just logged in to see if my blogspot is still active, and I still remeber it's login id and password. If you see this post you should congragulate my memory.

But I am just wondering if the day is counted when 24 hours is over or for every clock tick!!! It is 3 months I posted anything on blog, though I thought of 1000 things to blog; it is already been 6 months I wanted to take a major decission regarding my career with nothing much happening; it has been almost one year I got married, still I get up morning n search my mom to ask horlicks ...

Time is running... :(

Hmmm, I am getting a reminder from outlook to fill time sheet to be sent to manager. I need to say what all work I did in the week, and for how much time. Let me look back...wait ...

Dignity of employees!

Hi all,

A photo in today's Deccan Herald caught my attention. They had put a photo of senior Sub Inspector doing dips. It was punishment given to him for not maintaining his motorcycle!!! God knows what did the senior officials mean by 'maintaining motor cycle' and what did that Sub Inspector guy did to his motor cycle! [No further info was given in paper too.]

If punishment is required, give it in your office boss!! Why allow press ppl to take photo's of it and allow them publish in newspapers? Wanted publicity and some 'visista seva award' kind of stuff??!!

I also remember a police constable called by 'son-of-a *****' kind of words in a circle for some minor mistake in controlling people. I agree they are doing risky jobs and minor mistake can takes lives. But learning can be better done when taught in smooth words than humiliating like this in public! After all nobody wants to do mistake in their jobs knowingly!

I feel police and military people are doing thankless jobs. The senior management of these areas seriously needs some counselling on handling junior employees. Our government do not revise their salary, nor give incentives to make them feel proud of their work! :( And on top of it if this is the behaviour of the upper management, how can people survive in these depts or new people join these departments? When is this going to get corrected?

A Day began like this ...

Today morning I got ready very early. As early as I cud walk very leisurely to the bus stop taking ten minutes. Thanks to my mom in law who was doing all my work!!! :) Since I even had time to write a C program for finding GCD of two numbers sitting at bus-stop, I was seeing the kids going to school, women hurrying to office and men waiting for the buses, guys stareing girls ...etc. A bus just slowed down at a cross road very next to my bus stop and a decent looking man got down. He walked down the cross road just in front of me and in a low voice he greeted me 'Hi Darling'!!! Think poor guy cud not see a mangalsootra in my neck. But I had all the time in the world to take revenge against him ... and started yelling at him at the top of my voice possible. "Heyyyyy ... what do u think of yourself? What did u tell just now..." I cud think of at least 5-6 dialogues (more stronger ones) to yell at him. But did not get a chance to tell at all. Think he tot the whole women lot of Vijayanagar Bus stop wud come to my rescue for the volume I shouted at. He started literally running from that place. I cud sense the shiver he wud have had in his legs, bcos even I was bit tensed wondering what if he wud have come back to talk to me?!!!
But luckily he did not come back and my day was made as I had reacted a little different than wht I wud do usually. Most of the times in my previous experience the words I hear wud go into my mind after some 60 seconds, by which owner of the comment wud have sinked in some road or between ppl and I wud be left with bitter feelings! God helps me to begin few days with lotz a strength and presence of mind... :) Hope it continues with all the girls who are in similar situation like me...

-Suma Udupa.K.

Abt a dream which shud never come true!

Yesterday, my aunt said carrot rate now is 44Rs/kg, beans -44Rs/Kg, spinach 5Rs ... etc.

Me and my husband having started with a new family was wondering where it wud reach ...

My husband was quoting, this development is obvious becos we can see in our families itself the difference:
My grand dad was a farmer. He cud not fill all the stomach's of the family with farming. So the sons were sent out for earning. My dad and uncle's came to Bangalore. There was only one uncle in my native who did not want to leave roots. But he is so tiered of farming, he does not want his sons into this. So they are all aiming at engineering, medical seats - settling at cities ... None of us can stop them as everybody have the right to live the way they want. We are foreseeing to loose our roots in our generation itself... Thus we cannot goto our grand dad's place anymore ... We cannot see the village life anymore. We wont have any one in our family who expects rain to come on seeing a bird, who can bring us jack fruit, coconuts, pepper, pure honey, or call us to tell their cow gave birth to a calf, thier dog was chased by a lepord, or they are having peacock coming near thier house ...etc. [Beleive me these things are happening at my house :) ] We all just speak about which company we are working and which is the better company to which we can change to....


Thinking deeply on it I had a dream....


The people staying in the slum next to our road have somehow raised some houses for themselves. They are all moving about in car. This was bcos of the increase in the standard of living IT had bought in (I dont know how it helped them ...). Even we have car/person in our house and needless to say many electronic items in our house which was a luxury when we were children! But I see the faces of the people in the car, they are not happy... including me... I was reasoning out y I am not happy. I had obviuos reasons in front of me. People cud afford the one time investment like house, car, electronic items ...etc. But they cannot meet the ends for the food. Rice is 500Rs/Kg. So ppl cannot eat stomachful... If I wonder y, Govt says no farmers are yielding anything. Infact there are no farms ... All are independant families ... So it is importing all the rice... :( So, we decided to start farming in out new site instead of building house and raised paddy field there. It grew well and just before harvesting we had ppl coming to steal paddy!! We gave police complaint and we could see early morning a dozen police with AK 47 around our fields. The govt rules said that, there must be such a protection to the farmers and agricultural lands.


Well the further part of the dream was even more insane. I'd better keep my mouth shut rather than sharing it. If you feel I have to get my mental health checked once, I can do it. But just hope that this dream of mine should never come true. Bcos, I cannot afford food being so costly even when my manager give 80% hike, which anyway he does not give ...

Guys u need a attitude change!!

Hi,

Dedicated to : Guys who has complaints abt women riding vehicles!!!

Well, I am having handful of work in office. But I cannot resist anymore without blogging abt this...

When a girl passes the fast driven car, my cab driver complains, 'U cannot expect better way of crossing roads from a girl'!
(As if guys does not cross that way?? Goto area's like market to see...)

A women riding vehicle who does not go between two buses to avoid red signal, instead waits for enough place to go - Auto driver behind honking continuously : 'This lady does not go nor does she allow others to go. If women are given chance to ride, this is what happens!!'
(As if it was getting late to him to push his front wheels between buses and go and stand in the front row of the signal...)

A college going boy with his new pulsar: 'I dont go fast, bcos the girls are unpredictable. They can come anyway and can make us to fall...!!'
(College going guys also do careless riding. What can poor girls do, if he rides seeing them and not the road!!)


A woman driving the car in small road, the TT driver from other end yells at her : 'Y the hell did u bring the car to this small road?' (I feel bringing tempo traveller to that small road is also a mistake...)


An uncle of mine : 'All accident happens bcos ladies started driving vehicles. They cannot drive carefully!'
(This was the heights!!! The train, plane,lorry accidents all happens bcos the women drive vehicles from house to the market or beauty parlour?)

If you can understand the common point from above incidents and many more such situations, our Indian guys (or is it a universal problem??) cannot resist pointing to mistakes of women, especially when they are on vehicles. Most of the life killing accidents on road happens bcos of ruthless driving of BTS bus, trucks, lorries ...etc. If you see ppl pulling out each other's collar and yelling in middle of the main roads showing road rage, are mostly men. Ppl reporting it say 'it is a accident'. But when u see women on vehicle, a small hit or a skid, or a little carelessness ... the mistake is not just 'accident' but 'lady made the accident'...



I don't know when ppl learn to report the mistake as just it is and not pointing it with the gender of human race which did it?!! My blood boils when I hear complaints 'women did this... women did that ...' I feel like yelling back to them : 'guys u need a attitude change ... say that person did the mistake.'

But I cannot do it all the time. May be next time I can ask them to read this blog once ...

What do u say...?



- Cheers,

Suma.

Sleepy summer afternoon ...

Hi,
Summer has set in. My small cousins whose exams are finished are looking out to join summer camps. They come to my home to pass time and make me jealous of thier vacations!!!
I am all set to sleep after this heavy food in the after noon. I was just lying down and two of my colleagues woke me up asking if I am alright... Cannot sleep here. I am not finding any dormetry here, so trying to put water to eyes, drink coffee and trying to chase sleep out of my eyes ... Well actually I am spending whole 5 days of the week scolding myself for having to come to office... But week ends after noon at house, I realise how I miss the air-conidtioner of office (or the comforts of office)... Summer continues for another 2 more months still ... I am scared of weekends now !
When summer had just started, we had went to South Canara, my native. I still sweat if I remember the sun there. Well, well, I hear u say abt North Karnataka parts, North India, Chennai ... I know it is more hot there. But I cannot see my Bangalore and my native sweating and standing in the scroching sun! I feel strongly for its hardships. I had went to Madikeri from Manipal in the same trip. Happened to goto Kaveri Nisargadhaama n Haarangi dam. Had a chance to meet this lady Cavery. She is damn cool. She can chill ur feet if u keep it in her water!! I was totally impressed. Though the water level was not much, she had all the power to fill in us new enthu. I realised why TN and Karnataka people are fighting for her. But actually, in TalaKaveri, her birth place she cud not impress me more bcos of the construction work going there... Those ppl there, had dirtied her water with cement n dust! Hope she can escape from all these ppl soon...
I still remember other enthu fillers in that hot trip. The orange juice at madikeri (Costed 25Rs/glass) and Joy's Mango Duet ice cream I had in same place. Mean .. errr... there were many nice things of the trip, but it is a hot day u see. So I started talking of something cool. If u ask me wht is this blog all about, it is just a try to stay awake in the office. Thinking wht to write more is inducing more sleep in me. Lemme try some thing else to be awake. See u all...