Chashmebaddoor always uncool????

I absolutely hate the BSNL commercial which has Deepika Padukone going, "Mera Dost Rahul..Uski life to bilkul non-happening hai". Now, I have nothing against Ms.Padukone or Rahul. The problem I have is something which has roots which are much deeper than just being affected by an ad. The ad-makers who thought of the whole concept are the ones who are at the receiving end of my ire. Why does the "non-happening" Rahul, have to lose his glasses, just to be considered cool? Does a BSNL 3g phone, come with a free pair of contacts or bear the expenses of vision corrective surgery? No....then why, for God`s sake, the insinuation? I find this mindless generalization, simply brainless.

I have never given this issue a lot of thought . For me, attitude is a mindset, and there is nothing you can do, if your appearance goes against the grain. I have had people making my acquaintance, say "you are a lot different from what I expected". Translated, after studying the expression and the context under which it is said, it reads, "Your glasses definitely don`t make you look as if you are made for intelligible speech". What can people do if circumstances render them, incapable of opting for contact lens, or find the surgery alternative just too expensive, considering the insurance policy that companies have, when it comes to this kind of procedure?

This whole situation, has its pros too. When I really do not want to be chummy with a person, I have found a novel way of keeping the person at bay. All I have to do, is make sure that I fit people`s perception of what a person with glasses acts like. Thanks to our amazing commercials, I am seldom short of acting tips.

I am going for vision correction surgery tomorrow. I have to go for it since, the kind of myopia that afflicts me, gets progressively worse, the longer I delay the procedure. I have however, insisted that even with a 6/6 vision, which I am expected to regain after the procedure, I will still continue to don zero-index spectacles. When you have been wearing them since childhood, like me, they become a part of you and grow on you. For me, the expression on the faces of people when they hear what should be a nerd, say something normal, is priceless.

P.S: Will be away from blogs till Tuesday; that is the hardest thing. No blogs, no books, no outings, no TV, till then. Sigh! Hope I don`t lose my mind. So, till my reappearance in a new avataar, this is me signing off on a hopeful note. Wish me luck.
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Rain, rain go away..

It rained with a vengeance yesterday, and Bangalore came to a grinding halt. Road rage reached a dangerous high and people perspired in bucketfuls. The road near silk board was an extension of Madiwala lake, and would have given a healthy complex to any swimming pool in Bangalore. Given the situation, it will not be long before more kids like Vijay are swept away. Our civic authorities will make the right noises, offer peanuts as compensation, which is anyway a lot cheaper than repairing the sorry state of our drainage system, and wait for a thankfully short public memory to achieve the rest.

Coming to yesterday`s episode, it was a nightmare for me and the others in the bus. Roads, inundated with water, irate motorists honking madly, incessant rains that wouldn`t allow the windows to be opened, the collective tempers of the passengers, leading to an increase in temperature of an already sweltering bus, sweat gathering on the brow, being wiped repeatedly; If there is hell on earth, this was it. The fate of pedestrians, wading through waist-deep water, was not only pitiable, but also had dangerous implications. The sight of three kids, with bags on their heads,being tossed around by the swirling water currents, made me really nervous. I hope they made it back home safely. Inside the bus, frayed tempers led to people blaming the powers-that-be, for making them spend long hours in office. Some people started to sing to relieve boredom. If things were not so bad outside, this would have been really funny.

When nature strikes, the humane aspect of the species manifests itself. Yesterday, was no different. There was a guy, helping an old lady cross the road. Pedestrians, were seen assisting the traffic cops, who had their plates full, directing traffic, new friendships were forged inside the bus, as the music blaring on the walkman jarred people`s nerves, and they yearned for human company. As a result of this, when I finally did reach home, my countenance wasn`t as demonic as it usually is, when I have to go through such an ordeal. I had seen the havoc that rains caused in Mumbai on TV, and never thought I would actually get to face it. The rains yesterday, proved that our infrastructure is as good as Mumbai`s, when it comes to letting its citizens have a very intimate date with the rains.

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