Being a Monkey

Life sometimes is like being a monkey in the matser's hands.. something like those impromptu circus that is seen in thouse myriad cross roads & junctions in Indian villages & small towns..

The monkey does various tricks depending on its masters instructions. It may laugh, cry and all the other gimmicks which entertain people and then the master's mood may change suddenly and the monkey would scurry of from his vicinity, to be away from the wrath of its master..

Soon enough master's mood changes again and there the monkey is back to its gimmicks

Few Nostalgic Moments

I was checking out the racks at the local grocery store to find what's new and cook inspiring and suddenly I saw the various bins of staples & provisions like rice & wheat. I thought its been ages since I saw loose wheat grains.We have been buying packeted atta for so long that this seemed like a distant memory. Taking those wheat grains in my hand it reminded me of those days when I used to go with my dad to a nearby grinding place to get wheat flour. He used to buy large quantities of wheat when the crop and price was good and then take it to the nearby grinding store to get flour done and the store it away for later use.This would be done for red chilli's, rice flour, coconut oil and sometime coffee powder.

Those days seem like a long time ago now.
In these times of instant chappati's it is defintely a faraway moment..

Today is International Men's Day..

Today is International Men's Day.. well atleast that 's what this morning's Times Paper mentioned.. Now I'm a completely throughbred feminist.. and love all the attention poured on us on Women's day, Mother's day, Friendship Day and not to mention Valentine's day.. In all these years however it never ocurred to me about not having a Men's Day or any specific celebration related to Men.So it came quite as a surprise to me to learn that there is after all a Men's day.

The celebration of various " Day "s  or a need to have these xyz Days  is a much debated topic. Some take the view that it is absolutely unneccesary as it is  that Mother's are remembered only on Mother's Day or proposals can be made only on Valentine's day. While others believe that is is good to have a certain day becuase then people remember to make the life of someone you love special.
On reading that it is Men's Day today, I wondered if the whole thing is a marketing gimmick. There are no big billboards announcing this as in Women's day, no related cultural events taking place this week, no shopping coupons in malls and absolutely no advertisements related to how much men contribute to this world. May be Women, Mother, Friendship & Love are all aspects where people splurge to keep the women in their lives happy and these things strike an emotional cord with the fairer sex. Women generally love the small tokens of appreciation from family & friends and just make them feel more special.

Or is it that it is difficult for men or the society to come out and celebrate a Men's day becuase of the negative image that may potray especially in the light of today's feminist society. Now is the age of reservation for women, from parliament, to many office postings, train coaches and what not. Marketing companies may feel that celebrating Men's day may not go very well with their brand image..

History says that International Women's day ( IWD )  has its roots in the garment factory workers' strike in 1857 on poor working conditions which then began as a start of a long fight against equal rights for women.Though IWD was initiated as a class war,  it soon took the shape of a gender war and then finally something like a liberation day or a day to make women feel special..

However International Men's day (IMD) has a much more recent origin.It was conceived by Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh in 1999 as a forum to promote a positive role of men in the society.

Is this a start for another gender discrimination but in the other way, would there be a time when Men would feel oppressed..its hard to believe that something like that could ever happen.. either way, I think women have pretty large hearts and can definetly accomodate a Men's Day celebration... See that's the feminist in me speaking :)



Passion for Work

Yesterday I was watching Masterchef Australia and this time it was Masterclass by Heston Blumenthal, known as a culinary alchemist.. It was mind blowing and by the end of the session, I added a meal at Fat Duck or  Dinner  ( the to be opened restaurant in London ) as part of my wanna do list sometime this life.It was truly innovation at its heights. His speciality is in engaging the various senses while also eating.. Amazing to say the least!

This set me wondering as to what actually creates this fire of passion in humans, how is it that some people just love what they do for their living and simply excel themselves every day. Looking back at some great works, we can quickly conclude that it can be recreated or highly logical and clarified in concept. But what is important is that these guys thought about it first and stuck on to their thought to create their own legacy..

So how do they get this passion, may be its a professional calling, but how do u listen to this calling, how do you know what excites you most and do you have the capability to pursue your calling or do we listen to all those mundane other voices which simply throw more road blocks..

I can list so many things I would want to do, from travelling to promoting Indian traditional art forms, to cooking, to starting my own company..but have I done anything on this list, atleast a small step & the answer is a big No..

Well..perfect musings for a rainy wintry day like today.. may be I should just stop typing and get back to some real work :).. So long