Sunday, November 15, 2009

If men are dogs does that mean women are .....

"Men are such dogs !" How often have these 4 words been uttered by women through the pages of time ? And as much as we would like to believe this, the fact is that nothing could be further from the truth.

It all started with a discussion with some old friends over coffee at the rather impressive Bangalore International Airport. We spotted a dog who looked rather lost while staring all around at the hordes of people moving in and out of the airport terminal. At this point, one of my friends proceeded to enlighten us on how life would have changed for the poor chap over the years. Before the airport came up, the pup (at that time that is) would have had lush fields to run around in and lead a simple stress free life for the rest of his doggie years. Fast forward a few years and the good old pond of his (I would imagine that would be the hang out spot for these out of town doggies) has been replaced by a swanky revolving globe which has water sprayed on it. Where he probably wouldve been restricted to a farmers family and their guests now he has to see thousands of people move past him day in and day out. So why arent men dogs ? you ask.

Even through all these changes the humble lost airport dog continues to lead a simple content life. If he were to fancy another dog, he doesnt have to worry about imaginary barriers such as whether she is from the same breed or the same age or whether he can provide a huge house to bring up the little ones. All he does is get down to business. No worrying day in and day out whether he will get a big bonus at the end of the quarter and if he has successfully managed to meet his boss made - sales targets. The list goes on and on. And here we were sipping coffee while a 101 man made complications throw headache after headache at our own tangled lives. Enough to make one wish he could lead a dogs life ......

Monday, November 09, 2009

Funny the way it is

Lyrics from the song - Funny the way it is, by one of my favourite bands - the Dave Matthews Band. Makes you sit back and wonder about life.

Lying in the park on a beautiful day,
Sunshine in the grass, and the children play.
Siren's passing, fire engine red,
Someone's house is burning down on a day like this?

The evening comes and we're hanging out,
On the front step, and a car rolls by with the windows rolled down,
And that war song is playing, "why can't we be friends?"
Someone iss screaming and crying in the apartment upstairs

Funny the way it is, if you think about it
Somebody's going hungry and someone else is eating out
Funny the way it is, not right or wrong
Somebody's heart is broken and it becomes your favorite song

The way your mouth feels in your lovers kiss
Like a pretty bird on a breeze or water to a fish
A bomb blast brings a building crashing to the floor
You can hear the laughter, while the children play "war"

Funny the way it is, if you think about it
One kid walks 10 miles to school, another's dropping out
Funny the way it is, not right or wrong
On a soldier's last breath his baby's being born

Standing on a bridge, watch the water passing under me
It must've been much harder when there was no bridge, just water
Now the world is small. Remember how it used to be,
With mountains and oceans and winters and rivers and stars?

Watch the sky, the jet planes, so far out of my reach
Is there someone up there looking down on me?
Boy chase a bird, so close but every time
He'll never catch her, but he can't stop trying

Yumm !

I am someone who doesn’t really question what food is placed in front of me (unless it vegetarian, in which case I might as well go outside, pluck some leaves and munch on them instead). Rather, I was someone who didn’t really question what food ... So what prompted the sudden 180 in me ? A rather sweet gesture from a friend actually. She offered me a sandwich, which to be honest, was part of her breakfast. I gratefully accepted since I was hungry and about to start on my way to office (which meant another hour to breakfast) and i didn’t want to upset her feelings by refusing. Ok, so I made the last part up. I grabbed a bit of the sandwich and one bite down I had to stop chewing and wondered to myself what the rather distinctive taste was. I knew there was mixed fruit jam but I couldn’t figure out the origins of the other rather contradicting taste. I put it down to the brown bread. A bite later and rather worryingly I began to recognize the strong taste of peanut butter. Never before have I mixed this deadly combination and after that day I swore never to again. After confirming the constituents of the sandwich (with a stuffed mouth obviously, it took quite some effort to get the two bites down), I realised that I would be offered the rest of the sandwich in a moment. And it was. I did my best "Its really yummy but you know what, I already full" routine and hopped onto my bike and sped away to office where it took the combined might of a veg cheese grilled sandwich, a Tropicana and copious amounts of water to wash down the after effects of the morning fiasco. As they say - a lesson learnt the hard way. Speaking of lessons learnt the hard way – if the person who shared her breakfast with me is reading this, please remember – it was really yummy but you know what, I was already full …