what would you have done?

I found a dead roach in my food today.
I was at this newly renovated restaurant near my office.
I used to go there once in a while, before they closed down for renovation.
I found decor to have changed.
The table cloth and mats were matching with the decor.
They'd installed a juice counter. The woodwork was nice.
Even now though, the floors weren't as clean as they should be. As a result there were a few flies
I used to tell them earlier to try and maintain some more cleanliness
I used to always have the veg thali they served. Pretty decent stuff
Today i found a dead roach in my dry sabzi (palya, in kannada).
I stopped eating and observed the roach for a second, maybe to confirm
I called the waiter. He came
I just pointed to the roach and smiled. He sheepishly smiled back and hurried to the manager.
I got up and went to the wash.
When i got back, the manager came over and told me that i need not pay the bill.
Note that he didn't say 'sorry' first.
I said i don't want free food and requested for the bill.
He began ranting about how the appearance of the roach is the result of the renovatio n work and not of the practices.
I didn't react to that. I just told him that i've always mentioned that the cleanliness was never up to the mark and that fancy table cloth et al is not as important as hygiene is.
Now he says sorry
He mentions about a suggestions register.
I pay the bill and leave.

what would you have done?

culture shock!!

This is how this particular non-indian eats a masala dosa!

i hope i'm not sued for this....you never know!

Divided it stood, a United made it fall

Today is the anniversary of a great tragedy. Today is 9/11. I happened to note the date a few minutes back and was surprised to realize how obscured the day has been this year. Time, apparently, cleans even the toughest of stains. I clearly remember the day it happened. I was at my native place. We had all assembled to perform the traditional rites for my Grandfather who had then, recently left us. While preparations were going on in the house, i was watching tv in the drawing room. Incidentally i was watching the news. And then it was brought on. I took a few seconds to digest the breaking news. I still couldn't fathom the gravity of the incident. It looked bad, but never as bad as it turned out to be. I rushed to inform the others. People started trickling into the room. Surprisingly i don't recall much thereafter. It would have to be what would be expected. some shock! some disbelief, widespread curiosity, sporadic judgments and so on!

The world trade centre is no more, but nothing daunts the human spirit from resurgence. Ground zero is yet again a buzz of activity as thousands of men work towards erecting the freedom tower. With the anniversary in mind i googled for some information and this is what i have. Rather nice i say!

I run with your money!

I apologize to whoever originally said this, but its the simplest way to put it, pun intended ofcos. Jokes apart, let me announce my commitment to run the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2008. It will happen in the last week of January and I'm in the process of training for it.

If you're done with your laughing, let me get to my motivation. A few months back, i joined an NGO by name Asha. Asha is primarily into children's education. They (its 'We' now) started out strongly in Silicon Valley and with the tremendous support from enthusiastic members started out in India, where they are needed the most. Asha-Bangalore is an energetic group of like minded people and is involved in a few projects in and around the city. I was introduced to Asha by a friend of mine and being a part of it was the least i could do.

Everyone freely joins NGOs and other such organizations. But when it comes to doing the spade work, very few are able to do it. I for one am still to be involved in a grassroots level project of Asha where my actions will directly help a child improve himself/herself. But there are more sides to it. I realized that, to start with, i could help raise funds for the growing activities of Asha-Bangalore.

Marathons are a done event in The US. Its a very common physical activity and there are a lot of popular marathons which are calendar events. Awareness is very high, there are well developed training programs and it is a big Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) attraction. Asha chapters in the US have been actively involved in marathons and have raised a lot of money through individual runners who pledge to raise x dollars/mile run. Most folks of Asha-Bangalore have been involved with such Marathons while in the US.

Marathons are catching up in a large way in India. There are a few Calendar events which are participated in large numbers, including celebrities like Anil Ambani. The SC Mumbai Marathon is one such. There are also several local runs organized by dedicated running groups like Runners For Life (RFL).


So with this as my motivation and no background in running, I've set forth to achieve the daunting goal of running 42.195 km and raise Rs 20,000/- in the process. Thats roughly Rs 1000/- for every 2 km that i run.

My training is happening in full swing and since yesterday I've started documenting them here. You can also have a look at my fellow Asha guys' pages. The links are present at the left-bottom of my page.

Asha-Bangalore/marathon
Asha-Austin/marathon

My runner page on Asha Bangalore website is under construction and will be up soon :)

food for thought and psyche

People who waste food should be starved; they shouldn't be allowed to die of hunger coz there's no point then. They should starve to the point where they'll realize the value of that half roti they wasted, that one spoon of sabzi(veggies) they ignored and that almost large serving of dal(pulses) they left to spoil.

The saddest part is that many such people shovel in tonnes of food and the half roti et al is by no means an unacceptable extra. Hell, the last thing they are bothered about is that extra calorie.

No, its not about any of the above. Its about a stubborn ego. An ego i don't have an explanation for.

Its also probably a fallout of our cultural insecurities. They say, the host should refill the guest's plate of food, till something has been left uneaten. If the guest leaves behind a polished plate, it invariably has to mean either that the host ran out of food or that the guest couldn't be satiated. What rubbish!! I can vouch for this because in all traditional feasts that i have been a part of, it is customary to serve once more, after the guest has declined the offer!

But I'd like to come back to the ego bit. Its a depressing ego, not the condescending type but the hanging-onto-dear-life type. An ego which is looking for an opportunity to be bruised, an ego which doesn't want to rise up in life, which pulls down its owner further...a cruelly vicious circle, i say. I actually have sympathy for such people. They really don't understand, u know! But i have no sympathy for the fact that they don't try to change...i have no sympathy for their 'anti' attitude which says, any feedback received is bad feedback and to be taken offense to. They don't realize that people are actually trying to help them out of it. They don't want to think that their friends are going out of the way at times. I can again vouch for this because i came out of it. I changed for the better! I changed because I'm always looking to improve myself. I still have long distances to go, and I'm constantly trying. They should too!

Oops!...ummm!..damn!..too late!

Sometimes you want to rewind and playback time for the most trivial, yet compelling reasons. Like today, when i was walking down a narrow aisle in my office; A colleague with whom I'm on smile-when-u-pass terms, was coming from the opposite direction. I was ambling down, lost in my thoughts and didn't consciously recall his presence in my path. Ok! i didn't ram into him or anything, but i trudged on impervious of him and he had to squeeze past me. He was well past the moment by the time i realized this and i guess "arrogant bastard" has now been firmly registered against my name in his brain's registers.

If only i could rollback time, and graciously give him way with due respect. Alas! the motivation is not strong enough to pursue a research in Physics. So I'll let it be and stalk around his cubicle for another opportunity :D