Finally...after a very long time I am here posting something on my blog. I have been thinking what to write....have so many things on mind but didn't know what to start writing with. I decided, I would write about something that has made a positive difference to my life, the office I worked with, Dastkar Andhra. Probably will never get to work in such a place and with such people again. Anyways, I am glad I got an opportunity.
All the good things in my life have happened by accident and so has DA. The Handloom Industry was alien to me until I joined Dastkar Andhra. Thanks to DA, I got an opportunity to visit the villages where DA works with the Weavers' Co-operatives. I never knew that the cloth which we wear goes through so many processes and each time I saw the process, it amazed me. How simple it is for us to say this colour or design is not nice. Every field visit made my love for the handloom cloth stronger. Today I don't feel like buying any other cloth except for handloom. And when someone says that the fabric is not nice (including my mother), I get irritated. Not I am used to people saying it but it will definitely not affect my liking for it.
What I learnt at Dastkar Andhra? Too much. I don't know if I will be able to put all that is on my mind here. I learnt that being simple is not really complex. I never felt out of place there. No artificial talks, more action than talks, no job of pleasing people. Somehow, I don't come across these qualities that often. There was always some anxiety in the office about the future of the industry but then there was some hope too, or rather belief in what we were working for.
Got to interact with so many people, learnt to experiment and learn by myself, ....and so many more things...
There was not a day when I regretted or felt lazy to go to office. Never liked to take a day off and stay at home. I feel that is because of the environment and the people in the office. These moments I will cherish for a lifetime.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Friday, July 16, 2010
Exams and memories...
I am sooooo happy...done with my exams. I don't think I have felt like this for any exam in my life. I don't know the reason and I also don't want to analyse it. This feeling may not remain tomorrow and so I don't want it to go undocumented. That is the reason I am writing this blog today itself.
Hmm... last year I finally decided to study something and so applied for MA Sociology through distance education form Osmania University. I have no answer for "what will u do after this?" kind of questions. Anyways something to keep me occupied apart from my job.
My experience with these exams have been very different. I didn't attend many classes either since the ones I attended didn't seem very interesting. So had to do all the studying alone. Not that I had never studied alone in my life but there were always people with whom I could jointly at least crib about the subjects (even if not discuss ;)). I tried some ways to make it interesting. It is actually an interesting subject but if one has to read it for the sake of an exam it gets tedious.
I was lucky enough that my office encourages me to study. I was even asked if I needed study leave before the exam but I knew I would not put it to use. Rather I go to office (one place that makes me forget my worries, if I have any). At least my mind is not a devil's workshop when I am there. Its a different world altogether.
OK let me come back to my exams.
I thought I would start studying well in advance, I did, but not at a consistent pace. As usual , like any other previous exams , at the last moment I felt had I studied earlier I would have completed. My other problem was with my writing. I have a bad handwriting (bad may seem a small word for some of them who have seen my handwriting;)). And I have not written a theory exam since the past 5 years. Sitting in the examination hall for 3 hours seemed a nightmare to me. Memorizing answers is something I have forgotten completely:D.
The exams came and I was really scared before my first exam. I was missing my college days . During graduation, I (rather all of us) was so used to studying in the last moment. But it was easier because I used to attend classes regularly. And another thing was during exams, just before the exams, my friends used to tell me the important points and we used to memorize it like that.People whom I remembered before every exam are Princy, Manju, Sharad and Romesh. I remember how they used to create shortcuts and help us memorize the answers. Should thank them for that:). I also remember an exam when I had prepared only one unit of the five and when I went to the busstop I got to know that we did not have that unit for that exam. Still, I managed to clear the exam ;).
I did miss the days I prepared for my civil services exam as well. It was not theory paper though I did prepare a little for the mains :D. It was fun (not the result), but the preparation. Good old days ... Shilpa, Ramya, Ishani and me(brings a smile on my face)...I didnt clear my exams but did gain a lot of gyan from those days. Days worth remembering :)
As told by somebody - ' Memory is not so brilliant as hope, but it is more beautiful, and a thousand times more true. '
More posts to come as I am done with my exams (feels like a huge burden is off my head,at least for now).
Hmm... last year I finally decided to study something and so applied for MA Sociology through distance education form Osmania University. I have no answer for "what will u do after this?" kind of questions. Anyways something to keep me occupied apart from my job.
My experience with these exams have been very different. I didn't attend many classes either since the ones I attended didn't seem very interesting. So had to do all the studying alone. Not that I had never studied alone in my life but there were always people with whom I could jointly at least crib about the subjects (even if not discuss ;)). I tried some ways to make it interesting. It is actually an interesting subject but if one has to read it for the sake of an exam it gets tedious.
I was lucky enough that my office encourages me to study. I was even asked if I needed study leave before the exam but I knew I would not put it to use. Rather I go to office (one place that makes me forget my worries, if I have any). At least my mind is not a devil's workshop when I am there. Its a different world altogether.
OK let me come back to my exams.
I thought I would start studying well in advance, I did, but not at a consistent pace. As usual , like any other previous exams , at the last moment I felt had I studied earlier I would have completed. My other problem was with my writing. I have a bad handwriting (bad may seem a small word for some of them who have seen my handwriting;)). And I have not written a theory exam since the past 5 years. Sitting in the examination hall for 3 hours seemed a nightmare to me. Memorizing answers is something I have forgotten completely:D.
The exams came and I was really scared before my first exam. I was missing my college days . During graduation, I (rather all of us) was so used to studying in the last moment. But it was easier because I used to attend classes regularly. And another thing was during exams, just before the exams, my friends used to tell me the important points and we used to memorize it like that.People whom I remembered before every exam are Princy, Manju, Sharad and Romesh. I remember how they used to create shortcuts and help us memorize the answers. Should thank them for that:). I also remember an exam when I had prepared only one unit of the five and when I went to the busstop I got to know that we did not have that unit for that exam. Still, I managed to clear the exam ;).
I did miss the days I prepared for my civil services exam as well. It was not theory paper though I did prepare a little for the mains :D. It was fun (not the result), but the preparation. Good old days ... Shilpa, Ramya, Ishani and me(brings a smile on my face)...I didnt clear my exams but did gain a lot of gyan from those days. Days worth remembering :)
As told by somebody - ' Memory is not so brilliant as hope, but it is more beautiful, and a thousand times more true. '
More posts to come as I am done with my exams (feels like a huge burden is off my head,at least for now).
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
"I know something good abt u"
| Wouldn't this old world be better If the folks we meet would say, 'I know something good about you! ' And treat us just that way? Wouldn't it be fine and nice If each handclasp, fond and true, Carried with it this assurance- 'I know something good about you! ' Wouldn't life be lot more happy If the good that's in us all, Were the only thing about us That folks bothered to recall? Wouldn't life be lots more happy If we praised the good we see? For there's such a lot of goodness In the worst of you and me. Wouldn't it be nice to practice That fine way of thinking too? 'You know something good about me, I know something good about you! ' I know you are good... There's goodness in you... For, you are the presence of God in the world............ (copied) |
Saturday, December 5, 2009
A Thanksgiving note!!!
Not so long ago, I didn't know that I can express thanks for the blessings and good things in my life. I just took things for granted. Or worse, I was worried that if I was to acknowledge the blessings that I've received, somehow something "bad" would happen and take away those blessings.Perhaps unconsciously I had this fear that bringing attention to the good things in my life might incur bad luck. So to play it safe, I went along without a grateful heart. You might be laughing now as you read this, and I thought that's rather silly of me too. But that's the belief I once held onto.Now, I'm quick to express thanks whenever a good thing comes into my life. Somehow, there's always something to be thankful about!I have this simple statement that I make often, "Thank you God for all the blessings and abundance in my life!"Hope that you'll find many things in your life that fill you with thankfulness.
This one has been copied but I mean every word of it.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
THE MAN IN THE MIRROR
This is not written by me but I liked it and thats y I am posting it here...
If u get what u want in ur struggle for self
And the world makes u King for a day
Then go to the mirror and look at urself
And see what that Man has to say
For it isn't a man's father, mother or wife
Whose judgement upon him must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in his life
Is the Man staring back from the glass.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest
For he's with u clear up to the end
And u've passed ur most dangerous, difficult test
If the Man in the glass is ur friend.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as u pass
But ur final reward will be heartache and tears
If u've cheated the Man in the glass.
If u get what u want in ur struggle for self
And the world makes u King for a day
Then go to the mirror and look at urself
And see what that Man has to say
For it isn't a man's father, mother or wife
Whose judgement upon him must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in his life
Is the Man staring back from the glass.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest
For he's with u clear up to the end
And u've passed ur most dangerous, difficult test
If the Man in the glass is ur friend.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as u pass
But ur final reward will be heartache and tears
If u've cheated the Man in the glass.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Who is to blame???
26th Nov, 2008 , 11.00 PM- I am deep asleep in the hotel room after a day of field work in a village of East Godavari. My cousin calls up asking- Where is R(my brother)? Is he OK? There is some bombing and firing going on in Mumbai. I say I am not aware of it. Then I call my brother immediately . He is also asleep and not aware of anything.
The next day morning I wake up to the headlines - " Terror attacks in Mumbai"
Immediately we make phone calls to all the known people in Mumbai to ensure that they are safe. And then Thank God.
The whole nation(i.e the population which is aware of the happenings in Mumbai) is glued to the television sets and the transistors for the next 3 days to be updated. People are sad, angry, desperate- sad for the so many innocent lives lost, injured and for the near and dear ones of the dead who have to go through the mental trauma; angry at the terrorists, the politicians who pass some senseless comments and the situation about which they are not able to do anything except pray; desperate for all this baseless violence to end.
And finally it ends on the 29th of November. Its time for statistics now- the number dead, injured and homeless...The news reads- the Home Minister resigns...I dont know how it is going to matter?
The nation cheers for the NSF. All those who have come out alive are heroes of the moment and those dead are martyrs. Political parties conduct meetings,the news channels keep highlighting the same things- cheers to the heroes, public blaming politicians, and the investigation.....and whatever little details/rumours received .....and after a month or so, the news disappears slowly..until the next attack.
Will the same unity which happens when a foreigner attaks the nation remain? Or will it be back to caste, regional and communal politics again?????
Anything which harms the unity of the nation should not be left free on the roads, be it the politicians who use caste, community or region as a political weapon? Democracy doesnt mean the politicians can talk anything and everything. If it is affecting the society, it has to be nipped in the bud...y prolong everything when there is sufficient proof that they are disrupting the unity of the nation??? By the time the accused r convicted, it would have given rise to 100 other problems.
We blame the system for everything. The makers of the Constitution were of high intellect. How many of us follow the system to blame the system? We say we dont have TIME for all that right???? We dont care for the traffic signals because we are getting late to office, we didnt have time to start off 5 minutes earlier.And then we blame the law. We have no patience till the person in front of us to get down from the bus. We keep scolding the patient who is in the doctor's room when we are at the clinic because we are getting late. We cant wait anywhere, we act as if the burden of the whole world is on our shoulders where as we are actually running away from our responsibilities, responibilities of being a citizen of a nation, a part of the society, an organisation....
We play double standards everywhere. We want someone responsible to come into politics, become bureaucrats and other responsible positions but not our own people because "it is risky". We want someone to write about the problems in our society but we don't.
All of us have read- It has to be country first, countrymen next and then our own self. But its all in the reverse. We have the attitude- " We have hundreds of personal problems, where do we have time to think about all this. If I alone be correct, what difference is it going to make". And we are proud of our culture. A culture which doesnt let the pedestrian walk on the zebra crossing, a culture which scolds every alternate person in the traffic jam, a culture which still believes in caste system where the real basis of it has been lost, a culture which thinks twice before doing some charity.......What is all this if not DOUBLE STANDARDS???
Everything has become a fashion statement-be it spirituality, be it sympathy, and anything for that matter. Break the rules, who cares? are the 'cool' statements used by the people.
And for the media...everything is a news item. What right do they have to blame the politicians when they themselves dont know when to speak what? How can any sensible person ask a person whos father is caught in the Taj firings, "what is going through in your mind? What do u think will happen?" Doesnt it sound so inhumane? It did happen on NDTV Profit.
Why does the media highlight things which tend to become issues of communal violence, be it Karunanidhi's statement on Rama or his comment on the sacred ash of the Hindus? Why does the media discuss sensitive topics and sometimes senseless topics on the so called 'educative programmes'. Topics like love marriage vs arranged marriage, which city has the worst roads????? We dont need Karunanidhis and Thakreys. Just ignore their statements so that they will not even attempt to say such things in the future just to come into limelight.
Nothing is going to change by media highlighting an issue and interviewing a handfull of people. These channels have become a source of entertainment where people watch it with their families and talk about it for some time and then its all the same.
Nothing will change unless people act responsibly, each one of us, be it at the bus stop, in the ticket counter or on the roads...it may look small but it matters a lot.
"One person can make a difference and every person should try" - John F Kennedy
JAI HIND
The next day morning I wake up to the headlines - " Terror attacks in Mumbai"
Immediately we make phone calls to all the known people in Mumbai to ensure that they are safe. And then Thank God.
The whole nation(i.e the population which is aware of the happenings in Mumbai) is glued to the television sets and the transistors for the next 3 days to be updated. People are sad, angry, desperate- sad for the so many innocent lives lost, injured and for the near and dear ones of the dead who have to go through the mental trauma; angry at the terrorists, the politicians who pass some senseless comments and the situation about which they are not able to do anything except pray; desperate for all this baseless violence to end.
And finally it ends on the 29th of November. Its time for statistics now- the number dead, injured and homeless...The news reads- the Home Minister resigns...I dont know how it is going to matter?
The nation cheers for the NSF. All those who have come out alive are heroes of the moment and those dead are martyrs. Political parties conduct meetings,the news channels keep highlighting the same things- cheers to the heroes, public blaming politicians, and the investigation.....and whatever little details/rumours received .....and after a month or so, the news disappears slowly..until the next attack.
Will the same unity which happens when a foreigner attaks the nation remain? Or will it be back to caste, regional and communal politics again?????
Anything which harms the unity of the nation should not be left free on the roads, be it the politicians who use caste, community or region as a political weapon? Democracy doesnt mean the politicians can talk anything and everything. If it is affecting the society, it has to be nipped in the bud...y prolong everything when there is sufficient proof that they are disrupting the unity of the nation??? By the time the accused r convicted, it would have given rise to 100 other problems.
We blame the system for everything. The makers of the Constitution were of high intellect. How many of us follow the system to blame the system? We say we dont have TIME for all that right???? We dont care for the traffic signals because we are getting late to office, we didnt have time to start off 5 minutes earlier.And then we blame the law. We have no patience till the person in front of us to get down from the bus. We keep scolding the patient who is in the doctor's room when we are at the clinic because we are getting late. We cant wait anywhere, we act as if the burden of the whole world is on our shoulders where as we are actually running away from our responsibilities, responibilities of being a citizen of a nation, a part of the society, an organisation....
We play double standards everywhere. We want someone responsible to come into politics, become bureaucrats and other responsible positions but not our own people because "it is risky". We want someone to write about the problems in our society but we don't.
All of us have read- It has to be country first, countrymen next and then our own self. But its all in the reverse. We have the attitude- " We have hundreds of personal problems, where do we have time to think about all this. If I alone be correct, what difference is it going to make". And we are proud of our culture. A culture which doesnt let the pedestrian walk on the zebra crossing, a culture which scolds every alternate person in the traffic jam, a culture which still believes in caste system where the real basis of it has been lost, a culture which thinks twice before doing some charity.......What is all this if not DOUBLE STANDARDS???
Everything has become a fashion statement-be it spirituality, be it sympathy, and anything for that matter. Break the rules, who cares? are the 'cool' statements used by the people.
And for the media...everything is a news item. What right do they have to blame the politicians when they themselves dont know when to speak what? How can any sensible person ask a person whos father is caught in the Taj firings, "what is going through in your mind? What do u think will happen?" Doesnt it sound so inhumane? It did happen on NDTV Profit.
Why does the media highlight things which tend to become issues of communal violence, be it Karunanidhi's statement on Rama or his comment on the sacred ash of the Hindus? Why does the media discuss sensitive topics and sometimes senseless topics on the so called 'educative programmes'. Topics like love marriage vs arranged marriage, which city has the worst roads????? We dont need Karunanidhis and Thakreys. Just ignore their statements so that they will not even attempt to say such things in the future just to come into limelight.
Nothing is going to change by media highlighting an issue and interviewing a handfull of people. These channels have become a source of entertainment where people watch it with their families and talk about it for some time and then its all the same.
Nothing will change unless people act responsibly, each one of us, be it at the bus stop, in the ticket counter or on the roads...it may look small but it matters a lot.
"One person can make a difference and every person should try" - John F Kennedy
JAI HIND
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