One of my close friends’uncle retired from government services in the last month.So I thought it would be a right time to discuss about the life of senior citizens after their retirement.Will these people have to end up all their activities and sit idle in the corner of the house? What are old people for?How Elders Will Save the World? Growing old doesn’t have to be about nursing homes and wheel chairs..

A saying runs that “talents are exhausted with the coming of old age” and our elders generally believe it…Whatever happens,they say,”old people must live in quiteness,we are old,we have no more ambition.It is upto our children to take charge of temporal affairs..we are nearing death,we need not be active any longer.” But they should not think like that..They have to take lead and encourage and impart their experiences to their children..

We live in a society now that is organized around the percept that adulthood lasts forever.That once you become a productive,independent adult there is no other aceptable way to live.You can ask any geriatrician who takes care of older people,and he can tell you that there are millions of people out there who are clinging on to the myth of independence because they’re afraid that if they lose their grip on independence they’ll be removed from community and placed in a nursing home.Our society looks at old age and sees one thing;and that is decline…And is, therefore,blind to some of the most miraculous things that old age has to offer…

Noe let me just say that the emotional life of older people in general is more positive,less negative,more resilient generally than the emotional life of younger people..The reason that’s often been true is that elders generally don’t lust after the latest mobile phone or any fancy car; they’re generally much more interested in the well-being of their family and the future well-being of their grand children and so on and so they have a different take on the environment very often than we people do…And the first and primary function of elderhood is grandparenting and it’s been a staggering success..

And part of reason I wrote this post was to help people see the potential for a new future where old age is truly respected and an honored part of our social fabric..

Let us hunt them, kill them like insects, blow them to the bits. who are terrorists? who ever that terrorize the public ? what terrorizes common public. If you forget about certain metrics of about terror, not having a own vehicle terrorizes a low-earning common, not having a own house in the city terrorizes a little better common, how many of us marrying in time? how many of us are enjoying peaceful relations? car, bank balance, medical covers, kind of loans, relatives and friends, needy around, everything that breaks peace terrorizes the individual. who instilled this kind of fears into the people’s lives? if the definition of the real terrorists is applied in common daily life it happily fits in here too. then whom do we marginalize as terrorists ? governments are going and killing bunch of nomads, who never eat their food to satisfy their senses of taste and its delight. what is done to the people who killed innocents, in the name of elections, factions, curruption, money, greed, caste and creed, didnt they terrorize very means of amicable fraternity in the country. how many of us really feel comfortable with others, other castes, religions and social backgrounds, one always terrorises the other in one or the other form. we do we really do. we break the certainty and peace of others in one way or the other. Everything has its socia-economic angle, we only laud superior, we thrive to be superior, we feel consoled and confident of being superior, to make it prevail to prolong it we let all evil to prevail, thats meanest of means of human nature. Nobody is trying to eradicate this evil out of brains. Nobody is considerate about the fact that the imperfection is the part of the master plan. MAN, n. An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth (devil’s dictionary). Terrorists are every where in every form, within us. Curruptious politicians, contractors, real estate guys, people playing with economies, who ever doesnt think about the common good including governments are terrorists. Governments which cant control accumulation of wealth of nations at some corners of societies are always failed governments. Democracy being dictated by the market economies is never a democracy, it is a market dictatorship, a neo-dictatorship our generations to come are heading to.

Yesterday it just happened to see a news paper.In that I found one horrible news. A man committed suicide. He was the father of four children, the oldest being 11, the youngest being 3, and his wife found him in their bedroom where he had hanged himself.
I am telling you this because when I read this news, I almost hit the floor. That could have been anyone who is under depression. It could have been your kids who were left without a parent, spouse without a partner. During the worst times you can think about suicide. You can think about how you will do it, perhaps hang yourself with the dog’s leash, or maybe grab every pill you have in the cabinet and drown them with a couple shots of tequila. You want to do something, anything to stop the pain.
Too much is misunderstood about depression, and too many people do not take it seriously. That’s why I have been so open about what I studied about depression, to try and put a face to it for those of you who don’t understand it. It’s a physically painful disease, one that can ruin lives, one that can kill. I almost died from it.
We should wrangle our insurance companies to get them to pay for all the psychiatric treatments we receive since having the baby. They won’t pay for NOTHING, including your hospital stay. This makes no sense considering that we are on one of the best insurance plans offered in this country, and we’ve had no problem having OTHER medical concerns covered. Why is mental health any less important than the health of the heart? Or the liver? Or the goddamned pinky toe?
Let us think,your kid is playing on the bed at the presence of you,parents..And see from another eye how good the moments are!! Just think about how you can be the father/mother and partner your family deserves. YOU ARE SO THANKFUL TO BE ALIVE.
If you are depressed, please know that you are not alone. Please get help. If you know someone who is depressed, please understand that they are in pain, and please help them get help. Most importantly, listen to music a little louder, dance a little crazier, sing out loud in the shower, honk your horn for no reason, give your pet an extra treat, call your mother and tell her you love her, hug your friends even if they aren’t the touchy-feely type, eat chicken or anything else once even though your diet tells you not to, walk around your house incessantly, and hold tight to your family.

Phew! Am I the official Restaurant reporter of Hyderabad or what?

Haveli is right next to Kabura(read my previous post). The ambience is as good as Kabura if not better. My friend

tried a couple more dishes he never tasted before.

And he is impressed by the taste of indian food. Eventhough I felt the food in Kabura was slightly better than that in Haveli, but thats just me. And if you can get a table near in a corner, you can just spend hours and none will bother you. I really appreciate when the attendants in the restaurant understand that people dont like to be bothered much.

We ordered some appetizers and then some food, both served warm and in reasonable wait time. We spent almost 2.5 hours over food. I got reminded of the days in university when a bunch of us used to by a drink or something pretty trivial and spend the entire evening at the restaurant without being disturbed.
Wish more restaurants are like that.
I recommend this place if you want to just spend a lot of time over good food and not be bothered.

Had a chance to go to Kabura in the 1st floor of Lifestyle in Begumpet with a visiting Brazilian colleague. Just to give some background about Brazilian food, its totally meat(beef mainly) and not spicy at all. So its a sea of change for him to be here were the best meat we can get is chicken (also mutton but he preferred chicken).

But he is very enthusiastic about tasting Indian food. And he really liked the chicken dish he ordered.(I wouldnt know much more as I dont eat chicken.).
Overall food was very good. Service was very hassle-free. There is none inquiring every 5 min if you need something else, which i find very annoying some of the places I’ve been to.
Price is pretty reasonable. We had a good meal (minus liquors) for about 450. The ambience is pretty low key, which I kind of like but got noisy towards the end as the place was almost filled.
Definitely worth a visit. :)

Where the roads lead thee?
Where thou lead the road to?

Watch it carefully, you will figer out a guy deeply thinking, about the evolution of universe, humankind, internet and blogs ;) Thinking always, doesnt notice even if the clothes fall off place. Is that you ?

A wonderful painting, isnt it?

http://www.relieflebanon.org

Not time to see who did right or wrong. Lets all support and help the innocent victims of this mindless massacre.
This is a site being organized by my lebanese friend and some others.

I pray this ends soon. Armed conflict never was/is/will be a lasting solution.

Café Coffee Day was one of the first coffee shops to hit the city. I remember going to the one near Anand theatre, just a few days after it had opened. I also remembered what I had : Tropical Iceberg with mocha scoop. It was heavenly.
Priced reasonably and made with extra care, Coffee day coffees were exceptionally good.

Or so it was until some time ago. I went to the one at Lifestyle this morning, and believe me , I really do not want to step into another Café Coffee Day again. The first thing that put us off( my friend and I) was the total indifference. We had to call out nearly four times so that he may come take our order. When we asked for cold coffee, he replied nonchalantly that they didn’t have any ice. Having no other go, we ordered hot coffee and cookies. Our cookies came to us in a packet. I mean, couldn’t they have placed it on a tray?And our coffee came to us after 25 minutes.This, when there were not even too many people around. After the coffee which was not even very hot( or good), we felt slightly hungry. So we asked him for the menu. The guy promptly got us the bill!!!! I mean, this is basic courtesy! We decided against having anything more and just left.

This is not the first time we’ve had a bad experience at a Coffee Day.The last time we went to the one near Anand( about three weeks ago), they forgot to bill us! And the coffee was extremely bad. Even the ‘Kaapi Nirvana’, which is their prize-winning coffee recipe, tastes very ordinary. The ‘zing’that it used to have is simply not there.
The attitude of indifference is apparent.

It is time they did something about it.

That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.

I remember hot, summer days spent on the attic leading to the terrace in my grandma’s house, making kites, preparing ‘manja’. I was the ‘official helper’ to my cousin, who was an ‘expert’ in making kites. Hours and hours spent on the terrace, flying those kites, until our throats were sore from all the screaming we’d do.
Afaaaaaaaaa.
That childhood memory flashed across my ‘inner eye’ (as they call it), when I first heard of ‘ The Kite Runner’. And knew, once again, I’d be making a tryst with a book, despite all my efforts to not get too attached.

Then I glanced up and saw a pair of kites, red with long blue tails, soaring in the sky. They danced high above the trees on the west end of the park, over the windmills [….] And suddenly, Hassan’s voice whispered in my head: For you, a thousand times over. Hassan, the harelipped kite runner.

Right from page one, the book has you hooked. Not so much in terms of style, but definitely with its honesty.What amazed me the most was the remarkable ease with which the author changes tone and mood. Sometimes there is a total change in feel with just one line. While describing Hassan and Amir’s childhood together, there is a distinct childishness to the emotions felt and expressed. And then you see a very conspicuous shift in values, thoughts; as they grow older.

To this day, I find it hard to gaze directly at people like Hassan, people who mean every word they say. […..]. And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.

While you start out hating the protaganist for his ‘cowardice’, you later realise how strong his conscience is, to remember it all his life and make amends for it, however small. I identified the most with him, though. The same selfishness, the same cowardice, the same emotionality. The book is speckled with beautiful insights like the one above, which I’d call nothing short of awesome.

Make morning into a key and throw it into the well,
go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly.
Let the morning sun forget to rise in the east,
go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly.

As you read, you get a glimpse into how life was in Afghanistan, but it is not overly dramatised or exaggerated. It is a perception, a genuine one, of life then, and perceptions can never be dramatic or ugly. It is this refreshing honesty which keeps you hooked till the last page. Not a single line is out of place. Not a single emotion overplayed. It is what I would call a ‘clean’ style. No unnecessary adornments, no extra frills.

Every woman needed a husband. Even if he did silence the song in her.

The Kite Runner has tantalising amounts of exoticism and sensousness woven into it. You can actually see Hassan running the kite, and feel the sand on his feet. You can hear their voices and taste the pomegranates they eat. It is all alive, vibrant. Not just words, but a whole life stitched along with them. It brought back my past, of kites and Sankranthi, of guilt and happiness. It moved me. I am sure it will move you too.

“Do you want me to run that kite for you?”
“For you, a thousand times over.”

For you, a thousand times over.