Ramesh’s blog This is Me!!

Indian Space Walk

Back in school I was taught an Astronaut is one who goes to space. Years later I realized it was a specific name given to the Americans who don those fancy suits and venture out into space. Then as I grew older (and hopefully wiser) I learnt about Cosmonauts ' the Russian guys. Recently I came across yet another term Taikonauts  for the Chinese guys who successfully completed their space walk and joined the elite league of extraordinary people ' and of extraordinary nations might I add.

With our own mission to the moon Chandrayaan - I slated to take off in the very near future that day can't be far when we send our own Bharatwasi's to space. Technically Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to go into space ' but he is labeled a Cosmonaut because of the fact he went onboard the Salyut ' an USSR built launch vehicle. That was 1984.

When we do send one of our compatriots into space, I wonder will we have a fancy name too to call them by or will we just tie ourselves in nauts ooops knots? May be we will end up calling them "Bharatnauts" and probably their space walk could be aptly called "Bharatnautyam"?  

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Panchari Melam 2008

Hey Ilanders,

Last night we clebrated the annual Onam night - YES a late Onam celebration to ensure maximum participation. It began with a display of Pancharimelam - something I had never seen before. I was more than impressed with what I saw.

Unfortunately I was not carrying my camera then. I have however located a YouTube piece similar to what I saw and would like to share it with my fellow Ilanders. Hope you enjoy it. I think its simply superb to have to drum and all that and synchronise the steps as well.

Have fun.

RR

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Does it matter baby if its Black or White?

Is it probably because there is no other choice of airlines in the Kochi-Goa sector or is it that I am really one of the Good Frequent Flyers that I found myself sitting in a Kingfisher ATR aircraft again? I really don’t know. However, when a hour long journey is stretched to a three and a half hour long air taxi service, one find himself with nothing to do very soon. The papers have been read twice over and the in-flight magazine has been flipped through too. That's when I find it a better past time to look at the Kingfisher gals onboard than to stare out into the empty blue sky.

Only this time I had a thought - perhaps a realization - that I never did in all these months. Why is it that all the Kingfisher airhostesses are the fair skinned variety? I am yet to see a dusky / brown skinned airhostess. If a WHITE woman was what was required, certainly Vijay could afford to have a few “Asli Goris” instead of the fairer Indians. “It must surely be a company policy” I thought but was there a tone of colour discrimination in there?

On deplaning at Goa, I browsed the web and did a Google web search for images on dusky coloured airhostesses and NOT ONE turned up in the results. I know that is not factual because I have seen dusky airhostesses on board a few other airlines. It's a shame then so many dusky-skinned beauties of our country are not being given a fair chance - the Naomi Campbells and Tyra Banks of our own will remain unnoticed because of some stupid unwritten policy.

To tell the truth there are some really dusky beauties I have come across in my life. I should know it because I come from that part of the country where people are traditionally darker (The Dravidians as the History books would describe my kind). I am brown myself and if I had any misconceptions about it, it was all cleared by what my son told me the other day as we sat watching Olympics on the TV waiting for Usain Bolt and others to line up for the 200 meter finals.

Having won the Gold in the mens 100 meter dash at the annual sports meet conducted by the apartment association where I live for the last two consecutive years, anything mentioned by me on the subject of running is taken as the last word by my sons. Knowing this only too well I took it upon myself to educate my 10-year-old just a little bit. As the camera focussed on each runner on the 200m line up I said “Look son most of the best runners in the world are black“. And just then the camera focussed on a fairer guy and my son said “Oh look there is a white man” and I corrected him “No he is not white he is just a fairer black” Ever heard of that term before - FAIRER BLACk

And then there was Usain Bolt and few others and just before the gun was to go my son said something to me that left me speechless wondering how I should interpret it. He said “Acha, if you go for the Olympics….you too would win a medal !!“

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Do curvy women help boost sales ?

Why is it that at the launch of a new car or bike model at the Detroit Motor show or the Delhi motor show, female models are preferred over Hunky men? If these models being dressed in shot skirt and high heeled shoes is not teasing enough they are so damn curvilicious. The same goes for those airhostesses on Kingfisher airlines. Something about them curves is certainly appealing.

The whole modeling industry would rather have anorexic but curvy models to promote their Brands. This is true even now despite a ban on super skinny model. IPod and other Gizmo makers, reputed watch makers, and makers of Lingerie, Sports wear and Lenses all prefer to have the fairer sex to promote their brands.

Is possible then that men are more attracted to skinnier curvy women? There are web blogs that state that "Scientific studies have consistently demonstrated that men through the ages have found women with hourglass figures more attractive."

Could guys wanting to buy a new bike go for a peculiar model because the advertisement portrays a good looking babe and most people expect "aise bike lene se woh bandi bhi pat jayegi"

Most Bollywood movie songs today, are just filled with Item numbers who willingly show of most of their bare curvy skin and flesh and guess what? The magic does sell. Though the songs themselves may not have much content to it as did the songs of the good old sixties and seventies, the new songs keep the money pouring in at the box office.

While an obese woman would make poor poster model for Victoria's Secret, there are some brands like Dove that now promote the idea of ordinary women modeling for them with a view to promoting their products through beautiful ordinary women. Dove for now may just be an exception.

Some studies even suggest that skinny curvaceous women are more intelligent and produce more intelligent kids too. Ironic isn't it then that many such oomph women shed weight on their hips and butts only to add on through implants on their breast.  

And truly this is one area where More does not necessarily mean Merrier. Or does it GUYS ??

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THE JOY OF FINDING MY PRECIOUS UNCUT DIAMOND

Given a choice to pick between a small uncut diamond and a larger polished geometrically cut crystal in the shape of a solitaire diamond' both placed on a glass shelf under bright light, chances are out of ignorance  I would be tempted to go for the polished piece for all its beauty, radiance, and its apparent value. Like a fool I may just have passed off the once in a life time chance to make the smaller and more valuable piece mine. Now, life does not offer a second chance on most occasions.

In life too amongst people we meet in one lifetime we come across several gems that we do not always recognise. Sometimes, one may just spend an entire life time and not realise their true worth because our senses are so tuned to observing only what is superficial ' the put on accents, artificial smiles, and plastically carved out oomph and beauty. It is not uncommon to find gullible people (like myself) blindly accepting someone with such superficial qualities ' mostly owing to biases stemming from fixed notions due to the upbringing, conditioning and moulding one goes through. Other factors such as ignorance and desperation and helplessness can do a lot to bias ones thinking in favour of that someone in a relatively short span of time not withstanding the fact that they are strangers. When that happens to someone in a marriage it can lead to anything from fights to affairs and may even lead to a total derailing of a marriage even before something can be cemented.

Several years ago, at a time when I thought I was living a miserable life and I believed my wife and I were highly incompatible, I did something very foolish to rock the very foundations of my marriage. For years on end that followed, there were times when I wished I were dead. I hated the man I had become and I hated my life. There was deep resentment in me against my wife for having pushed me over the edge and I just wanted her to take anything in my possession and leave me. BUT SHE STAYED.

"I am like a SWAN" she said back then completely out of context. What I didn't know until then was that swans are very loyal to their partners.  Over time that message began to sink in ' its meaning in its entirety became clearer to me and only then did I also realise that it was not out of context at all that she had spoken.

With time things slowly began to heal and we began to rebuild our little home and focussing more on ourselves ' something we had totally ignored. In time I began to see through the rough edges of the gem I had at home and appreciate the beautiful person that my wife is. With a cool head I even realised that I was mostly at fault ' my arrogance, my defiance and my stubbornness had caused all the problems at home. However as my wife correctly puts it, that one mistake was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to us.

As I said earlier its not often that life gives one a second chance. Considering I came that close to losing her I realise I am extremely lucky to have her still. What better way to celebrate this Valentines Day than to write out a blog to proclaim to the world that I LOVE my wife very much and a big thank you for having put up with me.

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Aisa Waisa Bank - May I Help You?

Ever had the need to call in to the customer service of your bank and be asked a round of 15 question before they allow u to get past stage one of the Identification (errrm interrogation) parade? Oh yes it happens to me each time I call in to my Aisa Waisa Bank phone banking. Oh! make no mistake it is voted as one of the best Banks in India and perhaps Asia too (by a panel of Idiots I suppose) for some years now.

The way that female says "Welcome to Aisa Waisa Bank phone banking" with her bubbly accent oooooooozing with sensuality paints an image in my mind of a voluptuous woman whose blouse would burst open if she as much heaved a sigh. Some find it sexy others find it very inviting. Whichever way they manage to woo you in and capture your attention. When you think you have been swept off your feet with that put-on accent and telephonic oomph you don't realise how hopeless their customer support system actually is. It was three years ago that I opened up an account with them purely with an intention of using their online portal (Aisawaisadirect.com) for online share trading. Right from the beginning I have only had a series of disappointing and frustrating experiences.

The first of my problems started with not getting my log in ID within the promised 2 week period to enable online trading account. A number of calls and many frustrating minutes later I was told I would have to go into the nearest branch. Any way by then I had moved to Goa on transfer and I had to request for it in writing at the local branch.

The next time I was in Kochi a year later (again on transfer), I went in to the bank and requested in writing for my mailing address to be changed. A few days later I got intimation from the bank that my address had been changed in all their records. That was early 2007. By middle of the year, one day as I logged into to trade some shares, was when I got instruction on the website for me to render my PAN card details within a stipulated time lest I wanted my services cancelled. Dreading that, I promptly gave them all the information that was required and took a receipt for the same. Yet some months later around September or so I saw yet another intimation pop up on the screen asking me to render all those details again because their servers had apparently been flooded. I don't know why but for some reason the first thing that came to my mind was the scene from the movie My Cousin Vinnie where in Joe Pesci comes into the court room wearing a strange looking coat and when asked by the Judge if he was mocking him promptly replies he couldn't get his new coat dry-cleaned because the drycleaners got the Flu. Till this day I can't in my wildest dreams imagine is this one of India's reputed banks we are talking of or is this some start up organisation with their server rooms by the road side in Chinchwad Thane??

Then came the most recent incident that made me decide enough was enough and I need to blog about this Great bank. My debit card expired in November and I realised that only when I inserted my card in an ATM which spat it out in the same speed as it did swallow it. Fortunately I was at an ATM that was part of a Bank complex and so I went in to find out why I had not got my new renewed card. Click Clack Click at the keyboard a few times and the lady told me that my new card had been sent to my previous address. So what ever happened to that formal intimation I got from the bank stating that my address had been changed? The following day I called up the phone banking and thankfully a guy answered. After giving them a piece of my mind over the phone, the guy at the other end not only couriered it to my local branch the same day but went on to send me an SMS asking me to collect it after three days.

I have not got it yet. But I do intend to go in again soon, this time with a copy of the SMS. I am sure I have more disappointments in store for me. After all they are Aisa Waisa Bank who goes around advertising "Hum Hai naah ( aapko tang karne ke liye)".

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