Jaago Grahak Jaago?? ;)

Yesterday evening when i came back from office, Mom said the geyser had stopped working! Now that was scary news for me as i just cant bathe in cold water!! But there was no way i cud have got an electrician at that hour and hence decided will call one the next morning. In the mean time, being an electronics engg, and having that curiosity to open up any electrical/electronic gadget i get to, i thought i'll give it a try and see of i can replace it. ( Normally i am the in-house electrical consultant cum toilet flush consultant cum electrician cum repairman that my mom has! ) So i took a screw driver in hand and went about opening my main board as the main switch appeared to be the problem. After 2 screws and a close look at the high voltage area i decided it would be better managing Human Resources than managing 240 Volts of electricity, that too at a place where one goof up could blow up all the circuits of my home. So then i gave it up.
Today morning somehow i gathered courage and poured a bucket of cold water on my body, followed by a second one and slowly managed to take a quick and shivering bath! Then i called up an electrician and he told me he will be there later. So i told mom about it and left for college where i was eager to attend the HR Faculty feedback session! On my way to college, me being a rash rider, i managed to run over an area on the road which was almost a bed of nails! So i managed to get one in my tyre and voila! had my 2nd puncture in as many months :|. Some how managed to drag the bike to a mechanic and got my tyre tube replaced. The cost when i enquired was 200 bucks! Now only last month i had got it done for 170 bucks! Now my frnds know how cranky i am when comes to being overcharged! So i tried to argue but then the mechanic managed to get the 200 out of me after lot of arguments. I had no MRP to look at so i could not argue much and so i gave it up as i had already missed the college session and din wanna be late to office.
When i come back home later in the day, i am glad to see a new switch that was fit to solve the geyser matter. I asked mom what was the charge and how much he took for the spare part and the service. So mom said its Rs. 150! 110 for the switch and 40 for the Majuri ( as they say ). Now its understood that these fellows, be it electricians, service guys, mechanics or whoever, they try to overcharge you and specially when they see a lady they know they can overcharge for electrical stuff! So i asked mom for the empty box which contained the replacement switch, and as expected, the MRP tag was scratched off! Now after having faced a similar situation in the morning this put me off! So i took the box and hurried to a shop to enquire about its MRP. As expected, it was not 110 but Rs. 70. So then i went to the shop from where the electrician had come and got an opportunity to let my steam off! ( Its no secret that i only need a small trigger to verbally blast people :P ) So after a lot of arguments and calls to that electrician finally the shop owner gave in and told me that they sold it for 85 and hence they can only gimme Rs. 25/- as refund for the switch!
The whole episode reminded me of the regular "Jaago Grahak Jaago" ads that keep coming on the TV and i handed over that 25 bucks to my mom as if i had won 25,000/- from somewhere!

But the moral of the story, no matter how much my frnds call me a miser, but i always say that its not that and its more about value for money and about not being cheated! In the past many times it has happened that a ppl have overcharged me, or more so when mom's alone as ladies are soft targets for these thugs and they get away with it. The matter is not of Rs. 25/- but teaching the guy a lesson and trying to do your bit to do away with such practices. I am sure next time that electrician will think twice before overcharging. I know that its nothing great that i've done, but what the hell.....

An Evening to Rememer....

Last Friday, after attending lectures I had gone to see my nephew and niece’s dance performance in a program organised to showcase dance performances by kids aged 2-10 years. Me being lazy did not want to go but then did not want to disappoint my sis and kids, and at the same time the thought of seein ‘em dance made me go. When the show started, it was amazing to see the first performance by kids aged 2-4 years. The song playing was one of the songs from Bhool Bhulaiya and all the tiny tots on the stage facing a huge audience were merrily shakin their tiny hips and bums with huge smiles on their faces... and some of ‘em running into others in excitement while dancing. Now people who know me well know that I am as dumb as a dodo when it comes to dancing. I just can’t move a leg! So here I was wishing, if I could also have had this talent that these tiny tots already had at this age. Moving on, there were many nice performances on the stage thereafter and I was enjoying it along with my family and other relatives. Suddenly I feel someone tapping my shoulder in the dark! I look back and I see no one!! Thinking it as a fragment of my imagination I continued admiring the kids on stage. Again in a few seconds I feel one more tap on my shoulders, but this time it was less of a tap and more like someone hitting me to move. Again I look back, but this time I look a bit downwards as I turned...and there I see a little gal (probably 2 yrs of age) showing me her cute little teeth and as I saw her she ran back 2 rows to where apparently her momma sat. She was probably a kid of my jiju’s friend who had come along with her mom to watch the show. So I ignored her and turned back my focus on the main event. But again in a few seconds I felt a tap on by back. But this time I knew who it was so I ignored it. This process continued for about 5 mins. As people who know me well know how short tempered I am, I got a bit annoyed after 5 mins. And I decided this was not ON! How could she bother me like that in the midst of a nice performance! But the very next moment I felt ashamed of myself for having that last thought. How could I get annoyed at a 2 yr old kid who was probably not much interested in seeing other kids ( who were probably grown-ups considering her age :P ) in the dark and was just tryin to have some fun. So when she came to tap me once more, I was ready to catch hold of her hand. And so I did! I smiled at her and asked her ( in gujju ) “kem mane maare che”, but the response I got was only a sharp giggle. The poor thing in the mean time was tryin hard to get her tiny wrist out of my hand, so I told her I would let her go only if she promises not to hit me again. She immediately nodded her head like a saint and agreed. So I let her go. Now what happened next is hardly surprising. We have been told not to do things when we get caught doing them and we agree but do exactly the same thing again, and she was just a kid, so she continued her strikes on me! So I took it in my stride and continued smiling at her whenever I spotted her doing it. Later on after half an hour or so the tapping had stopped and suddenly after a few mins the kid came and sat in my lap! She also probably was tired of her new found game and wanted some rest and so she probably found a comfortable place to sit. I recon kids have their own logic which is much more complicated than that of us grown-ups. Then somehow as if I had to get an introduction from some hot chick babe, I hesitantly asked her name and started talking to her. It was no surprise that she did most of the talking thereafter (like most gals irrespective of their age seem to do) and I was the listener, she enlightened me on how she loved eating popcorn and liked chocolates but her mom would not let her have many. In between she would hop down and start dancing on the steps besides the seats when her fav number was played and then she would come back in my lap with that trademark innocent smile. The show ended in the next 30mins or so and by that time I had made a new chirpy friend named Palak! Later I realised a couple of things when I reflected back. One, how my already short temper had grown shorter, so much so that I was initially annoyed at a kid and two, if you let go of tiny troubles/discomfort early on, then there is mostly always something more beautiful and comforting that follows which is worth the wait.

Do U Think Your Life's A Complete Mess And A Struggle!!

Well... If U think so, then here's an experience i had once... its an old story.. abt 4-5 Yrs old. I was travellin in a local train on my way to a frnd's place. It was a sunny afternoon.. i boarded a train and as is my habit.. i was hangin out on the door clinging on to the rod. Now there's one think abt the men travelling in the general compartment... the moment they spot a gal in the compartment they jus have to check her out.. and if she is half as decent thn we do give more thn a couple of looks ;) So here i was jus movin my eyes thru the compartment from the door and voila! i managed to see sumthin interestin. There were a bunch of youngsters abt a door away... abt 3-4 Gals and 4-5 Guys. The Gals were all really pretty ;) and the guys werent bad either... so wid nothin much to see outside the train i glanced over a few times ( dun ask me to see wat :P )... So there at a distance i managed to see the guys n gals movin their hands all around and havin fun... i cudnt hear em or see their lip movements becoz of the crowd standin in the way but managed to get a glimpse every now n thn... All of em were dressed up pretty well and carried thmselves really well.. jus like most college goers... trendy clothes and apparel.
So i kept glancin over for a few mins wen i noticed all of em jus get up and walk towards the door i was standing... perhaps to alight at the next station. So i thought i cud now chk em out at a closer distance ;) But wen they came closer, i was stunned! These great lookin people who looked like u n me ( infact even better :P ) with all those fancy clothes and ear rings n stuff, were actually using sign language to communicate! As it turned out, all of em were children of a lesser God and were unable to speak. They were moving their hands frantically yet beautifully to convey wat they wanted to say and even as the were standin alongside me, they were havin fun and smilin and gigglin abt sumthin which they had been communicatin abt and only they cud understand :)
They all looked very excited and happy as they stood there for the few seconds before they finally got down at the next station. This incident had me thinkin for a few days that here were people who did not have the basic ability of communicating via spoken words yet they were so happy. Their smiles were as beautiful as any and their dressing sense perhaps was much better than most. They din seem to care abt the on lookers who stared at thm as if they were aliens from another planet and seemed as though their palms and fingers were more efficient in communication than most people's tongues are.
How many of us every now and thn think tht our life is a mess and we are incapable of a lot of things.. some of us blame The Almighty for not having given us enough as compared to others and blame others for our failures. How many of us would have the courage to walk around with our heads high wen ppl around wud look at u with derogatory looks even wen u know u r as good if not better than most people around u except the little few privileges that they have... I for one am criibing most times for things that i "think" are beyond my control and feel "God Made Me This Way" :P "and so i cant do much"... but the fact is, as my blog name suggests, i am too lazy and ignorant and much like an ostrich. I close my eyes often wen i realise my mistakes and bad habits thinkin tht wen i close my eyes i wont be able to see my bad habits and so wat u dun see is non existent, but little may i know that bad habits havent closed their eyes and are eyein me with monstrous grins on their faces.
So i guess the best thing to do wen u r in trouble or bugged up with ur self, is to think abt millions of such ppl in the world, who lack the basic necessities in their life but still manage to rise in their life like a phoenix rises thru the ashes and put up a great picture for all to see though deep down they might be fighting a battle and are on verge of losing but manage to hold on to the glorious flag called Life. I know all these incidents and stories just have a short term effect on me and most people but then every now and then reminding urself to look below at ppl livin in shanties instead of ppl living on top floors of Colaba n Pali hill and other bungalows which makes u realise that u r lucky enuf to manage to live on a 2nd floor flat in a decent area and have decent food to eat and all kinds of electronic gadgets at ur disposal. So all in all, there are more things to cheer in life and next time u think u r unfortunate, just visit a telephone booth run by a handicap person and in his/her eyes u will see all the luxuries ur parents and God have bestowed upon u...