1 Minute List - Goa

It is very easy to pen a Good list about Goa. Here's my 1 minute list, and its not centered on tourism




- Relaxed attitude to life, the locals seem Oh so Balanced
- Natural beauty, (please do retain and add to the dwindling green cover), flora, fauna and biodiversity
- Civic sense, Culture, History, Architecture, Art and Music
- Great Roads, good traffic management by the traffic police, very civilised and thoughtful road users
- Local Radio - a good mix of English, Hindi, regional and world music. Lots of callers and the RJs fall all over the place, trying to please the audience

What the Cat taught me

Maou, yes that's what I started calling the little white purr whom we found in the backyard one morning. It was very scruffy, not exactly the type you would find bejeweled in a Paris parlor. Had to be, mother and father both rogues, ready to hiss & scare for the silliest of reasons. Poor little thing, it was so Scared, especially when its ma & pa scampered off on their pursuits. It could not yet scale our walls.

So it found its own little things to do in its kingdom, our 200 sqft backyard. Woke us all with its practice calls and kept an eye out on everything that went around. Post breakfast, it lazed in the sun in a shiny Red fruit basket, just the right spot for afternoon slumber.

Evenings were fun, time to frolic. Time to pounce on flies, ants and scare the hell out of the frog – dig around it and scratch mud till it escaped. Anything that moved caught its fancy. The only time it sat still was when we watered the backyard. Na, it does not like baths. Soon it got used to us and would croon miserably till fed. Curiosity grew with time and it explored every bit of the house. Dug under every stone & appraised every corner.

Just a week older, it ventured out of the house & fearlessly staked claim to the entire neighborhood. It was a whole new world - bikes, cars, kids, dogs, parks & it learnt its ways around. I was more fearful for it & it seemed so prepared, so ready to take on the world. And that's what it taught me - Boundaries are only what we draw for ourselves.

It yet pays us a visit & will play with a bouncing ball with as much of curiosity as it did before. And jumps at the window or miaows outside when hungry. I hope it does not lose its curiosity, nor lazy and cynical like old cats seem to be :)

Making mom SCreammmm

It is very easy to make my mom panic. Anything concerning me especially.

Mornings are multi-tasking mode for my mom. She has to instruct the maid,give me my lunch, pack my office snack and perform hazaar household chores.

The lunch once morning consisted of salad, subzi, rice and roti. I was at the dining table and I heard the "sabzi aur lena" instruction from the kitchen.

"sabzi bhi hai?, I retorted!

She came out screaming "what are you eating the rice with???", assuming I was eating only rice and roti.

:)

A fairy tale

A leisurely morning, I was getting myself a cup of coffee and looked out of my kitchen window. There were a couple of sparrows pecking at the grain. One stout and weathered, the other lean and agile.

But the stout bird was just staring into nothingness. It was very still. Wasn't it hungry?

Every few seconds, the agile sparrow was twisting and pecking at the stout one. When I moved closer, I noticed that the agile bird was pecking at grain and feeding the other.

Now now, it wasn't a mother, since the other bird was much larger. The stout bird was too old and would definitely feed itself by now.

This continued for some time and only when they flew away I realized that the bigger bird was injured. It was unable to bend and turn and it could not fend for itself, even from a ledge with grain.

This was straight out of a fairy tale, right?
You make up the rest of the story.

Chirp Chirp!

There are all kinds of guests visiting my house.
Some are unwelcome - creepy crawly insects, roaches and spiders.
Some are driven out - toads and cats.

Some may be stared at; like LadyBugs and pretty moths.
They may even be shot (as in picture).

And there are the guests who are clean, cute, and colorful and keep their visits short. They are the sparrows, thrushes and many colorful birdies who come to peck at the handful of grain I leave out most mornings.

Just like the seashore, they are always a source of ceaseless entertainment.
Some fat, some thin, some tall and some short, they all chime a beautiful rhyme.

Chirp Chirp, always welcome!

I'm no Gandhi

My first "Sher" - had to be in English

People throw stones and expect flowers in return,
People throw stones and expect flowers in return

Had they ever given me flowers, I would wish them whole gardens in return

Wah Wah Wah wAh

Bombs Away

Someone said the terrorists were real smart to bomb trains at peak hours in Bombay.

Duh? Really? Did it make any difference. One more headline. A little bit of fear.

A people who face so many internal threats, political gimmicks (read riots) and civic apathy all the time would hardly be

affected by a few missing men. Counts in far fewer than those who die of routine hunger or accidents everyday.
Most people in Bombay are far too busy hurtling towards their pots of Gold, too busy trying to make their individual dreams

come true at any cost. If not busy working, they are busy shopping for the bigger car or something vulgar to prove themselves

better than their neighbor. The rest are struggling towards their next meal. And then there are the hazaar multitudes who

have given up and just drudge on wearily with what they call their fate.

I don't want to give ideas to the nitwit terrorists, but sorry, the trains were a rather poor target.

And as far as my common sense goes, Terrorists are supposed to destroy the economy, not clean up society, right?
So why did some nitwits increase security in politician's houses.

Answers anyone?