Latte with Phoenix

          I treasure the picture post cards sent to me from all over by friends & relatives. They radiate a feeling of affection that the sender remembers you, wishes that you also were with them and cares for you. The cards bring to you visions of places that you visited and life associated with it. They also prompt you to make plans to journeys to lands far-off. You could browse through these cards, revive memories. A whole industry of photographers who photographed the scenic places, printers who turned out B&W or coloured cards on glossy paper; manufacturing and distributing these post cards was flourishing. You went on holidays; you carefully selected post cards, took time out to write a few words, addressed it, searched for a post office to stamp and post it, or had a helpful hotel desk to do the needful.                       ...

2 nd GNERATION SHOPKEEPERS A generation is gradually passing away who had a different set of ideals, habits, social norms, eating habits, spending habits etc., etc. They know more about India than what the current generation has been taught in schools. Volumes can be written on what they know and practiced, but we shall refer here only to another detail. They patronised small individual shops instead of big stores and malls. In these small shops you could get items of your choice, chat with the owner. There was no necessity to buy. Information on various topics of the mohalla or its residents or the city was exchanged. Ideas on how to get over problems were sought and given. It was friendlier. Rates in these small shops were reasonable, as the owner charged a small profit margin from everyone whether known or unknown. His living style was simple, his demands few. The owners lived simple lives, resisted the mobile age, settled for the small Nokia with diffidence. His business ...

TOILET COMFORTS Up to early 20 th century - say about 1925’s - toilets were built at a far end of the house, in the courtyard, as they were considered unmentionable or not polite enough or   considered dirty. As houses became smaller with courtyards vanishing toilets became part of the main house, but still were at the end and detached. Around late 20 th century - around 1970’s - as western influence increased, people started constructing toilets attached to bedrooms, and then a toilet for each bedroom has become the standard. To clarify …… … 19 th century is 1 st Jan 1801 to 31 st Dec 1900                                20 th century is 1 st Jan 1901 to 31 st Dec 2000 On entering the toilet we expect its floor to be dry, though we may splash water all around while bathing. Of course it is considered bad manners t...

TRENDS in HOUSE RENTALS Living in my own house for several years now, I remember the times when we stayed in rented premises. Not one, but several of them one after another, for quite a number of years. When given marching orders by the landlord, house hunting was begun, with added experiences of the previous house-hunt. Friends and relatives were roped in. All our spare time in the evenings and on Sundays were devoted to it. Brokers were not much in vogue in that period (1960’s to 1980’s) but were consulted. Most of the premises turned out to be too small, cubby hole types (Landlord – Why keeps any extra furniture? Daytime you work, night you sleep! Why extra space ?). Some were assembled by connecting left over spaces of the landlord’s house. A room here, another room a few steps up, the kitchen the size of a cabinet squeezed in between the landings. Toilet somewhere fitted in. We became experts in recognizing a vacant house, as we browsed the streets on our scooter. Mos...

Being Neutral           Is being neutral correct ? The mother has to be neutral in distributing goodies to her children, giving equal share to all. The boss has to be (or supposed to be) neutral in allotting work to all subordinates, their appraisals etc. And so on.           But is taking no action when you see a girl being eve-teased in the market a neutral stance ? Or not helping an injured person on the road a neutral activity ? Or not helping to catch a chain snatcher a neutral stand ? It's more of being afraid than being neutral.           We come across numerous occasions where we take a neutral stand, as well as several occasions where we do not remain neutral, and take sides. It can be in a discussion where we think that something is right, and the other party is a fool. Sometimes we do not remain neutral – such as - when our cl...

STUMBLING   to   MUMBLING Stumbling…  Bubbling … Struggling …  etc etc. Lets have a look at what all happens in life through these similar sounding actions. We all have had numerous tumbles in our life. As toddlers we stand up to walk, STUMBLE and get up to do it all over again. Stumbling, getting up and doing it again are part of learning; whether learning to walk or learning to cycle.                           Bruised shins, knees or elbows are hidden from mothers in the eagerness to learn cycling. And then the sheer joy of cycling. It put wings to us ! As evening draws near, we run out with our cycles to roam the mohalla or park with friends. Doing an errand gave an opportunity to cycle, and we were always ready to do it! We grow up. Schools start with the daily SCRAMBLING to get ready in time with school bag, uniform etc to catch the school bus. It involved scrambling b...

BONDED  EMPLOYEE Human Rights either by an organisation or a nation or the society, want all forms of bonded labour to be abolished. This is desired also. The dark ages and age of slavery is long gone. The bonded labour concept continued with the Jamindari era, and is still in practice in some places. They could be in small factories, brick kilns, tea stalls, dhabas, even homes. Poor people take loans from moneylenders for various occasions, and when unable to payback, the moneylender usually grabs whatever house / property he can. In absence of property / house he takes a family member to work as labourer to pay off the loan. The rate of interest is so high that paying off the loan by this method does not happen in the person’s lifetime. The holder of the bonded person can ‘sell’ the person to another holder and now the bonded person works for the new ‘master’. All the above is well known, and several laws are in place to prevent this happening, punish the perp...