Do you “ask Siri” or “just google it”?

Pic courtesy- K.LeMieux

My daughter was telling my husband about Worli art & I was about to ask him to Google it( for visuals explain art better) but watching him patiently listen to our daughter , I stopped. Memories of reading books (sans illustrations) and imagining the features of characters, the scenery and so on flashed across my mind.
Can I let Google stop us from expressing ?
One morning before going to school I told my daughter to keep an extra jacket . Somehow it almost always rains around Indian Republic day. Before i could pass down my memetic wisdom , I heard the now familiarly annoying sound of Siri “how can I help you?”
My daughter told me weather doesn’t look good -Courtesy Siri.
In the world of “Google it” and “ask Siri” the questioning mind is finding answers without human interaction of the real kinds. We talk thru Facebook,watsapp, snapchat & Twitter.

The element of surprise when meeting Friends after long, is gone. Now we are already updated about our friend’s last holiday, the last movie they saw, also the last hot beverage they had -thanks to Facebook. Also the exotic holiday locations and novelty food you can barely pronounce is very familiar- thanks to google.
When running late for meeting, google maps is there to tell the alternate route ( come on we live in a world of alternate facts)
You no longer need to ask for directions unless you don’t know how to read google maps (I remember local press-wala (ironing guy) & paan ki dukaan were the traditional route teller. When at Uni in Melbourne we kept melway in the car for directions)

When was the last time you opened dictionary to look for meaning? I wonder how many out there still have a dictionary (the paper bound and not the app)
We learn recipes from blogs and YouTube – you also learn how to exercise there! Or just press the round button of your iPhone and be transported to “you in wonderland with Siri”.
Fashion is no longer discussed with friends rather searched in quite comfort of mobile-phone by visiting blogs and Instagram.
We would rather Google about the burning relationship trouble than talk to friends (in person)
Even cure for depression is available on Google and rarely in the comfort of your friends. Since most friends are rocking their life with awesome selfies and food clicks (even though a lot of awesomeness is fakebook )

Political opinions are formed on Facebook walls and long debates are published there while shorter ones are saved for tweets.
If you don’t understand fascist from pacifist and neo-liberal from epistemological nihilist – Google it !
I recently saw Britannica being used as objet d’art at a hip pub in Delhi’s Khan Market. When I was younger it was my go to book in quick need of research.
The only good humour was a note at our doctor’s wall “Patient will be charged extra for annoying the doctor with any self-diagnosis gotten off the internet”

About Author- do not Google as those who don’t exist on first page of Google- do not exist at all. No point asking Siri as she/he can’t pronounce the name

A house for everyone

Radha was particularly happy today. It was a mild autumn afternoon. The air was fresh with a slight chill that could only be felt on the tip of the nose. The leaves had started to turn shades of orange, sienna and amber. It was the incidental beauty of autumn when each leaf turned into the colours of spring flower. Radha’s children were playing outside, under a tree and the sounds of their laughter and crackling of leaves when crushed under their feet, was music to her ear, along with occasional beating of the hammer. The final repairs on her house were about to finish. Radha had helped her father-in-law and her husband all along the process from planning out the date of repairs, arranging the material and until today. Now they were fixing one last section of the façade of the house – a 6ft x8ft piece, which went on the front wall. Her father-in-law was inspecting it before it went on to finish the house-repairs.
Radha offered her husband water and said “ I’m so grateful the work is over before cold winters set in. I was worried about our children spending time in the house in its former condition.” “it was all possible because of you, esp. the money we saved on repairs due to your careful planning” spoke her husband, as he looked at her face,  the slight wrinkles that smiled with her smile.  The wrinkles that defined the smile in her kajal smudged eyes.
Her husband smiled at her and returned to work.

Radha watched her kids play near the house; they had mud all over them. An antic, which usually upsets Radha, did not bother her today. She was way too happy about what was being accomplished. She had requested her husband and father-in-law over a month ago for weatherproofing the house for the chilly winters.
Radha’s husband interrupted her trail of thoughts as he asked her to help hold the 6ft x 8 ft frame in the centre, while he and his father nailed it on both sides to the rest of the structure. The 6ftx8ft frame was the front wall. The side walls were 6ftx6ft.  The walls were wooden frame with plastic sheets tied and nailed on them. The plastic sheets were sturdy and durable. They were from the sacks used to sell dry cement and sand in, which was used for construction of permanent brick and mortar houses for most city dwellers. Radha got them from the construction site where she worked as a labourer. Usually the construction contractor sold the empty sacks for Rs. 15 each, but Radha got ten of them in exchange of one day’s wage. She thought it was a fabulous deal to get 10 empty sacks from the construction contractor , because if she went to the kabadi wala(junk dealer) he would charge her Rs 18 or Rs 20 per sack. For the rich it was the contents of the sacks that built their massive dwellings, For construction labourers like Radha the empty sacks were as good as cement to build her tiny box house. After all it sheltered her family- their dreams and disappointments.
(wrote it last autumn…. maybe now is the time to share)

Long queues and boots

Source- shutterstock

A short queue at security check in Delhi airport is a traveller’s delight. Because Terminal 1D lives up to its name-slow moving queue is an incurable illness.
There were 3 ladies standing before Sweet daughter & Me. Only to be told to remove boots- my 8 year old gave her boots to me and I removed mine- tip toeing on the cold airport floor because by some magic 18degrees always feels like 8 degrees to me.
Waiting again at security check for my number after putting our boots in for a scan, I couldn’t stop but wonder why such few security check counter for women?
Average ratio of security check counter is 1 counter for women, for every 2 counters for men.While our sex ratio is 940 females per thousand males.
Does our government believe that less women travel, less women work, empowerment is an urban legend & we have a skewed up sex ratio?

As I saw the boots pass thru X-ray scan faster than my number in this “oh-so-long queue” I wondered if they found any hidden candies in sweet daughter’s boots? After all it was the day after Christmas and perhaps Santa filled our boots too.Next Christmas gift us more gender equality .

 

Do you feel like a Goddess each morning ?

Each morning I feel like a Goddess!

You can imagine me with gorgeous long hair, looking stunning in a lovely dress,showing off flawless skin and prim manicured hands- a Diva- stop and wake out of your dream.

I rush thru shower, say my prayers, wake my daughter (after cajoling few times) and get her ready for school all this while I cook her two meals for school (the Mom-in-me doesn’t want kid eating at canteen). While she brushes her teeth & takes a quick bath, get her uniform out , pack her food, check her school bag , help finish any last minute homework, make her revise lessons all this while doing my morning jog not on a treadmill but between bedroom and kitchen. Sweet daughter has a bite to eat with much reluctance.
As we step out of the house I hold my purse, her ID, her comb( yes have to braid hair in car) , her school bag, her lunch bag, my keys, her extra things for school (book or project or sheets or anything- there is always something ) & of course my newspaper.
Now you know why I feel like a Goddess? Cause I feel I have many hands to hold things when I leave the house.
I have many hands to get things done in morning (except fixing my appearances early in the a.m. to fit a Goddess)Then I channel this Goddess throughout the day at work, at home, through multitude of emotions…

Since ancient times, the Goddess has been depicted with many hands showing all her special powers.The Goddess with many hands stands for every woman multi-tasking amidst chaos of life as though dancing to her favourite tune. Not just each morning to get kids off to school on time,but in life all thru the day,each day.

 

A woman handles more at work than men.
A woman handles more at home than men.
A woman handles more in life than men
She stands for all her friends, is the co-worker to count upon and shares a special bond with everyone in her family. She is the eye of the hurricane.

And to all my lovely ladies feel strong, be positive, stay energetic. You can juggle all your roles and still be you. That is the reflection of divinity in each woman . The multitasking is not only physical actions but at mental level when you are sorting tasks, compartmentalising to-do list & finding solutions.
You are a woman that secretly weaves magic whether it’s by sending midnight texts to friend in need, cooking a favourite dish for family after tiring day , buying a gift for someone else rather than spending that money on yourself, waking up early to find “my time” and going to bed last to give others “your time”

Channel the Goddess within you (fix that smile up, dress up & take over your universe)

Please be grateful for the Goddess within you

#goddess #women #empowerment #success #family #life #joy #happiness #multi-tasking #superwoman #gratitude #children #work