A Diet That Wasn’t

So, in my first experiment after a long time, I decided to undertake a raw-food diet for a week. The idea to do this came about after I and my colleague had a salad lunch. Part inspiration that and part inspiration this, Steve Pavalina’s experiment with raw food diet for a month (!).

The rules of the diet were as follows:

1. To eat no cooked food for a week, starting Tuesday morning

2. This meant no bread, no corn flakes, nothing boiled either.

3. This also meant that we basically had to survive on fruits, salad veggies, nuts and dry fruits. 

How did the experiment go?

Day 1:

I woke up on Tuesday morning all earnest to make a success of this experiment. I was anyway lately on a citrus diet, getting orange-tinted kicks every hour or so. So, for breakfast, I had an apple, an orange and a few bananas. All fine so far – I didn’t feel any different. Lunch was a pomegranate, two carrots and a banana. The sweetness of it all was getting to me.  Given my propensity to snack, I was terribly starved for the rest of the afternoon though I somehow managed to pull that along by having occasional munches of almonds, cashews and groundnuts. I was scheduled to leave for Chennai that evening and I stacked up with an avacado shake, an apple and bought some more dried-fruits and nuts for the journey. I didn’t feel hungry after the avacado and slept well on the train.

Day 2:

Went to the hostel to freshen up the next morning and had a quick breakfast of a quarter of the mixed nuts I had bought. I went to office and this is where things got tricky. I think I did two things wrong – a) I over-snacked on the nuts and b) I sat under a heavily breezy A/c that couldn’t have done me any good. Two hours and some three juices (sapota, mosambi and avacado) later, I was feeling sick. I could sense a terrible headache setting in, I felt terribly drowsy and totally weak. I fought through the rest of the afternoon and evening, feeling worse every passing hour. I was itching to get out of that freezing cubicle and hit the bed. Which is what I did at 7 under the constant pattering of rain. I continued to feel terrible rest of the evening, the headache now a searing pain which wouldn’t let me even move my head. I ate some oranges for the night, in the hope that the citrus shots would clear up my head but no such luck. Neither with the oranges nor the bottles of water I kept gulping down. This was no good – I struggled through my early sleep in vain, switching off all noise to ease the pain. 

Day 3:

I woke up, fortunately, feeling a lot better though still with a persistent, yet weak, pain in my head. I was now seriously thinking about withdrawing from the diet and even went into the mess to rack up something to eat. But, the bananas back in the room looked more appetizing than what was laid out. So, I extended the diet for one more meal and ate up a banana and an orange for the breakfast. I came in to the office but the A/C again had me grappling with that sick feeling. I decided I had enough and put the diet to a stop with a well-cooked lunch of parotas and rice at the cafeteria. 

Since I write this to report that the experiment did not survive even half the designed time period, nay the whole week, I have to admit that it is incredibly hard to just be eating fruits and nuts all day.  It is hard but not impossible. Though I felt sick for most part of the 2.5 days, I also felt very light and without any of the heaviness that accompanies my usual cooked meals. I have, in fact, decided to do this again but with the following lessons in mind:

1. Beware of A/Cs

2. This needs more planning – I should plan up on what I can eat, especially to think of more salty salads. The fruits had me all sweetened up sickly. 

3. Don’t have traveling plans – I am especially bummed that I missed a close friend’s wedding because of this.

It will be interesting to see how this goes when I do it actually for a week or longer. 

Year

A year has just passed by me. No, us. No, wait, is it me or us? By us, I mean the better-half, wife, missus or how most of the world chooses to term her. As far as I am concerned, being with someone I love has been a ride of a life time. A ride as crazy as in any outlandish fantasy park, may be but a ride indeed – from where and how I was to where and how I am now.

Given my penchant for bullet-points, summaries and nostalgia, it is predictable that I’ll come out with a list of how things have changed, highlights and the usual dose of sentimental claptrap as I complete a year of married life. So, without disappointing you further and any absence of ado (ado – what a strange word), here I start off:

1. Ta Ta TV – A major decision was to have no TV at home. And despite our initial apprehensions and doubts on how long we’d survive without it, we did and more – we thrived. No distracted conversations, more living room space and more laptop use. Goodbye reality shows, stuff-they-call-news-on-endless-loop and Barkha Dutt. Welcome Youtube, Viveo, Facebook and Google Reader.

2. News – Thanks to the missus, I am hooked on to the best newspaper in the country. No more ‘Madonna spotted with ……..’ and ‘Having more sex/babies/love makes you ……..’ and ‘ ‘I-don’t-care-a-damn’ and ‘I-still-don’t-care-a-damn’ spotted at ’some-pub’ ‘. I have also become a fan of their sisterpublication.

3. Food – Lot of healthy dietary changes, again courtesy the wife. Our sugar carton has gone untouched for months now and we have had less milk in the last one year at home than most families have in a month. I now like curry leaves, garlic and sugar-less green tea. We had nasty fights about me eating out but I am glad that I was persisted with – I eat out lesser than I used to.

4. Decor – Our home is minimalist. Whatever excess you spot is thanks to my need to fill in my insecurities with stuff. What if I wake up tomorrow to have no socks to run in? Or, what if all the 13 shirts are left un-ironed before an unexpected travel?

5. Culture – If you had asked me last year, I couldn’t have told you squat about classical music or dance. Now, I can give you a small speech on the music, forms and famous exponents of Odissi. I might also go on to add that Ninukori Varnam in Vasantha raga is a favourite. Yeah – the wife’s culture quotient spilleth over to me.

6. Me – I exercise more. I eat healthier. I am liberal. I like Cantonment. I am reading again. I slouch less. I find sitting on the floor easier. I can climb three flights of stairs. I know Indiranagar in-and-out. I can guide you on house-hunting. I am assertive. I like traveling by the bus. I spend lesser time advising others. I take less shit from others. I am still lazy, hypocritical and self-obessed (evidence #1 – count the number of ‘I’s in this blog-post).

7. Miscellany – We have breakfasts regularly at Parents-In-Laws’ and fried food at Parents’. We have a trouble-free maid and had a troublesome roof. Our house hosted parties, ants and dear friends. It also happened to host chess games, sparring fights and romantic dinners. We like our individual spaces and like sharing our individual spaces more. I have spent hours playing Commandos while she painted an elaborate and colourful duo of birds. We have also whiled away time having churumuri on languid evenings by Ulsoor lake. We have liked each other’s company and we have fought so hard that we weren’t able to stand each other’s sight.

Such-like and more, life’s tumbled on to the second year of living together. A year that promises a lot of aquatic adventures, dancing, hard work, new neighbourhood, getting back to schools and lot more fun of living together!

And lastly, here is some advice (now that I have spent a year tucking in all those pearls of wisdom, I deserve this, no? ) – If you can, don’t marry. If you must, don’t involve families. If you must, be prepared to be very tough and strong. I was not and the ensuing annoyances take more than a few anniversaries to clean up. In hindsight, I would have gladly taken up the option of living-in rather than going through the gut-wrenching drama that is the Great Indian Wedding and the consequent stampede of families.

A year has just passed by me. No, us. No, wait, is it me or us? By us, I mean the better-half, wife, missus or however most of the world chooses to term her. As far as I am concerned, being with someone I love has been a ride of a life time. A ride as crazy as in any outlandish fantasy park probably, but a ride indeed – from where and how I was to where and how I am now. So, yeah, a year has passed by a married me.

Given my penchant for bullet-points, summaries and nostalgia, it is predictable that I’ll come out with a list of how things have changed, highlights and the usual dose of sentimental claptrap as I complete a year of married life. So, without disappointing you further and any absence of ado (ado – what a strange word), here I start off:

1. Ta Ta TV – A major decision was to have no TV at home. And despite our initial apprehensions and doubts on how long we’d survive without it, we did and more – we thrived. No distracted conversations, more living room space and more laptop use. Goodbye reality shows, stuff-they-call-news-on-endless-loop and Barkha Dutt. Welcome Youtube, Viveo, Facebook and Google Reader.

2. News – Thanks to the missus, I am hooked on to the best newspaper in the country. No more ‘Madonna spotted with ……..’ and ‘Having more sex/babies/love makes you ……..’ and ‘ ‘I-don’t-care-a-damn’ and ‘I-still-don’t-care-a-damn’ spotted at ’some-pub’ ‘. I have also become a fan of their sister publication.

3. Food – Lot of healthy dietary changes, again courtesy the wife. Our sugar carton has gone untouched for months now and we have had less milk in the last one year at home than most families have in a month. I now like curry leaves, garlic and sugar-less green tea. We had nasty fights about me eating out but I am glad that I was persisted with – I eat out lesser than I used to.

4. Decor – Our home is minimalist. Whatever excess you spot is thanks to my need to fill in my insecurities with stuff. What if I wake up tomorrow to have no socks to run in? Or, what if all the 13 shirts are left un-ironed before an unexpected travel?

5. Culture – If you had asked me last year, I couldn’t have told you squat about classical music or dance. Now, I can give you a small speech on the music, forms and famous exponents of Odissi. I might also go on to add at the end of the speech that Ninukori Varnam in Mohana raga is a favourite. Yeah – the wife’s culture quotient spilleth over to me.

6. Me – I exercise more. I eat healthier. I am now a liberal. I like Cantonment. I am reading again. I slouch less. I find sitting on the floor easier. I can climb three flights of stairs. I know Indiranagar in-and-out. I speak a smattering of Tamil. I can guide you on house-hunting. I am assertive. I like traveling by the bus. I spend lesser time advising others. I take less shit from others. I am still lazy, hypocritical and self-obessed (evidence #1 – count the number of ‘I’s in this blog-post).

7. Miscellany – We have breakfasts regularly at Parents-In-Laws’ and fried food at Parents’. We have a trouble-free maid and had a troublesome roof. Our house hosted parties, ants and dear friends. It also happened to host chess games, sparring fights and romantic dinners. We like our individual spaces and like sharing our individual spaces more. I have spent hours playing Commandos while she painted an elaborate and colourful duo of birds. We have also whiled away time having churumuri on languid evenings by Ulsoor lake. We have liked each other’s company and we have fought so hard that we weren’t able to stand each other’s sight.

Such-like and more, life’s tumbled on to the second year of living together. A year that promises a lot of aquatic adventures, dancing, hard work, new neighbourhood, getting back to schools and lot more fun living together!

And lastly, here is some advice (now that I have spent a year tucking in all those pearls of wisdom, I deserve this, no? ) – If you can, don’t marry (instead of living-in). If you must, don’t involve families. If you must, be prepared to be very tough and strong. I was not and the ensuing annoyances take more than a few anniversaries to clean up. In hindsight, I would have gladly taken up the option of living-in rather than going through the gut-wrenching drama that is the Great Indian Wedding and the consequent stampede of families.

Monitoring Expenses

For a month, back in March, I and the partner  decided to plan out our activities to get some order and structure in life. Unfortunately, though that never took off – we never made dosas on the days we were supposed to, instead settling for lazy crosswords over tea and bread toast – we did make it a point to note all our expenses on a daily basis. The results of which I am proud to present here:

How we went about it?

We crudely categorized our expenses into 5 categories – Groceries, Eating Out, Fuel, Recreation and Rent/Fees. The last category includes all fixed, recurring expenses. The rest were all discretionary to a large extent, contingent upon our control on them.

So, first up are the statistics on expenses, item-wise:

Item Wise Spends

As expected, the rent, utilities and dance fees form the bulk of our monthly expenses. The next highest is ‘eating out’, given that I am an extremely lazy cook, quickly influenced by any ideas of ordering in food. I think this was pretty much in line with expectations

Second, how does our spending vary with the day-of -the-week, with the large and regular ‘rent/fees’ category excluded? I would expect weekends to be the peaks. Turns out it is the case, though Wednesday comes in at a not-so-distant third. Mondays and Fridays seem distinctly stand-out days when it comes to lazing around without loosening the purse strings for us.

Day of the Week

Lastly, a not-so-useful graph on how our spends vary across the month, on a weekly basis.  This again has a strong correlation on when our major items are due for payment.  So no big surprises – I am just happy I get the pay-check before the second week of the month.

Week-wise Spends

So there it is - a geeky blog post to dust off my rusty, old excel skills.

Career Blues

For someone who’s had more than his share of career conundrums, and tons of tangential answers to that super-question – what to do with my life?, I have found this piece by Po Bronson extremely illuminating. I love the article and keep getting back to it often. To gather its essence, I thought, would be a good idea to break the monotony of silence here.  So, here is the gist of the article:

1. Some jobs aren’t ‘cooler’ than the rest. Conversely, all jobs can be cool.

2. Very few (no one?) know what they are “destined” to do. Stop searching for the “calling”.

3.  Don’t follow those insurance ads. Don’t postpone dreams just to make “enough” money. Waiting to do that changes you.

4. Work is like life. It has its ups and downs. It does not have to always be exciting, invigorating or challenging.

5. Don’t ask ‘What am I good at?’ to find the answer to ‘What should I do?’

6. Your job becomes you. It moulds your personality, values and beliefs.

7. “Keeping your doors open” is a trap. The longer you stay uninvolved, the longer you are unhappy.

8. It’s not a big deal to have only one employer for life.

Well, I think the article does a better job of saying all this than the mash-up above. So, I urge you to read it.

Thrice over

Stranger Than Fiction:

A Tale of Two Lakes

High Hopes and Super Size Me

High Hopes

To wake you on a lazy weekend morning

Bilqis – Rabbi Shergill (2008)

Mera naam Bilqis Yakub Rasool
Mujhse hui bas ek hi bhool
Ki jab dhhundhhte thhe vo Ram ko
To maen kharhi thhi rah mein

Pehle ek ne puchha na mujhe kuchh pata thha
Dujey ko bhi mera yehi javab thha
Fir itno ne puchha ki mera ab saval hai ki

Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the
Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain

Mera naam shriman Satyendra Dubey
Jo kehna thha vo keh chukey
Ab parhey hain rah mein
Dil mein liye ik goli

Bas itna kasur ki hamne likha thha
Vo sach jo har kisi ki zuban thha
Par sach yahan ho jatey hain zahriley

Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the
Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain

Mujhe kehte hain anna Manjunath
Maine dekhi bhatakti ek laash
Zamir ki beech sarhak Lakhimpur Kherhi

Adarsh phasan jahan naaron mein
Aur chor bharey darbaron mein
Vahan maut akhlaq ki hai ik khabar baasi

Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan hain
Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain

Mazha nau aahe Navleen Kumar
Unnees june unnees var
Unnees unnees unnees unnees
Unnees vaar

Unnees unnees unnees unnees
Unnees unnees unnees unnees
Unnees unnees unnees unnees
Unnees vaar

Looto dehaat kholo bazaar
Nallasopara aur Virar
Chheeno zameen hamse hamein
Bhejo pataal

Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan hain
Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain

Indeed, vo kahan hai?

Check one of the best Indian singles in recent years. The most telling part of the song is right at the end. Civil rights and activism in India is abysmally lacking. And no, it is not okay to say it is “relatively better” than Sub-saharan Africa/Middle East countries.

CW’s War and Angels & Demons

Charlie Wilson’s War

And all the joy within you dies

three nights ago
under a fading moon
sailed my friend and his mentor

‘why are we here?’
inquired my friend

‘to talk and to hear’
smiled the mentor, asking
‘how are you?’

‘hollow, sir
i read, none the more wiser
i talk, to no one’s gain
i know
no small thrills
no little joys
no tiny fears

fond of others,
not loving
logical and sharp,
i cut others to size

i wake up
to sleep
i sleep
hoping not to wake up

i understand
without sympathy
i understand
without pathos

i follow
refusing to lead
i proclaim
unwilling to be told

i am the king
of all that i command
yet i command little
but for two shoes
and a vest’

so despaired,
so despaired
my friend.

the mentor,
grave as the night
responded

‘how we wonder about death
in our curious years,
obsessing over its mysteries,
asking how is it everyone,
every one of us
faces death whenever
it dawns?

yet age and time
readies you for it,
for what is not
a man like you,
if not dying?

my friend,
you
no longer
have the romance
in your heart

the spark that lights
your day
has faded

and so has the life
within your soul

a man devoid of romance
is a man dead, my friend’

Kumble nails it

The RCB skipper inputs a key strategic plan that would have done lot of other last-over chokers good in the IPL:

“As it is, whenever we chase, we make it a point not to go into the 20th over. When we are chasing a smallish total, we try and think of the 18th as the last over and when the target is bigger, we aim at finishing the game in the 19th, giving us some sort of a cushion. That message was also sent across as a reminder at the strategic break”

T20 games involve a lot of pressure-cooker situations and nothing can make it worse than taking the game to the last over. By ensuring a six-ball buffer, you effectively negate it out. Exciting? No. Clinical? Yes.

A country gets the government it deserves

Elections 09 ended with a resounding win for the Congress-led UPA. There has been clamour in my (intellectual) neighbourhood, signalling disappointment at BJP’s dismal performance. Few have ‘condemned’ India for another five years with statements on how ‘uninformed’ voters have led the country into a downward spiral. I am thrilled, on the other hand, that the present-BJP is nowhere close to any kind of power at the centre.

My grouse against the BJP run into many dozens. My two cents here:

1. Communalism – A party that blatantly and openly approves of intolerance for other religions can never be broad-based to take the whole country forward. Their existence, and hence, interest will depend on keeping the minorities at bay and suppressed. And, we have already seen with SIMI and IM that no good can come out of suppresison. A frequent line of argument to support BJP has been that the ‘pandering’ of minorities will only empower them and how the ‘islamic’ rate of population growth is a cause for conern. One only has to read the Sachar committee’s recommendations to banish themselves of irrational fears and understand the daily difficulties the minorities work with.

2. Leadership Bankruptcy – Apart from Arun Jaitley, there is not one leader of note in the safforn party who can stitch together two streams of thought, or even worse, articulate anything that is worthy. There is a clear absence of thought leadership in the party, visible throughout the two-month campaign. All their speeches tried to only belittle the previous government with scant mention of plans for their government, sans a few notes on the IT-sector.

3. Urbane-ness – India continues to be a nation of the rural and will be so for the many decades to come. Rural India encounters problems that are vastly different from their urban counterparts, solutions for which have to be now and here. NREGS and the loan-waiver schemes were hallmarks of such solutions. The latter, an economic waterloo and the former, an implementor’s nightmare. Divestment, Mandir and Uniform civil code does not matter to over 70% of the populace. My own (little) experience tells me that caste, and not religion, is much more deeply entrenched in rural India. It really does not matter to a farmer if a temple is built at Ayodhya or not. He is only worried about his upcoming crop and the debts he has to repay. So, is loan-waiver the best way to help him? May be not, but it was a political master-stroke.

4. Image Reality – My dad, a (an erstwhile, hopefully) BJP supporter, liked to go on about the ‘clean’ image his party enjoyed and how it was filled with incorrputible persons. The truth cannot be further than this. ADR’s latest press release summarizes the ground reality – politics in India is universally murky across parties. In fact, if you consider percentage of the total MPs elected, BJP has a much higher percentage of MPs with criminal background than any other political party in the country. In Karnataka alone, the party has been as political as any other, with various defection-engineering schemes executed successfully to tempt legislators from other parties to joining the BJP. The point being BJP is as political, clean and honest (or not) as any other political party in the country. 

Frankly, I am excited about the UPA because of the promise it holds. Cynical, experienced old-hands might balk at my naivette but I see much potential for things to happen with the kind of likely ministers in the cabinet – Tharoor, Jairam Ramesh, Scindia Junior, Pilot Jr., PC and MMS himself. The initial statements on the economy, the cabinet structure and polity sounds encouraging and promising. I only hope the promises are lived up to.

Sa Jie and Pelican Brief

The Pelican Brief

Start-ups and Small Organizatons

I remember reading somewhere that stated one shouldn’t work for a start-up unless a part of the founding team.

It is a golden rule to follow. I would stretch it to include small organizations that have yet to transform into a process-driven structure. The biggest thing going for a small, growing entity is the constant state of excitement and challenges employees get to be a part of. The challenges are enjoyable as long as they have a fair degree of control over tackling them and tapping new opportunities.

The biggest leap of faith for the founders to cross is the art of delegation. Depending on how small or large is the power of delegation, employees will tend to be either inefficiently used or lack direction. This is, in my view, the most difficult and critical leadership skill. It is what separates the great, big organizations from the myriad number of small and medium-sized entities.

Before the founders reach this part of the curve, the tendency is for decisions, strategic and operational, to be taken by a set of individuals, arbitrarily and informally. Without a set process, there is redundancy with the group having to decide on similar points repeatedly. If the organization is lean, this can still be managed. But, once it grows beyond a critical mass, the employees further down the organizational chain leave decisions to higher-ups and/or are left confused on the organizational growth path. This structure also breeds sycophancy of types subtle to the obvious since decision centers are individualized rather than consensus-based.

Contradictions

Two ongoing theatres of conflict in the neighbourhood depict the contradictions the government has to straddle. The government lodged an official protest on the imposition of the Jazia on the Sikhs in Pakistan. The government also claims to be pressurizing the Lankan government to stop attacks on Tamil civilians trapped in LTTE-held territory in Sri Lanka. 

Note the views expressed by the gentleman, also voiced by many others in TN about the role of government in what is essentially a civil war. As a policy, I believe, that citizens present in all democractically elected countries are first and foremost citizens of that country with ethnicity and religion rendered subordinate to citizenship. Therefore, the government of any other country has no business in interfering in the internal matters of another country, be it any outrage against the communities. The Pakistan government, rightly, dismissed misplaced Indian concerns. As a foriegn government, the Indian government can, both in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, should restrict itself to condemning attacks against innocent civilians, instead of selectively picking biased causes.

Taxing private transport

I often use public transport to stop tearing my hair apart navigating Bangalore’s wretched traffic. I believe the crux of Bangalore’s infrastructure woes stem from an uncontrolled surge in ownership of private vehicles, partly due to the poor public transport system and party due to the sudden increase of wealth in the urban middle class. This has imposed a heavy strain on the road system that has led to a slew of short-sighted measures such as one-way lanes, flyovers, under-bridges and widening of roads, often by chopping down trees that serve as lungs of the city.

One of the ways in which some countries, such as Singapore have circumvented the problem is by introducing a punitively high duty (as high as 100%) on purchase of private automobiles. This measure cuts off the problem right at the source by ensuring, maybe a bit autocratically, private vehicles are out of the majority’s reach.

Another way in which this can be done is by by imposing a heavy tax on commercial fuel. The tax, similar to the ownership tax, has to be high enough to deter customers from using their vehicle. While preventing the usage, the measure still provides you with the flexibility of owning and using the car selectively. This data, compiled in Oct 2008, shows that Singapore seems to have imposed a fuel tax too, in addition to the ownership tax. India, as can be seen, has one of the cheapest prices for vehicle fuel, apart the Arab and quasi-Arab (US and Canada) countries. Even more interesting is that fuel price in India is one of the most convoluted figures floating around. It is a complex amalgamation of subsidies and layers of taxes that ensure no one, including the government, I suspect, is sure of the economic impact a paise-rise in fuel price has.

Clearly, subsidies for petrol and diesel have to go to ensure oil companies do not bleed and that they reflect market trends realistically. Secondly, forget subsidies, the government should actually tax fuel sold through all commercial outlets to discourage private transport. Fuel for public transport should be sold only through depot outlets (which already happens). Commercial vehicles too can be provided tax-free fuel but I suspect this will lead to hoarding and black-marketeering.

But, this is easier said than done because it is slightly like bolting the stables after the horses have fled. The automobile industry has grown to mammoth proportions now with a lobby strong enough to affect policies. I doubt if it will go through easily but it must be introduced to solve urban traffic quagmires soon. This will deter private ownership, increase demand for better public transport and automatically improve the existing systems. Solutions of the supply side that include providing better public transport (like the Volvo buses in Bangalore) are prone to be not used as long as customers are not incentivized to switch from existing systems. I think it is criminal that I can choose to drive a four-seater car for a nominal cost, taking up precious road space and contributing to traffic quagmires when there is an alternative available.

Voter Turnout

Elections in India are strange. The one demographic that makes the most noise is the one that votes the least ( 44.73% in Bangalore South, for instance). Disappointing as it is, what with all the talk about voter activism, the apathy is well entrenched. 

The other reason, I believe, for the low turn-out is the difficulty in getting to actually cast your vote. Every eligible voter is assigned to a polling booth and has to apply to be registered as a voter. Moreover, if you have moved in to a location within the last six months, you have no chance of voting at your new address. At least three people I know were not allowed to cast their votes because they had moved to a new city recently.

A possible solution is to allow anyone to vote in any part of the country as long as they have a valid ID and an address proof that proves he/she is an Indian resident. After all, the place one is currently staying in is what matters most. It will allow the swathes of migrant populations an opportunity to cast their votes.

While house-hunting

We met a gregarious lady who was keen to let us feel like we are at home. The bucket of mopey talk quickly overflowed. Before we knew, the conversation proceeded to:

Lady: So, you got married last year?
Us: Ye..
Lady (interrupting): What about children? (grinning like a cheshire cat now)
Us: Err.. not now
Lady: No, no. You should not do all this birth-control and all. If it happens naturally, it should. All these medicines and other ’stuff’, you shouldn’t use.

I, at this time, was desperately wishing I was outside. Both of us (me and the partner) quickly finished the niceties and scooted out. My partner, whispering urgently, ‘cupboard!cupboard’. I nodded my head in vigorous agreement.

PS: Cupboard is the crypt-word to utter when either of us doesn’t like the house we are seeing.

PPS: In all fairness, she was a genuinely nice lady, who just happens to consider everyone family.

In Bruges

Children of Men