Madrasgirl is Aadhar-ed!!

I did it!!
I finished the process..
For getting an Aadhar card!!!
A "unique" identification card to add to a plethora of other ID cards for Indian citizens...... ration card, passport, voter ID, PAN card, driver's license, bank passbook..........
All of which are not "unique enough" any longer....

So Madrasgirl....
Stood for four long hours in a queue in the June sun...
It could have been longer...
Only Spouse was kind enough to finish the verification process earlier ......for Madrasgirl...
That took him about two hours of queuing up......

The rationale behind this card is still not clear....
It is not mandatory....say some...
But rumours abound that the card will be linked to the gas connection number and that linked to the card holder's bank account....
The Government of India will then credit the subsidy portion for the gas cylinders directly to the cardholder's account....
The consumer will pay the gas company the full amount...
And wait....for the subsidy component...to come flowing in once a year!!!!..

Why can't they just say...
We have no money in the coffers for subsidies....
 Seems like they are putting it off....
In the belief that....
When it is time to pay the Piper...
Another government will be installed and will have to deal with it!!!

In the meantime...
The crowds from Madrasgirl's locality surged forward....
Young and old alike...

In theory..
Senior Citizens do not have to wait in queue...
But as the folks manning the gates said...
Only if they are physically unable to stand!!!
They should be above 80 and preferably hold a walking stick in hand...
Or better still... arrive in a wheelchair..

But even this is an improvement on earlier times!!!

 Photograph taken..check...
Biometrics done...check...
Receipt received....check...
Now, the next step is to wait for the actual delivery of the cards...
These will be sent by ordinary post......
So we are once again at the mercy of forces beyond our control!!
Madrasgirl's mail is always thrown at some neighbor's gate!!!!!
Or perhaps even thrown away...who knows?.. the postman doesn't care....

Funny thing is...
In spite of the many cards of identification ...kept in a special folder...in the same Godrej cupboard as the jewellery.....
When it is time to travel...
Madrasgirl will once again... leave all her cards..safely behind...for sure....
At home!!!

Cheerio!

A Man by Many Other Names

So many definitions of the man:

His mother: He is an active child... very suru suruppu..

At work: He is a Type A personality

Psychologists would say: He suffers from ADHD

Son: why is he so hyper?

His wife: Hmmmm...

The Silver Statue....

One hears of so much at the workplace...
I heard this one.... only this morning...

It was Mahavir Jayanthi yesterday
Jains everywhere celebrated the birth anniversary....
Of Mahavir...the last Tirtankar....or one of the enlightened...

In Madras....
A silver statuette of Mahavir is auctioned....
Every year...

The highest bidder yesterday...
Paid a whopping six lakh and seventy five thousand rupees....
And took the statuette home...
To stay there with him ...

For a year? ... No...
A month?....Na...
A day?...Wrong again...
He could keep the statuette for an hour!!!!
And wealthy Marwaris in the city vie for the honour!!!

A strange turn to take...
For Mahavir...
Who turned away from his Kingdom and fortune and indeed all things material...
To focus on the spiritual....
To have his statuette auctioned and taken by the highest bidder...
For money.....
Wonder how he would feel about that......

The Company we keep...

A man is known by the company he keeps.. is an old saying..
Relevant even in this day and age..
If company can be extended to mean a corporate enterprise...

There has to be some 'sync' between a person's principles, opinions, values and mores...
And that of the corporate entity he or she works for...
 
Sometimes...
The match between the man and the corporate is perfect..
It happens almost naturally...
So..
Those with a social conscience may go work for an NGO...
Those interested in the environment may go work for Greenpeace...
Those interested in serving humanity....
May become doctors..nurses... teachers....

But often this is not the case.....

And like Madrasgirl...
One may end up having to write to Professors...
Emeritus Professors at that......
Men of science who have shared their learning....
In an article or two in a new book the company has published......
And ask them to choose between a free e-book download...
Which costs the company nothing....
Or a hard copy of the book...which will  mean cost + air freight!
And nudging them on to the cheaper option....

Feeling cheap all the while...
Because actually they deserve to get both...
Only...
The powers that rule the company think not!

Spouse and the Playback Singer!

This happened almost a decade ago...
Spouse came back home a little earlier than usual...one day.....
And he kept smiling to himself...
All evening long!
I had never seen him so smug and satisfied....ever..

What are you smiling about?... I had to ask...
And then he told me..

He had gone to Woodlands...the Drive-in..that is now no more...
There he saw PB Sreenivas....the playback singer...
The one with the different voice....
Very popular in the Tamil movies of the late 50s and 60s....

PBS was just finishing his meal....
This was not the first time that Spouse had seen him there...
There were both regulars at that place!
Somehow..this time...
Spouse picked up courage...
Walked up to PBS at his table...and....
Seated himself there...

And then Spouse told PBS...
You are my favourite playback singer...
Today you are going to do something for me...
Today you are going to sing....
ONLY for me...

PBS was a real sport...
Which song should I sing? he asked..

Spouse wanted...
Nilavey yennidam nerungathe...
Nee ninaikkum edathil naan illai....
And he sang!!! A special performance only for Spouse...

It must have been pure magic....
The artiste-fan relationship is a special one indeed...
And Spouse treasured that meeting...

This morning...
Spouse was downcast...
PBS had passed away on Sunday...Tamil New Year's day....
He was 82...just...
And the papers had a report this morning...
Avar indha idathai vitteh poivittar...
Said Spouse who is usually bereft of such flowery forms of expression...

RIP PBS....

A mid-week holiday!

One of my favourite things...
Is a holiday in the middle of the week...
For a festival I do not celebrate...
A sudden spurt of joyous anticipation....
 A whole day..
To hold and savour!!
 Perhaps I should do what I used to do as a child...
Go look for fairies under the mango tree!!!
Cheerio!

Humour in office!

Sweatshop humour is of a special kind!
At one of those monthly review meetings...
Publishers and editors burst into loud guffaws of raucous laughter!
 The reason...
The secretary had made a typo!

She had typed in tests as testes!
This was in a sentence that went: I checked the testes of several candidates, but could not find a suitable one...


The women..ranging in age from 28 to 63...were in splits..
Much to the embarrassment of the two young male executives in their late 20s...
Whose presence was forgotten and then ignored...
As they turned a funny shade of red!!

Strange...only two of us were unmoved..
 Is it because we edit medical textbooks??

 No... I think I just stopped laughing at jokes that involved body parts...
Scatological jokes included... a long while ago...
Find them funny no more, no more...
Maybe I never have!!!

And you?