Crafts, leisure and happiness

I've been living in the USA for a while now and like most NRIs I miss Namma Bengaluru a lot. Notice I did not say "home". I don't do that anymore. For now USA is my home where I have my space, my life and I feel most at-home at my home here. But there is that eternal longing to return. There's also that nostalgia when I hear a particular song or eat a particular food but those are just momentary and they pass. I'm pretty sure though, that if I move and make my home in Bengaluru, I will feel most at-home there. I do make it a point to visit Bengaluru often and after the initial couple of days of just-returned-from-the-states attitude (which I'm pretty sure annoys my sister), I begin to notice how things ARE getting better there. The roads are not as clogged, the people are driving better, there is just a little bit more greenery than the previous visit and the roads are cleaner. I saw more sensitivity among people driving. The "Me first" attitud...

The last couple of mornings have been gray mornings. I don't like to call them gloomy because I actually like gray days. Maybe it's a Bangalore thing, most Bangaloreans I know love the rain and rainy days or maybe I'm just nostalgic and missing home. It might be because of the fresh smell that the rain brings or the cleaner green leaves on the trees or the fact that it gets a little quieter in the neighbourhood during the rain. Or maybe it's the sound of the rain. I would stand on the balcony (picture taken on one such day) in my house with a cup of freshly brewed ginger tea and just stare into the distance and listen to the pitter patter and the many different sounds it brings with it. The sound of the rain falling on the railings, the sound of the water flowing out of the water spouts. Even the sound of the vegetable seller calling out in the distance is different when it rains. Or I'd sit on the bed by the window with my feet tucked under me, reading a book wh...

During my recent trip to India I had the opportunity to travel to Chennai from Bangalore (in Brindavan Express) and I realized I'm a rookie train traveller in India. That's the lowest level of expertise in train travelling in India, then there is the regular traveller, the frequent traveller and the expert traveller. The rookie train traveller "tries" to buy tickets online, does not understand the various quotas (s)he can fit to buy tickets from, does not know what a waitlist means and that a waitlist for tickets bought online is different from a waitlist for tickets bought at a counter and that if (s)he is waitlisted even after chart preparation it means that (s)he is not on any list if the tickets were bought online and is considered to not have a ticket and has to restart the process or look for some other train or means of travel. That's what happened to me. Then the TT (that stands for Ticket ...er .... ummm... Checker?) told me to read the fine print from th...

Did you know that all BMTC buses have tracking devices installed in them. And CL Infotech has provided a service that allows the public to find out where the bus they are waiting for is, whenever they want. I think this is pretty amazing and useful if you use the BMTC service. Currently this service is available only to track Volvo buses. Hopefully they will upgrade soon. All you have to do is SMS the service with the route number and you will get an update immediately (while running from your home to the bus-stop). So here is the link with the details. Spread the word. This website also has route info http://www.clinf.com/yi/YI_BMTC/Index.html

I absolutely love visiting a craft supplies store out here in the USA. For one thing it kindles my creativity and another, its fun just going over the hordes of stuff that people do and need supplies for. I'm sure most people from India would feel the same way. I remember when I was in school and needed supplies for a project all I had to do was run to the neighborhood "fancy" store, yeah that's what they were called, atleast in Bangalore, and ask for the specific item I was looking for. If I needed craft paper (or more aptly color paper) there was only 1 kind, at the most 2 and one kind of glue and one kind of card board - K.G card board (if that's the way it is spelt and hmm, I wonder why it was called that). Every aunty I knew in my neighborhood had an interest in art and craft. My mom knew how to emboss on metal, to sew and knit and my neighbors and family friends could knit, crochet, paint on canvas, on cloth, on ceramics, embroider, whole saris sometimes, m...