We have moved!

I'm participating in #FindMyAlexa, organized by Blog Chatter. Was having trouble including Shareaholic here, so decided to shift to Wordpress.

I now have my own domain! Come visit at nutatut.com. Dropped the hyphens as friends said people often find them cumbersome to type :-)

People coming for the Find My Alexa activty, please visit nutatut.com and comment on posts there.

Thanks!

I'll miss this blog though. My first... I started it all the way back in 2006.

The awesome Anu Aga

The Women Writers' Festival yesterday had some inspiring sessions. Anu Aga stole the show, with Rashmi Shukla coming a close second. The session where social media influencers spoke and editors had a discussion were also eye opening.

Anu Aga, who had headed Thermax, rightly pointed out that women don't show anger. In her time, the sole approved ambition of a woman was to 'marry and produce.' She talked about everyone in class had interesting ambitions, but 'when my turn came, I said I want to marry and produce, because that's the only thing I was told I could do.'

Anu spoke of work as being a means of self expression. When her father scolded her for contradicting her husband in public, her husband said that he had not married a 'rubber stamp.' He seemed to have been the wind beneath her wings.

That's how Anu, who hates math and still counts on her fingers, got the will to head Thermax after her husband passed away. Since you can't get 'apples from an orange tree,' she managed Thermax her way rather than trying to be a carbon copy of her husband.

'Never has a man brought me down,' she said, telling us of how a man she met at a dinner said 'Thermax was bound to turn around, because our prayers were with you.'

Anu's advice for women

'Make shameless use of everyone.' We have a great support system in India- mothers-in-law, servants, etc.

Her mother-in-law couldn't understand her working, as she felt that only women who needed to work for financial reasons did so.

Although Anu was into social work in Mumbai and then socializing when she moved to Pune, her family approved of her working in Thermax. Her husband found her 'more interesting,' her children called her a 'better mother' as she 'nagged less!'

Anu's advice for women at work

Be yourself. Don't be aggressive towards other women, like she often sees is the case at the workplace.
Don't make gender an issue. If you're not promoted, don't jump to think that it's because a woman- that may or may not be the case. Even men feel disappointed when they're not promoted.
 
'Even in Parliament women don't follow the rules. Instead of raising their hand before asking a question they directly shoot a question and when the Speaker doesn't allow it, they say you never allow women to ask questions.'

 Don't misuse laws for women. 'No one can rape you for years.'

Put boundaries at work. If you don't want a man to hug you at work, say no without escalating matters.

Take care of yourself, no one else will.

Learn to love yourself.

Anuisms

Husbands who say they work late to get their wives diamonds, should ask their wives whether they'd prefer quality time with husbands or diamonds.

The only difference between men and women is their plumbing.

Women often feel guilty then feel it's Ok to repeat their behaviour since they've done penance by feeling guilty.

My sh@# doesn't smell as bad as it did.

I hope at 75 I can be as vivacious as her!

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Commuter

My heart sinks when I think of you
The hour that's between us two.'
Home and work, will the twain meet?
Mine but to trudge there, rain or sleet.

Open Ola while wolfing breakfast
If he comes on time, pack the rest.
Explain everyday where I'm to be found
Still sometimes the dolt goes round and round.

Jammed in a shared cab with fellow sufferers
We wall ourselves with cell phone bricks
Now I know all the tricks
To cutting time

"Please put the radio on," I sing
Then I hear another's phone ring.
Sometimes I run my chore calls
Knowing others helplessly eavesdrop. Balls.

As the dust dives in through windows open
I wait for the others to mouths open
The air con can be a joke
Stifling. The choice? Choke.

Traffic at the University turn
Is when I check Twitter on the run
Inch by painful inch we advance
Patience is a virtue, I chant.

I shift my aching knees in vain
To find a spot of relief in chains
As the others get off at their stops
I slide across seats free now, the sun to crop.

Those detours for others do delay
It saves money, mind to heart relays
The green on the way soothes for a sec
To dissolve when the car brakes. Heck!

Walking in to work, I'm already pooped
Rush to the loo, to recoup.
With such a start to the day
Any wonder, I wanna run away?

Worrying

Crow thoughts pick my eyes out
When I try to sleep.

Youth

I wish I could tear the skin off your face
It reminds me of mine when I was young.

In tandem

If only
My legs could run as fast on the treadmill
As my mind does all the time
I'd have the figure I think about.

Strawberries and Cream

Red.
Juicy.
Firm.
I bite into you
My mouth
Flooding with
Sweet and sourness.
With cream
You cool me
My favourite
Menage a trois.

Reading the waters

When I begin a book
I dip my toes in it
Soon I'm drowning
Becoming the hero
The heroine
The villain
In the world beneath.
The water
Seeps out of me
When I come out
Forgetting how
To be myself.

Bee is me

I flit from article to link
Seeking knowledge nectar.
Getting dizzy high
With information overload.

Morning haiku

Dark sky
Lightens in blue
Like my mood.

Tree haiku

A tree
Arms stretched
Like a flower.

Vday flowers

Fresh flowers from you
Made my heart bloom.

Channeling anger

Putting the treadmill plug in
Pulls the plug on my anger
Potential energy to kinetic
Blurs my feeling.

One angry woman

The anger inside me
Fights to get out
I'm its bottle
But sometimes my cork mouth
Flies off in air
And it shapes words vile
That fly to their marks
Settle on their chosen perches
As I look at the havoc I've wreaked
I try to pick up the pieces
Of what were once humans.

Twelve Angry Jurors

Watched a play after a year. Twelve Angry Jurors doesn't roll as easily off the tongue as Twelve Angry Men, the original play, but it can accommodate women. Watching it as an adult, I absorbed it more than the last time round, as a child. I think I watched the Hindi film Ek Ruka Hua Faisla.

It reminded me of corporates today. How few times we have the courage to say no. But when we do and others come around to our point of view, how satisfying it is to know we've stuck to our guns and were right.

A play is like watching a match live. You can watch it on TV, just like you can watch a movie based on a play, but it's not the same. Knowing that you can reach out and touch the actors, that's it's unfolding in front of you makes you feel part of the action more than if you were chomping on popcorn in the hall.

The production quality was good. There was a screen in the backdrop, where the visuals changed according to the story. Initially I revolted against it- am not a fan of mixing media. They used it to show a scene where a few characters were talking in the loo.

Perhaps showing it live would have taken too much time- changing the set. We are called upon to exercise our imagination less these days. Still, the set looked sophisticated. I was beginning to get reconciled to the astronomical sum we had paid for tickets.

The acting was by and large good. Rajit Kapur was powerful, as was his stocky opponent. A couple of characters had small roles, so couldn't judge their acting. It was interesting to see the shift in power- after the interval the majority became the minority.

The play was also adapted to India, with some Hinglish and Indian references to cricket matches and so on. That too helped make the play feel more real and contemporary.

It was presented by Adyam of Aditya Birla- great initiative. Here's to Rage and Nadir Khan coming out with more such polished productions- look forward to lesser known scripts being staged next time.

Pune Litfest 2016

Quite enjoyed the litfest this time too. Was sad that I couldn't make it for the Neil Hollander workshop on writing though. Kulpreet Yadav's session which was a semi workshop was a surprise consolation.

Caught the fag end of the Astrology workshop and found it quite interesting, specially the slide on how to handle different Zodiac signs. Cancerians are insecure, Librans are indecisive...hmm. Saggi with let them be free and Leo- flatter them, were no surprise :-)

Enjoyed the exercises on writing like trying to connect 4 images. Might do that as more of a practice, it was helpful and new. Forces you to be more detailed.

Thoroughly enjoyed the Shakespeare quiz. Felt good to be quizzing after a year and got some cool Shakespeare coasters.

On Sunday, I liked the Roald Dahl quiz. It's great to see kids today love him too. Happy 100th birth year, Dahling! Hope you're scandalizing the angels up there.

Liked the Books for Bricks stall by CRY on the lawn and the Enid Blyton exhibition too.

Also surprisingly enjoyed the session on crime. Want to read Helen Smith- her woman detective sounds interesting. Mr. Kumar's real life insights in the CBI and crime fighting was the stuff thrillers are made of.

The poetry slam session was OKish. Liked one poet who performed about salsa and flirting. The exercise on 5 things you hate was revealing though.

The Brazilian music, dance, martial art medley on the lawn was also fun.

I like the intimacy of this festival, with the workshops. That's something JLF doesn't have.

Staycation

Have been having a whale of a staycation. The trick is to not stay so much at home :-)

Went to the mall on Saturday and spent 7 hours there...reminded me of Delhi days. Hubby had a great birthday with mango cake and a fireworks candle.

Sunday- finally went to the writers' meeting I'd always wanted to go to...soaked in Pagdandi's atmosphere...admired it's thatched ceiling and wooden bookshelves. Quite an action oriented group- we were supposed to write on one of four prompts- a poem emerged on hope which I was quite happy with.

Meet the same people at events of a similar nature- finally remebered had met one of them at the Pune lit fest.

Checked out the new mall and took a selfie with the Johnny Bravo lookalike mascot. Had a 7 layer burrito which seemed more Indian than Mexican.

Went for an art exhibition and saw one painting which stayed with me- a clock in an eye.

Legs gave way then... so headed home to a gabfest with a gal pal overseas.

Monday- Had an awesome foot massage which used acupressure...am still feeling fresh. Finally went to Funky Kona, which lived upto it's name, although the food was so-so.

Watched most of Now you see me 2, which I liked, surprisingly. Once you get over the fact that you need to unwillingly suspend disbelief, the magic stunts, by their sheer novelty and sleight of hand, endear themselves.

Trying to download it, but sadly the dear old gov has blocked all promising links.

Today- Caught up on some research, wrote here, enjoyed the rainy day and finished watching 21 grams. Sean Penn...mmm. Cooked.

Tomorrow's open.

Varying candy leisure time with work helps make it sweeter.

PS- My first gif in a blog post- woo hoo!

New year, new things

It has truly been kairos, going back to Cal. Meeting family and friends, watching plays, etc. Enjoyed seeing the Ashtavinayak temples when I came back to Pune. They were all so different and inspiring. Ganesh ji was sometimes in warrior mode, and sometimes genial. It was truly a road trip- we spent most of the 2 days on the road, the 8 temples each took about 15 minutes. Just the one in the Buddhist caves took an hour, as we had to climb 100 steps to reach it.

Enjoyed Hannah Silva's talk in Pune. British Council got her when she came for the Tata litfest in Mumbai. Deconstruction in action- she plays around with words as sounds, using them as echoes to create new meanings.

Just from this one statistic- 40% of those who are amputated in war go back to war, she created a chilling performance piece, with the refrain It's a positive thing, ringing in my ears still.

Sometimes leaving out vowels, sometimes consonants, her staccato speech pressured language to explode in new realms of what is possible to express thoughts.

Also did some local sightseeing- Vohuman Cafe was a serendipitous find. Also went to Fergie- reminded me of College. Did University today- scored some beautiful trees, in dramatic poses near the Performing Arts Department :-)

Ravi Gulati’s Manzil

I first heard Ravi Gulati, founder of Manzil (an NGO for educating underprivileged children), speak at Delhi School of Economics. His piercing eyes captured me. Although other speakers had Powerpoints, he simply spoke.

And his words hit home. He talked about how he explained to the villagers of Ghad, at the foothills of Dehradun, who had studied only to Class IV, that after Class XII he had studied further, Class XII etc for college years and then for IIM A.

They were amazed. What did you study for such a long time? He had no answer.

Perhaps that’s why Ravi founded Manzil in 1997. At that time, in 2005, over 80 children would come to his house in Khan Market, to learn. I want to help too, I told him. Come over, he said.

When I went over one weekend to Manzil, the first thing that struck me after I climbed the stairs was a beautiful mural of a tree. There was peace in the air. It was very organized. They put up a notice that I would teach English on weekends. About ten children signed up for my class.

I taught them grammar. They were bright and hungry to learn. They were overjoyed when they got good marks on a test I gave. We want help with spoken English, they said. We would practice shopping expeditions on the terrace.

I looked out for them, and helped them later too. One boy, Manoj, began making candles. I got him a stall at a b-school Diwali mela. Another child was painfully shy, because he had studied in a Hindi medium and now had shifted to an English medium school. Break up the letters, I told him. Then you’ll be able to pronounce them easier. His reading improved, and so did the volume at which he read.

Ravi would come and go. I think he had a family member who was differently abled, perhaps that’s why he set up Manzil, to help children like her.

Although I gave tuitions later on to other children, they were never as satisfying as the ones I gave at Manzil. I felt as if I was making a bigger difference there. The children would laugh at my Hindi, and correct me. So I learnt while teaching too.

I even ended up teaching Economics in Hindi! Whatever the children needed. Some, like Anish, even came back and helped run Manzil and teach other children. They danced, acted, made films, learnt their way around a computer too.

It is a happy place.

Next is Us- The LG Nexus 5

Our phones are our lives now. They’re what we reach for in the morning, spend the most time with, and sleep next to at night. Spouses feel left out when we pay more attention to our phones than to them.

But a phone has to be worthy of such attention, right? Who’s going to waste time on a non smartphone? Here’s one with killer looks- the LG Nexus 5! So you can feel good just by looking at it and watching others look at it.

But what good are looks without performance, right? Does your nosy family like to snoop on your phone? Keep them out delicately with the super efficient Fingerprint Sensor.

Selfie time! The great megapixels in the camera will make you look gorgeous for Facebook. It’s a good way to capture moments and store them in your phone, to show to relatives later, with explanations.

What’s the number one bugbear when it comes to smartphones? Battery. You can do these amazing things, but only for a while. The reversible USB Type C charger works scarily fast, so that you don’t have to twiddle your thumbes for long, and can get back to playing Plants vs Zombies 2!

Android rocks- there are more apps on it and it is more open than that fruit. What’s better then than a Google phone? Nothing. With updates as soon as they are out, you’re sure to be the first to enjoy the benefit of a phone that just keeps getting smarter.

A smartphone is a bit like a marriage- choose carefully, else you could be facing the three year itch a lot sooner than you thought you would. So, check this phone out for yourself and I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed. Have fun establishing a nexus with this one against the world. 

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