Commuting – The BART Way

My dear friend has yet again posted a wonderful piece of blog –  http://understandingfortytwo.blogspot.com/2011/07/ride-in-delhi-metros-pink-compartment.html And I must admit that she has done a great job in weaving a colorful landscape of the ladies compartment of the Delhi Metro.

Delhi Metro … it is a monument in itself… it represents , in many ways,  the quintessential Delhi… - It is grand… it is mystic… it is colorful… and it is loud…! And I can definitely take pride in telling that I have been a witness to this historical movement which would change the face of Delhi…. for ever… and for best…! For me, Delhi Metro has been love at first sight… there was no looking back ever… ! Metro ride is an experience… It travels through cultures… religions… and qualifications. It is a tribute to the human spirit…. to those who built it and to those who travel in it….! But now I am not in Delhi... and Metro is one of the many things that I miss about my city... !!

At times I really missed those interesting metro trips... and longed to be back in Delhi (NCR) ... and then one day .... BART happened … :)

Bay Area Rapid Transport (BART) brings the bay area together… it connects the bay area going right through the San Francisco Bay….! Considering the difficult non-uniform terrain of San Francisco bay area, the construction of BART is truly a great chapter in the history of civil engineering. The purpose of BART and Delhi Metro are exactly the same…. BART was conceptualized to handle the traffic congestion trans bay… and so was Delhi Metro … to take care of growing number of traffic bottlenecks in NCR (National Capital Region) … !

Before my first trip in BART, I had this misconception that the working population in the Bay Area do not use public transportation for commuting….! But considering the average weekday ridership of 341,151 passengers (data courtesy wiki)... I realized that… it was just that.. a misconception…. :)

Just like any other public transport… traveling in BART… is a learning experience… and more so for me…  because this is altogether a new world for me… ! As per the geography, I am globe away from my home… but as per the growth and development… I am at least a few years away …!  But the crowd that I travelled with in Delhi Metro… and the crowd I travel with now are remarkably similar… in many ways… ! In mornings... they are anxious to reach office in time... and in evening... they hurry back home...!! Sometimes they look happy and relaxed.. at others they may be sad , worried or confused..  other times they appear plain bored... excited... or even sleepy... ! I am actually amazed at the myriad of human emotions that I get to observe... and that there are as so many individuals and yet they belong together…!   And somehow... after a very long time I feel belonged... and I feel at home....!

Different phases of life...

Life evolves continuously and consistently... with every passing day... ! Today is different from yesterday... and it will not be same tomorrow...! We can,at best, categorize and classify life in phases.... And even though every 'phase' itself is in a state of flux... life can still be considered uniform to some extent and same over these small slices of time... !

I can roughly divide my life in following phases, which are distinctive and special. Each of these phases have significant contribution in my character-building and on my perspective towards life.

1. Sanehi-Sadan (My ancestral home where I grew up and completed my schooling)

2. School

3. Patna

4. Competition

5. B.I.T. (Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra)

6. Chennai

7. Newly married

8. Single in the City

9. and the present phase - 'On a break' :)

I have grown over these phases and matured gradually...! I have discovered myself... steadily and slowly... bit by bit... ! 

Every phase gets over sooner or later... and all it leaves behind are memories... some good and some bad... but irrespective... these memories are the moments that we remember from past... and they make us who we are today... ! 

Every outburst that I have... the mood swings that I get... my outlook... my reaction... my perspective... my insecurities... and my strengths... every single thing that makes me - 'me' - can be traced back to some moments in my past ... so my past explains me... and my memories are the cheat codes to unlock me and every trait of my personality... !

Where The Mind is Without Fear ...

WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 

By Rabindranath Tagore

"Spring" is finally here...

It has been cold for a long time now... right from October end...!!! But for past two weeks ... the weather has been real bad... gloomy and chilly...!!  Though in February end... weather started to get warmer and just when we hoped to see 'Spring' finally round the corner... it took a bad turn... !! Ahhh... the daily rains... and the cloudy sky... and no sunlight... it has been real disappointing... !!

Yesterday... I checked the weather forecast for the week... and to no respite.... it would be raining for most of days in this week... !! Can't do much about it.... !! And my spring time gardening will have to wait... :( I was slowly giving up hope when I stepped into my terrace garden to check on my plants... but here I was in for a huge happy surprise... all smiles... :)) ....

I see the first blooms of the season... :) Bright Yellow... and Bright Purple...  clean and distinct... and I am ecstatic... :) Here I see...that the colors are coming back... slowly but steadily.... !! It may be bit delayed... but spring should be here soon... with all its colors and warmth... so the hope need not be lost yet... :)

I love everything about spring... I love the bright colors... I love the warmth of the sun... the clear blue skies.... and I so love that sweet scent in the air.... wow...!!

Yes... I am the breadwinner...!

It happened on one of the Saturdays... around 2-3 years back... ! He was some survey guy... the kind who goes from door to door and collects answers for survey questions and also the contact informations...! I have this hunch that these are the places from where your contact information is leaked and then you get a zillion promotional messages/calls everyday... for everything from 'easy money' to 'perfect life partner'...! And I absolutely hate any and every such messages/calls... !

Though the fear of yet another promotional call is quite a reason for turning down any such survey requests whatsoever... there is another reason too... a personality trait... my impatience...!  I tend to lose patience...very quickly !

Long story short... I am not fond of any random surveys... and definitely not on a Saturday morning...! But here he was... standing on my door and asking me all sorts of questions... ! Under any normal circumstances ... I would have turned him down... and that too not so politely...  but for once... I was trying to be polite... and understand his point of view... and also appreciate his effort... :)

He started with the questions... first my name and mobile number which I provided hesitantly... then my education and so on...!  I was happy to help... and he was happy to increase his head count by one... ! 

The survey was going on fine... at least it appeared so... until he asked me..."Who is the breadwinner of the family?" and I promptly replied... "me"... He looked up from the questionnaire sheet to my face... and then he looked beyond me to the dinning table... where my husband and my brother were having brunch and reading the newspaper... and he repeated the question... little loudly..."Who is the breadwinner of the family... Maam?" and looked at me expectantly for the *RIGHT* answer...! 

In that one moment... I felt betrayed... cheated and insulted... ! Here I am... trying to help him... and here he is... looking through me... as if I do not exist... ! Whatever happened to my engineering degree... to my professional qualifications... and to my enviable salary package? Does nothing matter... just because I am a woman? 

Is he the only one who has asked me this question... is he the first one who has asked this question? No... definitely not... ! By now... I should have gotten used to this question... just that I am not YET ready to give in... I am not YET ready to surrender... ! I have worked very hard to create a place for myself... I have slogged for hours and days and months to have a standing of my own... I have fought my way up against all hurdles...! And I am not letting go any of it... not yet... not ever...!

And so I looked straight into his eyes... and replied "Yes... I am THE breadwinner... Indeed"! 

The Road Not Taken...

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

A typical weekend brunch.. !!

My favorite weekend getaway brunch is Puffed Rice Pilaf (Poha) ... easy and quick to prepare and at the same time...  quite filling and wholesome... !! What more can I ask on a lazing weekend... :)

Car... more cars and still more cars....!!!

My brother is one of the most important influences on me… I have learnt a lot of things from him… there are few that he is aware of … but there are more that he is not… :)

He is the one who got me hooked to the cars… !! I love cars … sure I can never match his intrigue and detailing… but still I do love cars… :)

Whenever we traveled together on road… we would compete with each other to guess the brand, model and make of cars on the road… and of course he would always win… !! If ever we are found enjoying television together… it has to be one of those auto show (we have very few common TV shows… )!!

It was my husband who taught me how to drive a car… but it is my brother who taught me all about cars… !! Knowingly he would explain the exteriors, the interiors, the engine and the stepney (spare tyre)… but unknowingly also the car-servicing, petrol pumps (gas stations) and even how to change a flat tyre…!!

Now we live very far away… but every time a ‘car’ catches my eyes… I remember him… and our times together… it sure was so much fun… !!

Coming back to ‘cars’… recently I got a chance to visit an auto show – Silicon Valley International Auto Show 2011 (at San Jose McEnery Convention Center)… and it definitely was an experience… simply WOW… !! It felt as if I was standing in some ocean of cars... and more cars and still more cars…  :D!!

Under one roof... there were HONDA, TOYOTA, INFINITI, LEXUS, NISSAN, JAGUAR, VOLKSWAGEN, SUBARU, BMW, MERCEDES, GM, CHEVROLET, CHRYSLER, FORD, MAZDA, ACURA, SCION, LOTUS, HYUNDAI, LINCOLN and also BENTLEY, ASTON MARTIN, LAMBORGHINI, FERRARI and of course ROLLS ROYCE...! These are all the brands that I remember... but I may have missed a few!! The auto show sure was sumptuous... though I still wished for a PORSCHE and an ALPHA ROMEO... :)

All in all it was such a breath-taking exposure… and I loved every moment of it... !!

And I made pasta...

Cooking has suddenly become an important part of my daily life... to the extent that I am even contemplating to pursue some culinary courses... (more on my new found passion later... :D) ... !! In fact one of the daily highs for me is deciding the menu for the dinner... and once I finalize the menu... I diligently do some research on the recipes and the next step is to collect ingredients and then follows the initial preparation before I can start to cook...!!

Vartika and Arti might remember my sudden craving for pasta at lunch time... and also my quick resorting to Maggie Pasta :) ... and yes... Maggie Rocks...!! Exactly like one of those days... yesterday I again had this craving for pasta... and because I did not have Maggie Pasta in my reserve and also because I could expense some time for creativity... 'Pasta' was to be my dinner offering... !!

And then started the multiple level of choices... like which pasta... - Penne or Rivoli or Spaghetti ?? ...which sauce... - White or Red ?? and so on... :)

It took me an hour and half... ONLY for the initial preparation.... and once I was done with organizing/collecting/preparing the raw material...the colors caught my eyes... !! WOW... it had so many colors... red... yellow... green... white... off-white... pink-red... onion-pink... reddish-brown... !! And even without the cooking.... the food looked rich and wholesome...!! It was definitely a visual treat... :)

Another 40-45 minutes to cook and pasta was ready to be served...  it did look quite sumptuous... and delicious... and I was happy... but it was when I finally served the 'surprise' dinner and saw the twinkle in his eyes... that I realized ... the effort was well spent ... !!