Swetha Banda

Earlier, I had always made my qualms about auto drivers very well known.  I detest their arrogance and their rude behaviour. So I had decided I would not take anymore autos unless absolutely necessary. Yesterday, was one of those days.  I was getting ready to go to class on my Scooty, when the rain gods decided that they had other plans. Just when I was about to leave, it started pouring cats and dogs. It was too late to take a bus. So, I was left with no choice other than to take the damn auto. Luckily for me, it wasn't easy to get one. And the ride left me reconsidering my hatred towards autodrivers. This guy was very courteous. He spoke fluent English. And he was asking me which route I preferred. Whoa!! Who does that? :P On the way, he stopped to buy fruits. After doing so, he apologized for delaying me, and went on to explain that he was on his way to pick up some lady. And everytime he went there, she always offered him something and he thought it was only fair that he should...

Re-uploaded this song once again.  Waqt ne kiya | Upload Music

I stepped into the post office and I travelled back by 15 years in time. The ancient ceiling fans, the wooden furniture, the banyan tree just outside, the low doors and high ceilings, it was right out of the champak, tinkle and gokulam world. The postmen in their khakhi coats were all sitting around a big wooden table on their wooden benches and were sorting out the letters. Their bicycles were parked under the banyan tree.  It was such a different scene from the plush corporate, air conditioned, thickly carpeted, glass offices where you get greeted with a fake "How may I help you?". This actually felt real, like something you would immediately associate with a typical Indian scene. Laughing postmen, gossiping women, some old retired men standing in queue, and absolutely no youngsters in sight. This took me back to the time when I was a little girl with big dreams. I used to wait for the postman to make his daily rounds every afternoon, hoping that he would have something for...

It was a typical rainy evening in Bangalore. Pouring rain, flooded roads, scurrying people and scanty lights. I was on my way home. I was standing under the same tree that shed flowers on me four months back, during spring. I should have just gone home and stayed dry. But instead I did something completely pointless. I chose to stand in rain. I chose to get totally drenched. I wanted to feel every nerve in my body come alive. I just stood there for I don't know how long. As I stood there in the pouring rain, I forgot about everything that was happening around me. I forgot where I was and I didn't bother about how many people were around me. The only thing I could feel was the rain and the tears that were rolling down my cheeks and the sadness in my heart. And none of it felt out of place. It felt good to feel alive.

I had it all meticulously planned. I would leave office at 2, walk to Ginger, go to Marathahalli and take another to Hebbal and then I'd take an auto. I had to meet someone at 4 and this was my plan of action. It was all turning out quite well. It was a nice and bright sunny day. When i left office at 2, I was glad it was scorching hot. Unlike the last few days, there wasn't a speck of cloud in the sky. Nothing could go wrong with my planning. So I headed off to Marathahalli and since it was my lucky day, I had a bus to Hebbal waiting for me. I got in. Still really hot and sunny. I usually don't like the heat but today i wasn't complaining. I was making good time. There was a lady conductor in the bus and I had a feeling I had seen her before. I went back in time and tried to re-trace my steps back to 2008 to try and remember where she fit in the time-frame of my life. A few seconds later I remembered I used to travel by her bus when I was in MCC. Since the bus was quit...

"I have no regrets, says porn star" That was the main headline in the paper today. Big and bold. Well, I have no issues with the porn star not having any regrets with her way of life. I think its perfectly alright. But what I don't understand is, how is it relevant to my life, and to the thousands of other normal, middle class people sitting down to read the paper. I admit, I did end up reading the whole article. And undeniably, this kind of news increases readership. But what has happened to our sensibilities? Where has normal, intelligent news gone? Why don't we want to read anything sensible these days? I turned the pages of the paper. Page after page has news about random celebrities and gossip about them. I don't really care if a certain celebrity has gained a few pounds and yet wanted to pose in a bikini. I am sure a lot of magazines are there specifically for this kind of news. Daily news, really? Well, I am not being some kind of moral police here, but I r...

I read this passage in the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. The passage is taken from Family Happiness by Leo Tolstoy. He was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others.. "I have lived through much, and now i think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet, secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour - such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of one desire? " Seems like its my idea of happiness too.....