Different Strokes 2

Pappa Pappa.....

My sweetie, cutie pie, darling, honey, sweet heart, little princess Chinni wakes up in the morning and screams "pappaaa, papppppaa, pappa.....". And guess what ? I am in bathroom taking shower. What to do ?

Another addiction

Chinni gets addicted, to anything, so soon. I am much worried about it. Hoping she doesn't get addicted to shopping!!! As of now, the latest addiction is her video itself. Have a glimpse of it. We had been to Bangalore Central just before my travel to HK. While Nanda was busy picking up dresses, Chinni enjoyed the songs played shaking her legs and I was busy videoing her!

Enjoy the video.

Mispronunciation

Have you heard children mispronounce ? It's very cute, however wrong they are. Chinni also mispronounce many words. She has a big difficulty when is comes to phone, photo, fan, fish and other words starting with "fa". She pronounces as "shone", "shoto", "shan", "sish"  and we laugh like anything. Some times we too refer phone as shone.

And also she can't say TV. With ease she utters TD. However and whatever it is, we love the way she speaks and pronounces them rightly or wrongly. After all, who is perfect ?

Johnny Johnny...

Date: 30-Aug-2010 Time: 10.30pm
Pappa: Johnny Johnny
Chinni: Yes pappa
Pappa: eating sugar
Chinni: no pappa
Pappa: telling lie
Chinni: no pappa
Pappa: open your mouth
Chinni: ahh ha hahhaa

Pappa and Ammi: Very good, very good
Chinni: blushes with smile 

ಬವ್ವಾ ಬಂತು

Children don't sleep in a normal way. You got to make them sleep by telling stories, singing songs or a habit of its own. There are situations when they are scared to go to sleep or the evil would come, pick her and go away. Getting scared to this evil, ಬವ್ವಾ in kannada language, they pretend to sleep. The most amazing part is when they pretend, after some time they are asleep. Wish elders could have this characteristics.

Chinni is no different in her sleeping habit. Its been very difficult to make her sleep. When she was aged between 6 months - 1 year, that was the hardest time. It was nearly impossible she would sleep as per our convenience. Now she has normalized a lot. But the struggle still exist and the only way left out is to scare her a bit. So the lights are off, she has gulped a bottle of milk, the phone is singing rhymes and Chinni's eyes are still wide open. Inviting ಬವ್ವಾ is the last resort left. She sleeps after scrolling over ammi and pappa couple of times.

But there are times when even this last resort doesn't work. Chinni tells us "ಬವ್ವಾ ಬಂತು, ಮಕ್ಕೋ" (the evil has come sleep). We should pretend that we are afraid and sleep!!!

Chance Pe Sleep

It's hard to watch movies having a baby sitting beside. Being it in theater or at home, they simply don't allow to watch us movies. In fact, not only movies, it could be anything on tv. Children, especially babies, need your 100% attention. The very second it knows your concentration has drifted, you are in trouble.

So are we both. Its been ages that we both have enjoyed a complete movie in theater or on tv. Atleast Nanda hasn't. During my "married bachelor's" life of 3 months in HK, I have watched like hell. Most of my laptop's memory is filled with good/junk/time pass/romantic/thriller/mystery/comedy movies. I can manage watching them on laptop and no fetish to visit a theater. A different story with Nanda, unless she watches them on theater ,"there is no fun".

Just to give a try, I booked tickets for My Name is Khan and took Chinni along with us. The first half was simply superb, the movie and as well as dealing Chinni, because she was sleeping!!! No sooner the interval came, Chinni gave one to her sleep and hell broke out. I had to take her out and walk along the corridor. There were people waiting for next show, who played with Chinni and gave her lot of compliments. I enjoyed the compliments, after all she is my daughter :), but Nanda enjoyed the rest of the movie. I had told her to forget "movies in theater" for the next 5 year then. And now that we are in HK, its absolutely impossible.

Going with my decision to watch Chance Pe Dance on laptop, Nanda had no other option. So Saturday was the best day, sorry night. Chinni slept around 11 pm and night show started without pop corns. Reducing volume when a song came, increasing it when there were only dialogues, skipping song sequences, checking if sound was reaching Chinni were other things we did throughout the movie. Finally, the movie had a happy ending at 1.30 am. It feels good when you sit through the entire movie and happy ending is what you get!!! You deserve!!!

Okay, "what is this blog all about ?" might be your question. Here comes the main part of the story. Sunday morning 6 am, rings the alarm. Now nobody can make this alarm stop, because its none other than Chinni. "What do you expect Chinni ? Pappa and Ammi watched movie till late night. Please allow them to sleep for some more time honey" was our sincere plead, which was rejected promptly.

Message of the blog: Chance Pe Sleep. Just sleep when your baby is sleeping. Missing this opportunity is definitely asking for a trouble.

Don't dare fight with me

Don't dare to fight with me, I know how to escape from your attack, throw you down and kick your butt.

Its everybody's dream to kick the troubling ass, I dreamt too. Was always fascinated watching Jackie, Jet Li and other's Kung Fu skills. Remember the way people fly in The Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon ?, not possible to fly like them (not because I am hefty, because it requires wings!) but definitely can swing swords and knock an opponent down.

Hence I decided to learn some stuff to become a martial art master. You might just laugh at the very moment I said "master", obviously it was a joke. People have been preaching Kung Fu for several years and are still not proficient. It requires time, effort, dedication, interest and most of all the right person to teach.

I found one, rather my master found me (that's a different story) and I joined him to learn Tai Chi. Every Sunday I used to get up early in the morning at 8 am (you got to agree, 8 am is early on a Sunday) and learn a new skill under the able guidance of Mr Sing W. Yes, he is a master with a Black belt. He has a well built body in terms of height and muscles. Wish I could have such physical body :(.

My master is not only strong but kind too. Do you believe such a strong person makes you laugh and loves sweets ? Both, he and his wife, Po, invited me for Yum Cha one day after Tai Chi session. He ordered couple of sweets for me, after knowing I too love sweets. Porta (Portuguese Egg Tart) is one amazing sweet dish, he insisted me to taste. Definitely taste it if you happen to find it. I am so shameless, yet to invite them for lunch and make them taste Indian food.

Coming back to my skill set. I have learnt the Five Element Fists. These are the efficient and practical defense techniques. Don't just go by words if you don't believe. I can do it live for you :) The Five element fists are Splitting, Drilling , Shooting, Pounding and Crossing. They basically tell you the usage of hands, how to escape from enemy's attack, defend yourself and counter attack.

After this comes the Linking Five Elements. This art is linking all of the above five element fists. Truly, when all of the five fist elements used together (called as Linking Five Elements) against any enemy, he is bound to run saving his ass.

Well, that's not all, my master taught me the Tai Chi form also. Tai Chi is more difficult and takes quite lot of time to be proficient. Each steps has its own meaning, is known for its defense mechanism and health benefits.

Message of the blog: Learn something new when on a foreign soil.

Visit to "The Victoria Peak"

Finally, we made it to the Victoria Peak. Couple of attempts, to visit this most attractive place (my view) in Hong Kong, had failed.

The best way to start off is "The Tram". Its a small jolly ride,  climbing a mountain at around 40 degrees is really a unique experience. Couple of chances you might get to watch the city being in the Tram, but are quite enjoyable. The onward trip was exciting, guess the return trip would be more thrilling.

Everything didn't go well. The queue to buy the tickets was long to make us little tired. Had not realized, there is no queue for people taking the Madame Tussauds tickets. Once we got the tickets, there was little crowd stopping us getting into the Tram. A little struggle with sleeping Chinni and the baby trolley, got hold of seats to sit, within minutes the journey started.

Shops with all girl material treated us. Obviously they are the one who spend more, have to attract them. Few steps further Jackie Chan was inviting us to enter Madame Tussaud's museum. Not really, his wax clone, Welcome to the wax world!!! Unfortunately, nobody is allowed to click Jackie with their own cameras. We crushed Jackie in between, a guy captured the scene and asked us to collect the snap at the exit. Three floors were categorized nicely, the most we enjoyed was posing besides actor (myself beside actress, Nanda beside an actor) and clicking, as viewed in the slideshow.

Chinni had just woken, was asking herself "where am I?", "who is the lady pappa is standing beside and ammi is clicking?", "why is ammi, with a smiling face, standing with that guy ?". Little did she know  she wouldn't do it with real objects! She just pretended to sleep until we exited from the museum.

At the exit, the snap with Jackie flashed on a big screen, I promptly said no to buy it, $100 ? .... nah! I was more happy to click Mahatma Gandhi free of cost. But truely, some wax models were close to realistic like the Nicolas Cage's, Brangelina's Gandhi's Johnny Depp's ..........

Sun had a long day, was ready to set down. I was getting eager as we were about to witness the beautiful view of Hong Kong from 1300 feet above sea level. The lights had started to glow when the sun went down. The Sky Terrace was jam packed, I was very disappointed, there wasn't enough space to move around and capture HK illuminated with different colored lights. I could not even click the beautiful view and Chinni, sadness prevailed for some time.

We decided to return after taking couple of snaps. Chinni had already started troubling. She is good when let to walk by herself. Another trouble came in picture when the queue to tram for the return journey was as long as a Chinese dragon. Taxi was the best pick, that's why the guess.

Message of the blog:  Visit all the important places, you wish to, before marriage or before having a baby!

A new look

Started off blogging and I didn't spend much time in designing and selecting the background image, text, color, font etc etc.

It's time to review the look and feel of my blog. This isn't the final one. I want have, a pictured clicked by myself, as the background image. But the one I selected is quite larger in size than the blogspot allows.

This background appeals to me. Quite calm, soft and attractive, the way I am :)


I will change the background going forward, but I wanted a soft look till I capture the right one.

Which one did you like? The current one or the previous one (the one attached) ?

The Father of Our Nation

Mahatma Gandhi, who doesn't know this name ? I have been reading about this man since my childhood and really feel proud he is "The Father of Our Nation".

I happened to come across this letter by Gandhi to Fred Campbell after being released from prison following his promotion of Non-cooperation movement. Gandhi took the opportunity to personally respond to the allegation that he 'hated' the British people.

I always wonder how can a human being be so tolerant ? We come across many silly matters in day-to-day life and loose our temper within no time. Like, at a traffic junction, the signal goes green and a guy doesn't move for 5 seconds ..... every other vehicle behind him will honk. The lunch box wala comes 5 minutes late and we start cursing him. A owner fights with a tenant to keep his house clean. Chinni spills few drops of water and we both are red face. (I can write hundreds of them). And have you ever imagined what our freedom fighters have tolerated ?

It's unbelievable.

I have not been finding any interest in celebrating Independence Days for quite a few years. In fact, it is not supposed to be celebrated. The day has to be remembered for what our elder generation have gone through and gave this freedom, it is the day we owe something good to our nation.

Sincerely speaking, even I have not done anything to my country. Leaving my country suffer, I have been enjoying Hong Kong for the past 4 months. I have a reason though, my own responsibilities. Yes, this is the answer from majority of us. Aren't we selfish? 

Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters were not!

I Salute and my Gratitude to all of you on this day, 3 days past our 64th Independence Day.

What am I Singing?

I was on my way back home yesterday and was singing something. Was just eager to catch the train and reach home soon, so was not too much concentrating which song was it.

But "wait a second" I said to myself, gave a thought on which song was it and to my amusement it was the rhyme "The cat came back" which Chinni listens to day and night.

OMG!!!

Pappa cheats Chinni

It was Sunday afternoon and what would anybody do? zzzzzzz! Even I was feeling sleepy, but only one thing kept me awake, Chinni!!!

What was Chinni doing? Playing with stuff that she could grab from the wardrobe. Not only that, she used to pull me to the wardrobe, ask me to pick her and pull things which were not within her reach. This continued for a long long time, that my sleep swept away. I decently obeyed her and took her to the wardrobe at least 8-10 times, just to avoid her scream.

Evening around 6 pm, we went for a walk and returned around 8 pm. Not yet I had completed watching a song from Lagaan on Sony, Chinni came to me again and started pulling me towards the wardrobe. I was fed up, can't even make her understand what to do and what not.

I obeyed her twice and gave her couple of jewelery (fake ones) boxes to play with. I knew the next request was coming soon. Went inside the room quickly, before her next request came, cleared the wardrobe (the section where she was picking all the stuff) and shifted them to another room.

Then came Chinni running to me and pulled me to the wardrobe. Asked me to pick her and is shocked to see the section. The section is totally empty. She got confused, her face was filled with sorrow within no time and it matched a perfect sad smiley. She didn't know what to ask and was about to weep.  I was laughing  at her and she looked perplexed at me

Pappa had cheated Chinni.

Moments

This blog is for myself. Just want to capture and remember the moments I have lived.

The Happiest Moment

There wasn't one, but the moments when I returned home from office and Chinni was waiting for me to pick her up were the most happiest moments. And now when she iterates the word "pappa" are the happiest moments.

Sorrow Moment

This was when my family was shifting from Bijapur to Banhatti in the year 1994. I was so much attached to my neighborhood friends, tears dropped from my eyes and my friend's eyes. We "statue"d each other at the same moment.

Successful Moment

It was when I was offered my first job. I was asked "Are do you talk less or nervous?" at the end of technical interview and my answer was "Both, I talk less and now a bit nervous!!!". Even then had cleared me!

Winning Moment

Academically, I haven't fared neither too good nor too bad. Exceptional case was MCA 2nd sem, I stood first. That was really a winning moment for me. Don't ask me the results of remaining semesters ;)

Loosing Moment

Got a chance to lead my college chess team, in the year 1999-2000, at the Inter-College Competition held at Dandeli. It was in the month of December, accommodation provided was a hostel, which didn't have hot water facility. We used to have cold water bath at 6 am and attend competition at 7 am. Dandeli was kind of surrounded by forest and winter would be cold, damn cold!!! I had played very well throughout the tournament, but lost the last match with a minnow. Out of around 120 players, my rank was 9th, which could have been 6th if had won the last match. The last match was a loosing moment and I will never forget it.

Scared Moment

It was prelims in 10th and around 20 of 24 failed in English, I was one among 20. I didn't know how to inform this to my Dad. I was very scared. I had to get the signature and return the marks card.  He normally used to take a small nap after lunch. I kept the marks card under Dad's pillow. Dad talked to me so calmly in the evening, asked what was the reason of failure and explained me how important was the final exam. He gave the marks and it was signed already!!! 

Hate myself moments

There have been several such occasions. One of which is when I scolded and hit Chinni a bit hard recently. The evil face of Avinash showed up. Also when I didn't clear interviews during my first job search.

Love myself moments

Hahahaaa......this has never happened

Shy Moments

Shy is one of my built-in feature. Always felt shy and scared when it came to talking to girls. This prevailed in me for a very long long time. Now I don't feel shy but certainly hesitate at the first instance.

Embarrassing Moment

Primary school was were I had a reputation of a good boy with most of the teachers in the school. Many students had copied in a monthly test and the Headmistress came to know about this. She came to  my class and asked who were those. Many stood up along with me. We all were also asked to confess in front of the whole school after the morning prayer, standing on the stage!!! After the confession all my teachers came to me and asked "WHY?". That was the most embarrassing moment.

Cheating Moment

Aaah!!! This one is more embarrassing to blog. I have always been in the category "you can get very good marks, if put a little effort". And I never had put in that effort, which resulted in failing in monthly test conducted in 9th std. I used to modify the marks, make it pass with decent score and get it signed by Mom (Dad was in another town for some period). Again edit the marks card to the original score, submit to the class teacher. Nobody got to know this, until now. It was all because I wanted to escape from Mom's scolding. Any Mom would scold looking at such score!!!

Cherishing Moments

The moments spent with Nanda before marriage.

Mixed, Happy and Sad Moment

My marriage was such a moment which falls in this category. Everybody were not happy and everybody were not sad. This reflected my mood during my marriage. Marriage should be the most memorable moment of one's life, mine is too, but for wrong reasons.

People I love the most

Mom, Dad and Naina and Nanda and Chinni. No order followed !!! There are others whom I love very much like my Mom's sisters.

People who love me the most

I think this list is very similar to the previous one. Chinni because, she says "pappa" every morning even if I have scolded her previous day!!!

My wishlist (as of today)

Wish I was an Astronomer or a Chess Grand master

iPhone (now it is within my reach, but still can't buy)

Own a helicopter

Trip to Mauritius (this has been ever since long)

Always wanted to take my parents to a foreign destination

........

Crush Moment

The first time I saw Rani Mukherji smile.

Best Compliment

It was Nanda's grandmother who said "ಚಿನ್ನಿಗೆ  ದ್ರಿಷ್ಟಿ ತಗಿಬೇಕೋ ನಿಮಗೆ ದ್ರಿಷ್ಟಿ ತಗಿಬೇಕೋ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಂಗಿಲ್ಲ"

Would like to reborn as and Why?

Myself. I had failed to reason the answer during a competition in MCA. I haven't achieved anything being "Avinash". Definitely would like to reborn as the same "Avinash" and achieve something and be identified.

Initial Days in HK

Continuing from previous blog

And I landed in HK the next day morning. Anup had given so much instructions (on how to reach hotel from airport) that it was impossible for me to get lost. I reached safely to the accommodation provided by my company. The hotel was good, the rooms/flats were even better. Fortunately, I got a 2 bedroom suite, due to unavailability of 1 bedroom suites.

I slept as soon as the reached my room. Hunger woke me up in afternoon, found a Indian restaurant near by and had nice lunch. It was so good that I had dinner too at the same restaurant. I strolled near the sea shore and gazed at the other side of Hong Kong island, the Kowloon Island. It was so beautiful, my eyes just refused to blink.

I am feeling like this blog is going to be a bit long, have so much to write.

The next day was first day to my office. Anup had asked me be at the reception at 9 am. But I started very early and reached at 8.30 am. Again his instructions to reach office was very precise. He had shifted to Tung Chung as his free stay at hotel expired. He escorted me to the office and introduced to my manager. My desk, user id and phone were waiting for me for nearly a week.

The first weekend was a looooong one. April 2nd, 5th and 6th (3rd and 4th was Saturday and Sunday) were declared as Easter holidays. I was so much detached from my family. Loneliness lured me during those 5 days. Neither was I acquainted to city nor had the enthusiasm to explore it.

By this time I had started searching for a shared accommodation for the next 3 months, since Nanda and Chinni would be coming in July. All the flats that I had seen were either too small or didn't have kitchen. I had visited Dinesh's house too, but it didn't attract me so much. I was in touch with a lady, Caroline Xiang, through mail, who had offered me her flat for less than what Dinesh had offered me. I felt it was a good deal to accept. 

But then Caroline was in UK and the keys too. She some how convinced me to send money over Western Union and she would send keys. The agreement was $8000 deposit and $4000 rent. I was not so much convinced but also wanted to save more money. She asked me send $8000 first and then she would send the keys. This raised a doubt and I asked for her credentials. She sent her passport copy too.

I had to vacate the hotel on Saturday evening, it was 7th Thursday and I had not decided upon anything. I finally informed Caroline that I will send $4000 immediately and $4000 upon getting the keys. She agreed and I sent $4000 on Friday !!!!!!!!!!!! She replied saying back "Please send the remaining $4000, as I spent all the money in paying utility bills and don't have money to courier the keys".

She turned out to be a crook. I had lost $4000 before earning it. Talked to Dinesh, discussed my willingness to share his flat and moved on Saturday 10th April evening. By this time, the advance pay was approved and credited to my account. $7700 was given to me during my travel and I had given $4000 out of it to Caroline.

I still argue to myself that am I so dumb or I ignored everything in urge to save more. Whatever, it cost me an amount which would have helped me in several ways.  Now when I want to gift a nice dress to Nanda or send money back home, I remember $4000 and feel wish I was careful in making that decision.

There was never a willingness to disclose such a dumb act. Will it bring back my money doing so? Only Nanda knew the updates on this matter, also had told her not to share it with anybody. Definitely, Mom and Dad would feel more pain than me.

Never have been bitten by bad luck so badly, never have lost money before this, never was so ignorant and never will I ever send money via Western Union.

PS: Make sure this doesn't reach my parents please :)

Hong Kong, a dream come true !!!

Hong Kong was a dream come true to me and Nanda. She was offered several onsite opportunities, but she didn't have an option to accept it, bcoz of me. 

I remember, onsite was one among her wish-list. So, I had promised her in 2009 that  it would definitely happen in the following year. And now this blog is being published from Hong Kong :)

My desire for on-site grew due to 3 reasons -

• Financial problems.
• All our MCA classmates and other friends had visited on-site. Pinched badly.
• Had to fulfill Nanda's wish (of-course, mine too)

I had come out of GS (on 8th Jan) asking for an on-site opportunity. The first and foremost offer that came was an assignment in HK. I was very skeptical about taking it, where in I should have grabbed it at the first instance. I inquired a lot about HK, the salary aspect, the work, the distance from home, living cost, how much can be the savings etc etc. I didn't get a satisfactory reason to accept, hence neglected. HR just dropped me.

But after few days, the offer came back. I had spent a good 1 month sitting idle, playing games, chatting at office. Was frustrated not getting any openings. Decided to grab the offer and went ahead. The interview happened and I had cleared it to my amaze.

I can recall the moment when I got a nod from my manager for HK. I was going for lunch and then my manager informed me about the good news. I was happy, surprised and flying for few moments. I called up Mom and Dad first to share the news. Dad's mobile was busy. Dialed Nanda, she picked up the call. I could not speak ..... literally, I could just say hello ...... the words just struck in my throat. Voice from other end kept on asking "what happened?" .... "hello" .... "you there?"

I had never experienced that before ......... had watched in movies. It was a dream come true!!!

Almost a minute and words started coming out. No prize for guessing, Nanda was happy too. 

Mom's voice was pale, she would have definitely felt sad. Dad had a mixed response.

And finally I flew to HK on 27th March, 2010, leaving Chinni, Nanda, Mom and Dad in Bangalore. 

Say NO to Rickshaws - 12th Aug

Wish I was in Bangalore and would have definitely supported the Event.

My idea of supporting would be - give drop,in my car, to as many people (people looking for an auto) as I could, on my way to office. This idea is not hypothetical and is really practical. Car pooling is very popular in Bangalore, it could also be a way to extend support to this event.

And I think, why these thoughts all of a sudden? Only because there is an event? Do we really need some event to drive us? The answer should be a big "No". This should be practiced regularly in our life, if not everyday.

As anybody in Bangalore, I was also bitten several times by"NO" answer from rickshaw drivers. The instance you decide to take auto, the problems you face are in-numerous. Everybody agrees to it and there is no way to take action against them as a single person. It has to be a joint effort.

So the event is an opportunity for everybody to join hands and make it a huge success. Rickshaw drivers should learn a lesson and should definitely face consequences on rude behavior.

Say No to Rickshaw TODAY!!!

Different strokes

Shame shame

Chinni has unusual disliking for changing dress. She hates changing dress as much as a normal girl likes dressing up. So we normally tease her saying "shame shame" when undressed. You should see her blush at that moment. Then she runs towards pappa or mummy and gets dressed up. Chinni is clever too. She doesn't leave an opportunity to tease both of us.

Over last weekend, we were watching a English movie and Chinni was playing around. There came a scene when a lady in the movie was least dressed. Chinni noticed her carefully and said "shame shame"!!!!. We were dumb struck.

Sheer knowledge

Chinni has a lot lot and lot of grasping power. Some times I tell Nanda "How come Chinni is so intelligent when we both are so dumb?" We teach her a word and she remembers it forever. Like for example, her mummy showed her sun in a cartoon show. After couple of days, she showed us the sun in an advertisement paper.

Either be it toys, chocolates, vegetables, food items, trains, planes, animals (a few), watches, shoes/sandals in shops dresses or anything on her way, nothing goes unnoticed. She knows eyes, ears, nose, head, hairs, pummy (stomach) and what not!!!

Isn't it too much of knowledge for an one and half year old kid?

Naughty

Not naughty, very naughty. Chinni knows to turn a clean home into vegetable market. She tries to imitate everything that pappa and mummy does. Brooming, if the stick is within her reach. throw water all over the room, displace the chairs, switch off/on A/C, try mummy's sandals, stand in front of mirror and talk to herself.

She saw children roaming around with tricycles. Chinni used to use both her hands, hold face and turn  it to show me the tricycles. So we bought one for her. Now she not only strolls in it but also does a bit of circus on it.......like this

Banking is so cool in HK

Last Sunday, a ATM ate up my debit card and refused to return saying "Your card has been retained please contact customer care". The customer care suggested me to visit the nearest branch and get the card. Fortunately, I had some cash and Octopus card in hand to return home safely without starving. Octopus card is one of the coolest feature in HK, will have to write a separate blog for it.

All my cash was struck in my account and I was running out of money the very evening. I thought of transferring some amount to a friend and withdraw it from his account. But I had not changed default online transfer limit (which is 0), so couldn't transfer online too. I decided to visit my bank branch during lunch hours.

I got the most royal treatment ever. The person at the reception listened to my problem carefully and took me a counseling room. He gave me the solution on how to get my card back, how long does it take and how can he help me to get it !!! This was not enough

• he suggested me the best way, upgrade to premier account, which would fetch me a new card, sooner than getting my card, struck in ATM. The advantage being free for a year (even though the premier accounts should be opened with 1 million credit balance)
• the pin for new card doesn't change
• a credit card (again free for a year)
• instant change of address, without proof. HK ID will just do.
• arranged to withdraw cash without having my debit card
• hassle free documentation, just HK ID did everything. I had opened my account using passport and I didn't have it at that moment.
• sit back and enjoy Cafe latte

If it was in Bangalore/India, 

• there would have been nobody to listen to me
• go to a machine and search which option suited my query (and find none)
• the person at the counter would suggest to visit the branch where I had opened my account
• "the signature doesn't match sir, please get your pan card" - could be a possible reply
• you will get a new card and a new pin in 2 different couriers. you will end up waiting either  for card or pin at the end of 3-4 days.
• to change address, get address proof and submit a form (which will reflect in next 3-4 days)

Nanda has been struggling with her bank account ever since she has opened it. Every time there was a change she needs run to Electronic city branch, with pan card. And the customer care guys just don't care. The most common reply is "Sorry Sir, we don't provide this facility over phone banking. Please visit your branch".

Definitely, HK is much much better organized and well maintained in several aspects.

Addiction to Rhymes

There have been situations when I was addicted so many bad things and none to good ones. 

Like I was addicted to tv during my high school days. I used to watch a comedy detective serial of Gufi Paintal which was aired at 8 am. Mom got irritated so many times and scolded equal number of times.

Later after 10th, was addicted to movies. I watched nearly 200 movies in 2 years. No wonder why i scored less in 10+2. That was not the only reason though. When the results came out I sat and analyzed why ?  Along with couple other reasons, I found that (had made a list of movies that I watched in those 2 years) the number was huge enough to blow my results. This was one of the bad addictions.

Then came B.Sc. I got addicted to chess. Chess was (and is still) a passion since my childhood. If not a Software engineer, definitely would have been a Chess Grand Master ;) I used to spend at least 5-6 hours daily practicing for Inter-University competition during 1998-2000. Indeed, I was the captain of my college team. But I could not take it up further as a career. It impacted my B.Sc final year results, slightly.

During MCA, was addicted to PC games. Road Rash, Dave etc etc.

After MCA, I was addicted to Nanda :) This addiction was good I guess.

The latest one is blogging.

The list is much short here, but I was never addicted to a good thing till now. The shocker of my life time,  Chinni is addicted to Rhymes. Yes, she is so much addicted that the day starts and ends with rhymes. Chinni even recognizes them with particular names.  Here goes the list of rhymes and how she identifies them

The Cat came back - back (this is her favorite)

Twinkle twinkle - twinkle

Jack and Jill - ದಮಕ್ಕು (damakku means fall, Jack and Jill both fall in the song)

Johnny johnny - yess

Humpty Dumpty - dumppy

ABCD song - ABCD

She likes to watch the videos of all these. She makes me sit in front of laptop, pick her , sit on  my lap and then says the word she wants me to play. I just need to play it and no other go. Some times she gets bored and says "ಬೆರೆ" (means change), I have to change the song!!!

The Cat came back is her favorite. She opens her mouth as the cat opens in the video. She spreads her hands as the cat is shown jumping in the video. And her body dances to the background music.

And that's not all. Me and Nanda have these rhymes in our mobiles and Chinni listens to them in mobile too. 

Were you ever addicted to rhymes?