Mother tongue

The unsaid rule in my house is simple - means of communication with each other, daughter included, is our mother tongue. No english. On her birthday today, saw Gudiya playing with someone who ,it seems, can communicate only in English. While Gudiya tried to talk in English and was able to express what she wanted to, the other girl, could not speak a word in Bengali.
I dont know why some Indian parents are simply so ashamed of the mother tongue. Lack of self esteem and a feeling that English and English-speaking nations are superior might be the driving factor.  How will the kids join any gossip of the relatives of the parents wherein they talk in vernacular? Will they not feel ignored and left out?
The result will probably start a few years down the line. The victim: a confused person, with a fake English ascent and one who does not know his/her roots.

The second property

My wife and I booked our second flat early this week.
Happy? Excited? Don't know. Satisfied. Yes.
Our criteria met.
Good location, good connectivity. Check. Near Mysore Road-NICE Road junction.
Good Builder. Check. Provident Group, a part of the Purvankara Group.
Within Budget. Check.

In continuation with the last blog, future is unknown. We can just prepare and plan to make it a tad better and smooth. Though, we all know, uncertain bends, rough roads and tough roads are the flavours of life.

Hope one day we will be proud of our decision and investment.

The unknown future

Years ago I watched a movie Makdee. I loved it. A great movie for children by Vishal Bharadwaj. The girl child artist in the movie gave a stellar performance. Innocence personified.
Today a news read that girl, now grown to an adult, has been caught in a prostitution packet! What circumstance forced the budding soul to an unacceptable profession, I don't know. But the incident again proved that we all live by the day. We can plan, we can hope, we can dream. But the steps we take should be carefully taken. A slip here and a slip there and you are lost. None will look for you.None will bother to find you.It is a ruthless world.
At the end of the day, it is YOU who will live an ignominious, sad and lonely life.

The Official fame

The other day I was part of the audience clapping for the top performers. The lucky ones brimmed with pride and joy and had a broad grin, smile, whatever you call that. Same things have been happening for years. But isnt all this so artificial and hollow? Two years ago I was selected as one of the Top performers in APAC region. And just 1 year after that they didnt hesitate to inform me that our team was dismantled and they could not find a suitable role for me in the organisation. Are you serious? One of the top performers and you are willing to lose that guy so casually? Its a different story that ultimately I got myself accommodated into a new team.

People sweat for days and slog for months for that one-minute fame. But in the process they lose thousands of precious minutes in life. Worth it? Perhaps, its "to each his own".