some days ago, shvetank told me a story about ed. i thought it was a very nice gesture on his part…besides, it was the first time my boss ever ‘talked’ to me. but though i understood what he was trying to suggest, i wondered if it would ever be possible for me to leave office on time.

after all, i handle the home page at zdnetindia, and when i leave entirely depends on when my colleagues let me go. (i have to wait until they give me whatever is required for the day…articles, images etc.)

but i learnt from the ed shvetank told me about, and by deciding to take up the acupuncture treatment, i made the right move.

i leave office by 5:00 every evening, because i have to reach my clinic at dombivili before 6:30 pm. now, if any of my colleagues have to submit articles or images for the home page update (i even got that changed to the morning), it has to be in my inbox before i leave for the day. there still are a few who might never improve and give it on time, but the whole exercise made me realise one surprising fact.

from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm, i do the same amount of work that used to keep me busy till 9:30 pm all these days!

thanks for the story shvetank! now to just tweak my new schedule a little, and i’ll soon be able to get back to painting, reading, blogging (regularly) and who knows, even write articles for zdnet india!

there IS a cure!

every specialist i visited only said there’s no cure for my backache, because it was a deeper ‘bone problem.’ “er, i could prescribe some painkillers…” no sir, thank you.

i am very fussy when it comes to visiting a doctor, and my nagging backache had only made me more skeptical. but eight years, four x-rays, three specialists and failed attempts at physiotherapy and medicine later, i finally found a reassuring doctor, and alternative medicine.

i’d only heard of it till today, and it was my granny who convinced me to give it a try. the conditions…i had to be extremely patient and tolerant. hmmm, did i have a choice?

she was right.

dr acharya is said to fight pain with pain. and he uses what is called acupuncture.

my initial reaction was that of curiosity. and i guess this time it did get the better of me 😉
to my surprise, after the initial diagnosis, the doctor asked me if i could handle the pain if it got much worse, for another year. but then he also assured me that i’ll be cured. i agreed.

starting today, i would be treated with electro-acupuncture.

it is going to be a slow and painful journey. eight copper-head needles are inserted in my back and for 30 minutes every day for 15 days, a minor battery current will be passed through them. this process will again repeat after 15 days, and so on for the entire year. phew!

gawd! if it wasnt so serious it would be funny. now i know what a cell phone must feel like when it is being charged!

DON’T do something you’ll regret on january first (you’ll repeat the same throughout the year)
DON’T forget to pray at least once a day (those who don’t pray are not pious and sincere)
DON’T cut your nails on tuesdays, fridays and saturdays
DON’T give or take money with your left hand
DON’T sit at the doorway (that’s where the devil stays)
DON’T enter the puja room wearing your chappals
DON’T touch pickles when you are having your periods (the pickles will go stale)
DON’T cut your hair after 7 pm or on saturdays, and certainly NOT before amavasya
DON’T look into the mirror when you’re applying oil to your hair
DON’T sit in front of elders showing them your feet (it means disrespect)
DON’T venture out in the afternoons alone (not with your hair open, it invites lost souls)
DON’T do this, don’t do that…

give me a scientific reason for any ONE of these, and i’ll believe anything you want me to.

this was the argument between my parents and me about two months back, and they still don’t have the answers. because there really aren’t any.

psst! actually, i think they know it too 😉

today, my parents wanted to visit the mahalaxmi temple in kolhapur, and they asked me if i’d accompany them. since i had nothing else to do, i agreed.

the movie lasted for almost 40 minutes…
the actors were all who were inside the temple premises. there was just one spectator: me.

they saw their answers in the deity, i could see beauty in the stone;
they chanted mantras and prayers, i could hear the soothing vibrations that the words created;
they went three times around the main temple, i saw their longing to remain with those vibrations;
they sat around in the temple distributing prasad and pedas, i saw their means to earn a one-time meal;
they drooled at girls with greedy eyes (even before they crossed the temple gates); i saw that they were the kind of men who could turn into animals.

they were only humans, and there was no god.

it was a strange experience. i knew i had changed.

having been in this role for almost 25 years, i now cannot act anymore.

it was 7:45 am.

i was at the ground floor, waiting for the elevator, when what i saw hit me like a bright new sun ray.

it was the lady who got out of the elevator.

there was this air of calm about her, her freshly washed hair loosely tied in a low knot like most malayalees; she smelled of shikakai and mild incense…the vibhuti on her forehead told me she’s just done her puja, and her warm and peaceful smile told me she was heading toward the ayyappa temple down the road.

i thought it strange, why she suddenly seemed to make me stop…
why i felt like going home and cuddling under my quilt till i got my bed coffee,
why i felt like being pampered with hot dosas and molagapodi or fesh poha and curd,
why my sleep disappeared all of a sudden, and i felt so full of her…

the questions raced in my head as i smiled back at her, and i felt it hurt deep inside.

it was you amma, i miss you.

i wonder why everyone waits for the New Year to make resolutions.

this year-end, we visited this hill-station called amba, 66 kilometres away from kolhapur in maharashtra. the ‘resort’ that we stayed in belongs to my sister’s friend’s classmate’s father, who has been enjoying his retirement days with this now-a-year-old-‘forest-resort-venture’.

brrrr, it was soooo chilly!

so while the world was partying till the late hours in the morning, i went to bed at 9:30 pm, and woke up at 6 am on the first day of the new year 🙂