This has taken my sleep away for last 5 days. Even worse me boss refuses to take his frosty nosed stare off me. why are bosses so impossible ? They give u assignments that never yield before you or bend in sermon. Everytime thay have SOMETHING for You becomes a question of Life and Joblessness. I dont want to spread the gloom on a monday morning like this when ur heels are still sore over Sunday's Garba , but i am compelled to.After all this is the only place awhere u can get everything !!!.

Cutting back to Assingment my BOSS asked me to get Price history of NBP Natural Gas prices for 2007 onwards done. Having tried all the search engines and websites like Argus.Platts,DOE i am nowhere close to it . So i modestly request you all to help me find any information , website,link or anything about NBP natual Gas prices.Please

The day was cold yet cosy. The sun came out after a long slumber. The withered edges of leaves were glistening again. Basking in the winter sunshine lalita was lost in times of the shrilly winters. A naïve caring mother she wanted the best for her kids. Distanced from her husband in space and thoughts, she got up every morning to see her kids rushing the school bus. She made sure they never missed the school bus and a greater school called life. Years rolled by she toiled single-handedly to smoothen the rough edges of her children‘s lives. She did succeed but it was not a merry go round her. Her carefree gurgling laughter became a restrained smile. Her jovial demeanor oscillated between caution and paranoia as the situation demanded.

Her train of thoughts was jerked... She needed some more coffee to start off. As she got off the chair suddenly a piece of crumbled paper caught her eyes.  “What is it? She asked adjusting her tilted glasses       

 As she opened the tattered folds and tried to decipher the barely legible words   “You will never steal my gaze, coz I am always watching you lovingly.”   This was enough to   put her on a red alert .., “who could it be messing up with me this time….” As she rolled her eyes to locate its progenitor. But to no avail …nobody was there. Her mind was working at the Einsteinium speed and it did not take her long to deduce that it was meant for her daughter …. “Anubha” she called out loudly .Her College going daughter who was much the same as her in looks appeared unperturbed “Is this yours?’ she asked “what” she snatched the paper and read on “wow!! that is cool mom ,who has written it   “well that is what I wanted to know  from you dear” “oh mom stop kidding I have not written it you know I cant write half as good as this “  “don’t act smart !I have seen your crow legged letters! Who has written it?”    Her voice was stern “I don’t know and I am not seeing anyone “. She was convinced that it was hers but she knew that her daughter was really not seeing anyone. So who could be the anonymous threat??
While lost in calculating the probability of some neighbor involved in it as on prior occasions she noticed her tenant’s brother sorting his documents. Heaped in piles of paper lalita saw a logical connect in suspecting him. She popped up and asked ‘Veda is this yours?” He  looked at it at and realized her frenzied state and denied having anything to do with it .But he did pass on the ball to his brother in law’s courts with whom he was not sharing good vibes of late .Lalita was livid now for she had always held her tenants in good stead and that was the last thing she expected from them. “Is it yours Mr Chaudhary?”  By now he had some inkling of the paper gate issue   he was quick to deny it but his wife insisted on a handwriting check to make Lalita Doubly sure. The handwriting check was done and Mr Chaudhary came out unoffended. Mr .chaudhary was extremely hurt at this and so was his wife while Lalita was still at knots with the paper mystery. For others it was a trivial thing but she had the habbit of blowing things this way. Perhaps it had outgrown of her extremely cautious and protective attitude towards her family. She would scarcely let things go off.
For days the secret of the supposed love letter to her daughter dodged her. While she was still struggling to decode the secret her cell phone buzzed.  It was her son who was working in Noida with an IT firm “Mom how are you?” this was enough for her to throw the entire story again.Son was intrigued “Mom were you wearing the Black jacket I bought for you last September”             

“Err…. I did.  But what has the jacket got to do with it?” She was perplexed. He was in splits “Why the hell are you laughing your lungs out?” she asked cluelessly “Had you really cared to check out its pockets you would have known the secret of the love note.”

Lalita checked the pockets again and found out the other half of the tattered note 

It read “You will never steal my gaze, coz I am always watching you lovingly,           My mother as you watched me getting up and tottering,
As you heard me uttering the first ramblings, 
As you fed me under your bosom, 
As you warmed me with your touch,”       

Love you for all you did to make me worthwhile!!”

Lalita was overwhelmed and laughed loud.  “But don’t you tell this to chaudhary, he is a good man.”

 

             

           

         

     

 

 

 

   

Yesterday was different from other days .Cool beautiful and yummy. It was Sunday. Unlike Sun’s day sun was absconding for better part of the day. The morning dew had yet not dried and it started drizzling As we walked past Dilaram Chowk I realized that my unusually unkempt hair, started obeying the law of surface tension. I was looking like preity zinta of DCH , my roomie said . of course she was talking of my hair. Thanks to the Drizzle .Soon we reached –Ganpati Sweets  our waiting point for my nikammedost to arrive ,but as always they were late .

 

In between waiting and resisting the ubiquitous kesar Lassi adorned in mud tumblers we talked. We talked of the guys with their girlfriends stealing glances and ogling at other pretty young things. We talked of prospective pretences we would fabricate to justify a late entry at the hostel gate .We talked of all possible and probable, yet not exhausted places to sneak   

 

While we were in the midst of all this our devil friends arrived, with the usual perplexed look with the same frustrating question “ Kya Hai itni jaldi Kuon Bulaya Yaar Sunday ko bhi chain se rehne Nahi dete .  breakfast bhi  nahi kiya ab kahan jana hai ??”                           
                               
                           For them getting Up at 10 and reaching at 11 was quite a task, and to expect them to show up with their tummies filled was a greater offence

 

My roomie confronted them with a sweet Childlike chide “you guys can never be on time . kitna wait karaya !!! we are going to robber’s cave”

 

Wow their eyes twinkled .Robber’s cave is a place that even the dead will leave their graves for. A huge naturally sculptured cave with narrow waterways, water flowing from Creeks and crevices, everywhere. Small brooks bursting from nowhere though little Whirlpools were to be avoided. The prospect of Sighting Beautiful half drenched girls was an additional perk . My favourite in Dehradun

 

 “But I don’t want hungry dogs chasing me so better stuff your tummies before we move” said she .“Where” a quicker question surfaced. “Melting moments Ellora’s”   She retorted.

 Melting moments.  It is lovely and gormandizing yet very much affordable.  It is more than just a confectionery shop, with aroma of roasted coffee beans mixed with freshly baked cookies.  Mesmerizing interiors and couples engrossed in barely audible conversations. All so romantic and inviting.   Soon we reached and barged in. Now the ordeal of ordering began . Having thrived for a week on Ghhas phoos my roomies ordered their shammi kebabs. They munched on .The satiated look on their faces was a bit of a mismatch with speed their canines tore the savory kababs. 

 

The guys were yet discussing as if trying to close the Iran –Pakistan- India Gas Pipeline deal.Finally they settled for Melting Classic Pizza, the best on platter. It has the softest of Crusts with some Lavish topping and freshest cheese straight from Mussorie. Their drawn features of the face have now seemed to relax. Ahh the pizza did the trick .

My sweet tooth always aches, I finished with a chocolate truffle . Choc Truffle kind of puts me in trance.  My horizontal dimensions seriously challenging the vertical ones, does not deter my resolve to have it. The trance is broken only when I look at the abandoned clothes in my wardrobe.

 

On occasions the taste of truffle was slightly soured with unexpected encounters with the warden who by then knew the truth of our PPT preparations. Hopefully this was not in store for us today as we left the shop hopping.

 

We walked a little longer and finally boarded the bus to robber’s cave. It was overcrowded and the guys had to stand. But it was worth it as it slid past the curvaceous path, the sun came out of the clouds and shone brightly. The dew had dried by now , and a loud thud .

 

What is it ?  I opened my eyes the blurred objects are clearly visible now . It was Ramesh Bhai , who blew the breakfast bell.  For the N+1 th time it was the same Half cooked Subzi and  sweet Dal . ….

 

Yummy ???   My Melting Moments Melted, Robber’s cave collapsed.

 

It was yet another Sunday, Sun-Day .

 

Yummy, Beautiful, cool at least in dream .

 

 

 

 

Food for thought

" If wise make proverbs and Fools repeat them , Are you a fool or a wise ?"

Standing on the threshold of the 37th safety week and all geared up to start off the celebration, time is ripe to ask some pertinent questions. Safety is a word that is so commonplace yet important and sometimes elusive. To me, being safe means living in a predictable and familiar environment, devoid of any threatening element. It is an assurance of an existence that is trouble free and agreeable but is it really so? I feel safety is a paradox for it underscores inherent uncertainty. Ever increasing population, rapid industrial expansion and ambitious human endeavors have complicated and intertwined the concepts of assured, predictable living and posed greater uncertainties and associated hazards. Some one rightly said “Early and Provident fear is the mother of safety.” and no wonder it is only the after the most catastophic tragedies of Bhopal Gas Disaster in 1984 that safety issues were taken seriously .Changes were made in safety legislation and their scope expanded .However mere legislations will not help, commitment to implememtation and holistic approach towards safety is mandated

At a more micro level the concern for safety boils over to individual awareness and attitude for safety be it one’s home, work place, kitchen or road. Safety for most of us is a minor concern and often compromised  for convenience. A demonstration of kitchen safety at my office  yesterday became a joke.Someone called it "  A how to cut vegetables without actually chopping of  your fingers session " Another gentleman who on the verge of his retiremnt was  asked to give a talk on safety and gosh!! he spoke on  his favorite topic religious teachings for good 35 mins .Little did he care for the gravity and importance of the occasion.  

It is only our this attitude that we give  a damn to this word and relegate it to HSE department of our organization and honestly it is only yesterday i realised that i was also among one of those negligent many . small little things like wearing a seat belt and keeping in limits can make a lot of difference. But to actually make the difference  we must have that attitiude . This is what i felt yesterday , i need some honest inputs from you  all as well 

what works for you to feel safe ??? 

  You are the promise of the morning ,
  The mystery of twilight,
  The calm of the the sunset,
  The frivoluness of the wind
  The restlessness of midnight 
  The Salt of my food,
  The ceiling of my roof  
  My wings and my feet 
  Everyday since i found you,
  fluttered like a triumphant flag 
  I see in you a me so free,so true ..
  blessed  i am ..for now, forever  !!!   
     
  

The news of  the gangrape of a DIET-PTC student in Patan by her  six professors  , has stirred the otherwise safe Gujarat and for that matter entire country .

Imagine a fully resdential college girls college , completely secluded from the outside world  with just 1 female teacher for over 10 years  and the principle already tainted with sexual harrasment allegations .The setting is just too perfect for such crimes to flourish.

The six sexual beast would not  have  been emboldened enough had there been a female prinicipal and   female teachers outnumbering males .The issue is not just another issue of sexual harassment but points to a graver concern the  presence of woman workforce in every domain  of human activity.

It is really disheartening that women constitute  a very small % of workforce .ITES BPO tops with nearly67 % owomen, IT at  24% s with defence forces dismaly low under 10 % as per a study conducted in 2005.

And what compouds the issue is the skewed sex ratio across the entire north india and gujarat in particular.It is really mocking  that not a single person has been brought to book by law for female infanticide .Have you seen the movie "matrubhumi" a depiction of the society without woman ??? are we heading towards a similar fate ?

 So the time is ripe when we wear our thinking hats and save our  unsuspecting ,impressionable girls from the being the objects of prey .

Save the girl child