The Good Times- May they Never End

End of the year is always a time for reminiscing and nostalgia with me. The past two years (after a long time) have been the most memorable for all the right reasons. I began on a journey to explore the world not just by traveling but allowing new experiences and people to enter my mostly cloistered world. My job ensures that I interact with people from different countries on an everyday basis. I have slowly and surely learnt about their cultures and concerns. Universally, whether it is the French, Australians, Italians, Malaysians, Chinese, Americans or Indians, the everyday concern remains the same. Ensure a Better Tomorrow.

On a not so stodgy note, the collage above shows the good times I had in the past 2 years. Starting with the left, moving clockwise.

1. Newport- RI – USA
A playground for the seriously rich, this place is full of mansions like the Breakers. Reminded me of all those crappy historical romances where the poor heroine would be overwhelmed to be invited to a ball at mansions rather places like these. For me the other big attraction here was those beautiful yachts docked at Goat’s island. The picture was taken opposite one such exquisite yacht.
2. Malpe-KA-India
Six kilometers from Udupi on the Karnataka coast, this is a beautiful beach with a resort just 100 metres away. This was the most refreshing of my holidays ever. Lazy days spent on the beach (without a sunblock resulting in the monkey face sunburn), great food and even better company of close friends.
3. Mumbai- MH- India
A ferry ride on windy night from the Gateway of India. After a hard day’s work I felt relaxed and stress free after this spin. Much better than ‘chilling out’ at a crowded night club. The fact that I couldn’t see the dirty water helped too!
4. Someshwar-KA-India
An hour from Mangalore, this virgin beach joins to Ullal beach further north. My brother and I were the only ones on this beach and after the initial interest taken by the fishing village (we were mistaken for foreigners and they were thrilled that we could speak their language) we had the place to ourselves.
5. Ooty-TN-India
King’s Cliff- the very name evokes images of British times and, believe me the resort has maintained that essence. With fireplaces in every room, continental breakfast on the lawns in the morning, it was too short a visit!
6. Halebid-KA-India
Remnants of the Hoysala Empire built in the 11th and 12th century, the carvings are intricate to say the least. No matter how many hours you spend looking at the temples, you end up wanting to stay some more.
7. Mumbai-MH-India
After Bangalore, the only other city in India that I want to visit as often as I can. A city that never sleeps, bubbling with energy, always on the go. There aren’t enough adjectives that can describe the spirit of the megapolis.
8. Kuala Lumpur –Malaysia (Center image with the red badge)
Atop the bridge on the 40th floor connecting the famous Petronas Towers (where the Sean Connery- Catherine Zeta Jones flick- Entrapment was shot). This was seriously f…ed up trip. The only saving grace was meeting a colleague-Roha who is now more of a friend.

Missing from this collage are trips to Sydney, Singapore, Dubai, New Delhi, Chennai, Mysore and the rest of the Karnataka Coast. I guess I am going to leave pics and anecdotes from the missing trips for my next blog.

CYA- Transcends All Barriers- Part 1

Recently the rape and murder of a call centre employee, a 24-year-old woman, by a person pretending to be the substitute driver of her company transport has sent a chill down the spine of the BPO industry in Bangalore.

While the accused has already been arrested and a confession extracted from him, the larger issue has not been resolved and it has now turned into a blame game. The issue is the safety of its citizens whether male or female.

This gruesome incident happened on a lonely road and when the Police Commissioner was asked about why these streets were not patrolled, he citing lack of manpower. It is galling to receive these kinds of answers because every night so many honest citizens are beleaguered at pubs by hordes of these policemen. The cops want all the pubs and restaurants to down the shutters by 11.30 pm and they begin herding citizens out by 11.15pm. Instead of harassing citizens, I would think their efforts would be better directed if they patrol the streets. Also does it not make better sense to have the city busy all through the night so that there are not too many lonely roads to patrol? The efforts spent to close down pubs at 11.30 pm do not seem have to have resulted in better safety in any case.

The police spokesperson had this to say about the incident “She was the lone employee being ferried to the office for duty in the odd hours.” He criticized the multinational firm for not providing adequate security to its women employees on night duty.

The BPO Company, HP Globalsoft on the other hand has refused to take onus for the lapse in security. This despite the fact, that the actual driver who was supposed to pick up the girl on that fateful night called the HP office and informed them that the victim was picked up by a substitute driver. When the girl didn’t turn up to work when she was supposed to, panic buttons should have been pressed, but nothing happened. They didn’t even suspect foul play when the husband of the victim called to locate his wife.

HP Globalsoft’s CEO Som Mittal when questioned about the incident said “This has been a most unfortunate incident. It has nothing to do with the company. It is a stray, one-off incident.” When asked about providing compensation to the victim’s family, he said, “We haven’t even gone into it. It is a one-of-its-kind case where the policy issues of the company are yet to be looked into,” and merely noted, “We do provide coverage on PF and Gratuity.” This was the reply three days after the incident. Isn’t the company liable for the security of its employees? Doesn’t an employee become the responsibility of the company as soon as s/he takes company transport to work?

Will humans ever stop covering their a** and start taking responsibility for their actions?

Even if the ‘Sky is Falling’…

I will never part with my Asterix collection. Finally this year I have managed to put the whole collection together and it has turned out be quite an expensive proposition.

I have been reading since the time I could identify the English alphabet, and that’s probably the first time that I put my grubby hands on an Asterix album that my older siblings had left lying around. Then, what interested me was the feast at the end of every adventure and the numerous times that Obelix sunk his teeth into a wild boar.

As I grew older the running gag of Romans and pirates getting bashed up every time seemed incredibly funny. Now years later, no matter how many times I read an Asterix & Obelix adventure, I find something new to laugh about, not that I don’t laugh at the old jokes again.

The first thing that struck me about these albums is the vibrant colors. There is so much warmth in them that I wish I could retire into this idyllic village. Bordered by the sea and the forest full of wild boars and Romans waiting to be clobbered, it is perfect. Every drawing has been painstakingly created with attention to even the miniscule details. Uderzo, the artistic genius manages to make every frame funny and he’s at his best with the large scale drawings of detailed city or village scenes. Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, Uderzo is actually color blind, so he’s had his assistants fill those trade mark warm colors that make Asterix comics so enjoyable.

The true heroes though in my opinion are Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, the English translators who have caught the nuances of Rene Goscinny’s original prose in French. Many of these puns reflect the French original. In some ways, the English translation is more apt, like the translation of Ordralfabétix (referring to ordre alphabétique, "alphabetical order"), is Unhygienix, given that this character is a fishmonger infamous for his rotting product. The original Panoramix, which perhaps represents the druid who sees the whole picture, is named Getafix in the English version, as "get a fix" conveys the fact he makes potent potions. Assurancetourix (assurance tous risques or "comprehensive insurance"), the ear-offending bard of the village, becomes the apt Cacofonix. This is the best translation, which I think works better in English. Idéfix. An idée fixe is a "fixed idea", i.e. an obsession, a dogma. The translation, Dogmatix, manages to conserve the "fixed idea" meaning and also include the syllable dog—perfect, given that the character is a dog who has very strong views on the environment (he howls whenever he sees an uprooted tree).

In the albums, some historical facts are retold, and attributed to Asterix & Obelix. Here’re the most prominent ones that caught my eye,

In Asterix & Cleopatra, when visiting Egypt, Obelix scales the sphinx. He slips, breaking the nose in the process. Immediately all the souvenir-shops nearby chisel off the noses of their souvenir-sphinxes.

Asterix in Britain depicts the Britons drinking hot water with a drop of milk. Only when Asterix puts in tea-leaves, given by the druid, the habit becomes a national obsession.

Asterix ends up in a circus in front of a bull in Asterix in Spain (not a lion, there!). He manages to evade receiving applause from the audience. A guest of the Roman general drops her red cape in the arena. When Asterix wants play the gallant and return it, the bull reacts giving us the first bullfight. Also in the same album, Unhygenix the fishmonger agrees to take payment for his boat rental in menhirs, as he wants to develop land on Salisbury Plain—which explains the mystery of the Stonehenge.

Some of my favourite lines that evoke laughter everytime,

Obelix, “ These Romans are crazy” Also applicable to Goths, Spaniards, Corsicans, Swiss, Belgians, everybody except himself!
Julius Caesar, “Veni Vidi Vici” , “Et tu Brute!”
Roman Legionary (after he gets clobbered by gauls) “ Join the army they said,… it’s a man’s life they said”
Cacofonix (before he is clobbered by Fulliautomatix) “To mark this occasion I would like to sing an ode”

Jim MacLaren- Attitude that Inspires

Whenever you think you have had a really bad day, you need to picture Jim MacLaren in his wheelchair. I am not saying that we should count our blessings because infact Jim MacLaren is the definition of inspiration.

James E. MacLaren, born April 13, 1963, has survived two near fatal accidents. His uncanny ability to articulate his life story with humor and compassion invites others to reach for the best in themselves. Jim lives his life pushing limitations – using challenge to deepen his capacity to live and appreciate life more fully. At 14, Jim left home. At 21, he graduated from Yale a scholar, promising actor and 6’-5” 300-pound defensive lineman. At 22, Jim was hit by a New York City bus, thrown some 80 feet, pronounced dead on arrival at Bellevue Hospital, and his life stabilized after 18 hours of surgery. Thirteen days after waking from a coma, he began a grueling, three-month rehabilitation, after the doctors told him he’d be in a hospital bed for six months and that there was no medical reason he should be alive. In addition to the numerous internal injuries, Jim lost his left leg eight inches below the knee.The accident prompted Jim to overcome what others might have accepted as insurmountable limitation. He was accepted to and graduated from the Yale School of Drama, and landed a part on the soap opera “Another World.” He started competing in running events for the pure exhilaration of it. Pushing himself to see what his body could do, Jim competed for seven years. He holds the record as the fastest amputee marathon runner and triathlete in the world. He holds the Hawaii Ironman (2.4 miles swim, 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile run) record for an amputee with a time of 10 hours, 42 minutes. He often finished in the top third of able-bodied athletes.

On June 6, 1993, during the biking portion of a triathlon in Orange County, Jim was hit by a van and thrown headfirst into a lamppost. He broke his C5 vertebra and was diagnosed quadriplegic. In the ambulance, not feeling his legs, before he knew he was paralyzed, Jim mused about competing in a wheel chair.

Again, Jim bounced back. Because the injury to his spinal cord was incomplete, he regained partial use of his limbs and independence. MacLaren had no feeling from the chest down after his second injury, but over time he has regained some feeling. He can now walk very short distances.

In light of the tragedies that befell him, McLaren's greatest example might be his attitude.
“This all may be totally unfair, and that's true,” he said. “And so what? Life's unfair for a lot of us. Every moment isn't happy. When life presses down on us, you can bounce back with a deeper sense of being.” The motivation for dealing with the two accidents that so shaped his life, MacLaren, with a smile creasing his face, said, “There are only two things I'll say I know after everything. You never know what our life's going to look like. And everything's going to be all right. I believe that.”

He has recently formed the Choose Living Foundation. The foundation was established to support his philanthropic work and allow him to contribute his time, energy, resources and newfound exposure to help people in need across the world. The Choose Living Foundation supports any different organizations, including the San Diego, CA. based Challenged Athletes Foundation and the work being done to help disabled people in Ghana by Emmanuel Ofasu Yeboah. Jim will continue his support of Camp Good Days and Special Times, the largest children’s cancer camp in the nation.

For more information on this amazing human being see http://www.jimmaclaren.com/