Wordsmith at work

 The corporate world today offers its employees the option of  'working from home ' It is convenient and timings are flexible. Quite a few avail of this opportunity and are happy because household errands and chores can be accommodated together with office work. There is another side to 'working from home' or 'work from home' which is ugly and unfair. Every day newspapers carry hundreds of advertisements luring unsuspecting victims with bountiful rewards. These jobs may include data entry jobs or telemarketing jobs. The victims often include bored housewives or housewives looking to earn a few extras bucks or college students wanting some pocket money. The perpetrators are looking for quick money by way of a  fee. Sometimes there is no investment but the returns are pathetic. Two members of my family were taken for a jolly good ride. One recounts his horrific experience while calling it an outright scam. " The policy was: Data had to be ...

I woke up from my afternoon siesta to gloomy skies, a gentle breeze and loud claps of thunder, interspersed by streaks of lightning. I was surprised at this change in weather. The intense heat of the last few days had abated and the rain fell from a gentle drizzle to a short sharp heavy downpour. The thunder continued  - loud and scary. I was not happy. My plans for the evening had gone awry.  The weather has been so unpredictable - one day you are roasting in an oven and the next your are humming 'singing in the rain'.   So is life, I say - A perfect 10 today and nothing but nought tomorrow. Man proposes and God disposes.   Stay strong, stay brave, stay calm, pray and save!!

So it was another night of terror, where the innocent and unarmed were targeted by a seemingly innocent but mentally deranged man. Terror is not just the sound of gunshots.....   Terror is rape Terror is incest Terror is domestic violence Terror is molestation Terror is child abuse   Terror is burglary Dear God save us from terror!!!

Three birthdays and too much cake in one week.The significant other turned 61(age is just a number, you say), there was a milestone birthday with the firstborn turning 21and it was the lucky and last teenage birthday of the junior sweet tooth .   The milestone birthday made me realise that there is now technically one more adult at home. What's in store for me? I wonder.Three males - A twenty-one-year-old, a 19-year-old and a 61-year-old(read 16)I find myself pitted against 3 males!! One day at a time sweet Jesus!   Death and destruction have marked the recent past. Innocent lives claimed by cowards. Will justice prevail? Will the criminals be brought to book?  An outspoken journalist and activist is gunned down because she spoke her mind, a seven-year-old is brutally murdered because he fought his perverted assailant and a talented pianist allegedly jumps to his death . How more gruesome does it get? How many more precious lives wil...

Son, This is a milestone birthday and you are twenty-one. from a baby with colic to a man of music, The journey has sure been an exciting one. Your childish chatter on tape is but a precious keepsake, The years have flown; you, child have grown, A man soon to come into his own.  It was touch and go, but today you have so much to show.  Life is sometimes an  uphill climb, just continue to smile, be gentle and kind May happiness and good luck come knocking at your door. May the good lord be with you wherever you go! You came to us a good 40 days early. It seemed that you were not going to be with us for long - Nana said that you looked like a tiny black rat, with zero chances of survival but it has been 21 years and you are alive and kicking! There were many, many moments of anxiety and fear but you little man, put up a brave fight and today we raise a toast to 21 years of 'awesome'.  A powerhouse of talent you have excelled in almost every fi...

T he city is back on its feet after the deluge last week. Water logging, flooding and a few untimely deaths because of negligence marked August 29th2017.  Mumbaikars relived July 2005 on August 29th 2017. The richest municipal corporation in India received the thrashing of its life from all quarters for its apathy towards the citizens and shoddy maintenance of infrastructure.Every time a deluge happens Mumbaikars experience a sense of Deja vu. Will the corporation ever learn or ever care?   As always, in these difficult times, the 'good -samaritan' spirit of the Mumbaikars comes to the fore. The numerous shelters that mushroomed were amazing and there have been testimonies to the same.   On one hand, we hail the famed Mumbaikar spirit which the municipal corporation seems to have taken for granted and on the other hand if  Mumbaikars practised a little more civic sense the city may not find itself in these h...

Indians celebrated 70 years of glorious freedom from foreign rule on the 15th.There was flag hoisting and there were speeches and the usual rhetoric.Th e working crowd and students enjoyed another break as our Parsi brethren celebrate yet another new year. Navroze Mubarak.  The rains continue, sometimes quite dispiritedly and sometimes we enjoy a torrential downpour.As I write this the sun is playing peek - a -boo.We are eight months into the year.Preparations are on to welcome lord, Ganesh.The junior sweet tooth in the house is looking forward to sinking his teeth into modaks, the delicacy of the festival.A slew of festivals follow.   So far the year has seen two good Hindi movies, Lipstick under the burqa and Toilet... Ek Prem Katha.  both of which have done a pretty good job in sending a message across. Hindi cinema does have its good days.  Talking about Hindi cinema takes me back to my college days when there was no online boo...