Friends

Today is my Viju's birthday. Who is Viju , you may ask? She is my friend who studied with me from K.G and till date are in touch with each other. Facebook is a convenient platform to wish each other.I wished her on the social networking site and I was the first one to do so. But this is not enough I felt . I picked up the cell-phone to connect to her and the moment I heard her familiar voice , my day was made. We spoke for sometime and went down memory lane with each other. Speaking to childhood pals can bring out the child in us and the carefree days forgetting of the grey in one's hair. The curve on my face refused to straighten and I am sure that  it must be the same at the other end too.

It is said that if a friendship survives for seven continuous years , it will survive for life and we have been close and our friendship bond is in multiples of seven and am confident it will continue for ever. Friendship is a treasure not be measured in terms of years but to savoured and cherished in spite of geographical distances.

"Don't walk behind me , I may not lead. 
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Albert Camus.




Readers, are you as lucky as me? Share your friendship bonds with me.



For : Indiblogeshwaris




P.S. : - Viju read my post and she  commented

Kalpu it was do touching that u made my birthday memorable. U were always great with words but this was too good. Wish we became small again .thanks again.





DAY 1 UBC CHALLENGE.
for : ultimate blog challenge

THE MAID.

Goggle Image.

When I watch old Hindi movies Ramu Kaka is omnipresent , ever smiling and ever obliging.I wonder why we do not have Ramu Kakis in the present world.Jokes apart. It's very difficult to find a maid who would come at the assigned time and take leave with proper notice. Alas!  maids are a decreasing tribe. The day is not far off when Indian ladies would be fully dependent on machines for their day-to-day work and would be maid-free and stress-free.

But there is another side of the coin too. Most of the maids work in 5-6 houses or even more. Since they are involved in physical labour they should have a nutritious diet. They usually subsist on the food given to them by their employers. Hence they are generally weak. Moreover the gynaeco problems persist but their frugal pay does not allow them the luxury to visit hospitals. Women in the economically back-ward classes are on the lowest rung of the ladder inspite of toiling hard.The dunkard and jobless husband/brother/father add further woes to their already existing ones. But still they carry on with their life and dream of a better tomorrow. Let us try to understand their problems if not solve them.

My maid like any other maids had the habit of taking leave without informing. I tried reasoning with her but she would come up with some lame excuses as there was not enough balance in her phone etc. I told her , the next time she has to take leave, she should take Rs. 5 towards making a call. Else a day's salary would be deducted and it has worked. Both of us are in win-win situation. But my pet peeve against this working lot is their ability to come out with innovative pack of lies every time. Their neighbour's husband's mausi died so she had to be with them in the time of grief. A good example of love thy neighbour. The three-wheeler in which all the maids were travelling broke down. I asked my maid to write a book  called '1001 lies' and she innocently tells me that she is not educated like me to write a book. Educated and literate I am but she is street-smart and knows the tactics to survive. She knows all the tricks in the world to melt my heart with her sad, sob stories. When I have to deduct her advance from her pay, she comes with new ideas to avoid it and I give in.

But there is one silver lining to the dark cloud. She never ever steals anything from my house and I can trust her to the core. In these days of house breaks-in and scams , this maid of mine stands out as a an exemplar. Touch wood! Thank God for small mercies.And I count my blessings.  

FOR  : Indiblogeshwari -THAT TUESDAY THINGY - THE HELP