Mini's Scripts

Life at High Wycombe was like living in a typical English countryside. Rural landscape combined with modern lifestyle, what more could a parched Indian from Delhi ask for! Living most of my life in the greenest but high-on-humid state of Kerala (India), the only difference that I felt in the UK was the temperature. Its cold here. The summers are at least 20-25 degrees less than the average Indian temp, which is normally at 40 degrees during the months of March-April. Its a big city. And its an advantage if you have anything that has got wheels - a car, a bicycle, skates or even a skateboard. Forget your stilettos if you want to save the cab fares in this city. Its simply huge.... In fact , the city which came into being in 1960's is still partially occupied with some empty offices, flats and more new building. I have only heard of  the United States being HUGE in all aspects...I think its applicable to this city too.

Free... eeeeeee ... A word that makes me dizzy with all that adrenaline rushing through my otherwise pinchy conscience, and making me sit up and ask - What? Where? When? [Not keen on who and how part, I can manage that :)] I admit - I' m a big Freebies fan! So coming back to the point, while I was looking for some free stuff, I came across a report on BBC, which says that as the media moghul Mr Rupert Murdoch earned less profit this season, so he is planning to charge online customers for news content across all its websites. I say, Mr Murdoch, keep the change, it will help you buy some 'piece of mind'.

I really sat and thought about the changes in me since my last post on this subject and I must admit-I am now feverishly trying to behave like a grownup. Thinking all the pros and cons of any situation, diplomacy in relationships, finding means of comfort and of course the money-money chants. Phew! Had never thought about it while as a kid. I remember, once my Papa ji (father) had given me a 100 rupees note in March and had smuggled it with me slyly into the hostel(money and eatables were not allowed there! sic!). I could do nothing with that amount, so when the summer vacations came next year, I spent the entire amount eating during the 3-day-trip back to home. With 5 figures remaining to hit 30, I am yet not able to figure out that how must I behave when I am to have kids and may be start disciplining them about life. No clue! I may turn out to be an exceptional parent... hahaha ... I will be continuing this one. For now, I just don't feel like writing anymore.

Note: This is an article, I had written some time back. BTW, it's no way related to my life here in the UK. I just thought of continuing this subject so needed to mention it here, as without the first part,the second one will seem vague... Read on -> -> -> Being practical is a trait that one develops to cope up with life's harsh realities. Gone are the days when one could smile and in return get a free lollipop or an ice cream, when the common goal of stealing raw mangoes from the neighbourhood would unite all the foes in half-pants, when all the pockets in the dress would be full of home made knick knacks to chomp on during the two hour evening game break and finishing the day with small nap at the tuition. Hmmm… My first initial stood for mischievous and till a few years back, I lived up to it. The remotest corner of my brain tells me that it all began when I was punished for fighting with a fellow classmate in first grade and the Nun honoured me by making me s...

For every profession there is a course here. And mind you, you are not qualified to even start your own business until you have the license to run your SBU (small business unit, read home business) , or that you must have done a short/long course and have a certificate to prove it. In the early days, I did not pay much attention to it, but now that I'm R&Ding it, I'm simply not happy. Too many restrictions or a very well-organised system - don't know which side to choose! Starting with the education system, while the schooling is free, all that you might have saved, flows out as university fees. Another alternate to this situation is that most students begin working and then either go to college later or do a certificate course. As I'm told, having a university degree is great but even a certificate will do. As an international student the education fees are usually higher or sometime more than double the fees paid by UK nationals. Even in India, we do not charge...

My earliest memories of making faces at the swear words (like sala ) goes back to my nursery days. I was programmed by the elders in the home to give a sullen look whenever someone used ' sala ' while talking. My oh my! I was too good at spotting this 4 lettered word. With each passing years my vocabulary multiplied with razor-sharp and accurate insults in Nepali, Malayalam, Hindi and of course the other tongue (read English). The small section of population that consists of people like me who have lived in hostel all their life can vouch that the first thing they learnt in any new language was how to swear at others in their language! In Rome- do as Romans do! Haah !

Well, not only this is the first question that we learn to answer to, it is also the first step towards your identity. To begin with me – I was told by my benevolent family members that I had the most number of names written on the rubber sheet on which I had spend my initial baby months. And as I grew up, I used to boast in front of my schoolmates by counting each name on my fingers (back then counting up to 10 was considered an achievement) which would sound anything from Meenakshi Sheshadri to Manisha! Ewww! The basic criterion was that they had to begin with letter M. And when the admission time came – I was assigned the synonym for micro (Mini!). Thus began my conflict with my name. Sometimes my name was justified according to my height, and sometimes it wronged me by making people think of me as the youngest/single child of my parents. Add to it, a surname (Kumari!)L, which doesn’t even resemble my father’s name or clan, instead diminishes my super-puffed Rajputaani shaan. ...

Oh! How I hate going to Southall here! I wish I could tell! Although people call it- Little India, I dread if most of them have seen the real India! After going for the first time, I had decided that I will never visit again. It reminded me so much of Janpath , Lajpat Nagar and Sarojini Nagar markets in New Delhi, India, minus the stray. :) Yet, the memories of having mouth-watering Indian dishes weakened my determination. Reaching Southall , we went to a temple which was within walking distance of the rail station. Unlike regular temples in India where for a rule, I never saw Durga ji with Ram and Sita ji's statues in the same room, I was taken aback when there were 6 of my fav gods ( in their own rights) , darned in their finest. In this particular moment of Godly confusion- I bowed to Radhe - Krishna - as it was my grandfather who had introduced him first from an array of pictures of Gods and Goddesses, while I was a kid. I felt happy inwardly as I had done j...

India has abundance of EVERYTHING and shortage of NOTHING, just that all of it is distributed unevenly. I mean look at the climate, while some parts of the country are freezing, some are wet, few normal and some dry like a desert. Some literate, most illiterate, some peace-loving and most fighting. Yet, everyone is busy with their own lives to least care on how it’s affecting their living area (not drawing room. Huh!)! I was time-wrapped at least eight months back to the lifestyle in India and began comparing it to that in the UK and felt myself fortunate that I have seen a better form of civilisation. No offence to my nativezens, but India sure needs lots of polishing and punishments to set itself on the right path. Know why? See this -

Watching cricket was in my 'things-not-to-do' lists and I am still dumbfounded as to how did I end up watching it LIVE! I was familiar with them as people/celebrities who were basically cricketers who featured in lots of commercials, endorsing anything and everything that they could lay their hands upon. :) The stadium was full on a week-day which is quite a surprise as people here are totally professional on weekdays and go pubbing/relaxing on weekends. The mad Indian crowd screaming India-India! Jeetega bhai jeetega India jeetega ! Seeing their icons play in front was too much for many who had come from remote areas of the UK just to watch India play. And then there was the big ' Tirangaa ' hoisted near and around the stadium. Talk about ' jhandaa lehraana ' on the angrezi soil. Phew!

Whats wrong with the weather here. Just as it seemed that the temperature would be reaching +20 deg , it began to rain and then freeze. Even the weather forecasts were all wrong. It was to drizzle at 4 pm and when we went out at 5 to a local grocery store, it began pouring rain. :( sad that the 'pouring' part was not even mentioned. The weather here definitely sucks! So what do I write about....hmmmm....a blank mind is --- ugghhhhh obviously blank. Just the plain old advice that always comes for all- NEVER EVE LEAVE YOUR JOB DURING RECESSION. NOT EVEN IF YOU ARE NEARING THE RETIREMENT AND PLANNING TO TAKE AN EARLY RETIREMENT. :O My cure for such awful times - When you cannot think anything, when your mind is empty. just hog whatever is present in your fridge or start cleaning up the mess you have made around. (P.S - Mess can mean anything from room to relationship. IMs are a blessing for the latter)

Yesterday after watching one of the best Indian movies ever- Anand... I sat and cried till my eyes went dry :) and I'm still dumbfounded that how something as simple as dialogues (minus the present sound effects) could turn me into a cry-baby. Vijeta was good in showing the NDA in all its glory. And 'Bawarchi' was :)... I like it! Is it true that there are no more Bollywood movies worth watching...Dasvidaniya was good, most are gross. Hence proved that none can beat Vinay Pathak in playing the 'bechara type' hero, not even SRK in RNBDJodiiii! One again he played a bechara in 'Straight' and the actrees of the movie looked weird. I mean how can someone dress up so gross by smearing so much kohl! Yikessss! Help me! I did not know that the director wanted to portray an Indian woman in a worsen la-jhola-chaap style.

If an Indian was beaten up in Australia, let me remind you my friend, many more are beaten up by Indians themselves in 'holier than thou' India. It might go unnoticed in metros, but this phenomenon is as common as grazing cattle in the rural parts. I remember once seeing a thief get thrashed like an animal, after he was caught stealing in the train. Surprisingly, these 'human threshing machines' even managed to learn about his caste & religion from him and kept insulting him with this new anecdote that they had obtained. End result: No railway police's involvement. Action taken: The thief was thrown out of the running train in a desolate jungle. (P.S- I don’t think he survived) If India has suddenly stood up and noticed the issue, it’s because of our news-hungry media. We just can’t seem to have enough of our self-established supremacy in world-affairs. While we are beaten or abused by anyone and everyone across the globe, in India we enjoy doing the same to our...

The Times UK edition carried a shocking headline - High-skilled foreign migrants entering Britain to halve, Jacqui Smith says - leaving me to turn my dentures into organic paper shredders while saying WTF whenever finger breaks came in between. In brief, this is what was said, by the mighty Ms Smith, “All workers now coming to the UK from outside the EU have to meet the requirements of the Australian-style points-based system, which allows us to raise or lower the bar on who can come here. We recognise that migration continues to play an important role in the UK, at the same time as we are giving greater support to domestic workers so that we can all come through the recession stronger.” She has also asked the Migration Advisory Committee to look at the economic contribution made by dependants of all migrants entering under the points-based immigration system. Ms Smith confirmed that skilled jobs will have to be advertised for a minimum of two weeks in Jobcentre Plus branches bef...

I do not mean to be rude or even praising the whole affair of Valentine's day, but for a confused mind like mine, I simply thought and thought and nothing happened and the next day, I was raising a toast to St. Valentine. Guess! On-way cronies like me never change. Am still a die-hard Barbara Cartland fan! Leaving the refreshing weather and dash of red in everything around me, I suffer from my daily attack of joblessness. After almost 5 months, I have found out some of the few important things to do before one comes to UK. A NIN (National Insurance Number) must be top priority, get it and then you are ready to job-hunt, next is a bank a/c and the last is a JOB. But as said, finding a job is not easy during recession. To be eligible to work with great names, you must have a greater Indian corp experience, else most of the recruitment agencies play the same flute- You need to have atleast six months of UK experience! Huh! After working on the same set of keys on the keyboard, using t...

Being idle at home, that too all day long, I can't seem to find anything else to read apart from the evergoing US' War against Terrorism and the 'Recession'. The same RECESSION has diverted ‘human participation and curiosity index’ from global warming and bin Laden to ones savings account. It has just taught us how wrong is splurging on unnecessary things. Dear me! It also includes limiting food consumption. Well, hasn’t the recent crisis showed us how the Bush govt has led the world in financial showdown after it (reason being approval of numerous funds and multibillion war projects like Iraq and the ever-evading Mr Laden). As the wise men say that there is nothing to gain by sitting over past follies except learn, so let’s count out the ways in which a common man/woman can save as the future looks bleak if not bright. *Always deposit your money in some safe place apart from banks (the current Indian ICICI dissolving rumour gave enough sleepless hours both in and out o...