If only..

A friend of mine narrated this incident to me and found it very interesting ! Her father is looking for a suitable groom for her. He goes through the Times classifieds matrimonial section to see if he can find someone there. So he comes across an adv from this family which is looking for a bride.. the guy is an IITB and IIMA graduate. He calls up at the number given. The guy's mother comes on the line. She, I believe, came across as a strict woman, particular about horoscope match and surprisingly, the girls education. My friend is an engineering graduate and is doing pretty well in her job. She has good academic credentials as well. So, the guys mother asked her father.. "Why didn't the girl study further if she was bright ? We are looking for a girl who is a little more educated".

Wow! This was nice to hear (though sad that it did not work out for my friend). I mean, if only majority of educated families had the above attitude, parents would not hesitate in encouraging their daughters to pursue higher studies ! And there would be a greater sense of gender equality. How I wish...

X-Airport Road (Bangalore)

So the curtains finally came down on the HAL Airport. For those staying on Airport Road for more than 10 years, it was a mixed reaction. Some were happy that there would be no disturbance anymore and that the Airport Road traffic would ease, while others (the frequent travelers) were disheartened as they would now need to travel more than 50 km to get to the airport which was earlier a 5 minutes drive (for someone like me!). And for some others, it was just an _emotional_ attachment (sounds weird, but true).

There were many advantages of having the airport so close to my house. Of course, the biggest advantage was that I didn't have to leave home 3 hours before a flight. Second, it was so easy to go and pick up relatives and friends coming over. And the hidden advantage...many a times, friends and relatives did not have the time to drop by (coz they were on a short trip, or whatever else the reason), I used to either just catch up with them on the road across my house when they were headed to the airport, or at the airport itself (since it was walkable for me). Alas, this can happen no more! Now, I can't even think of going to the airport to pick or drop someone (a waste of time and money both).

However, as was expected, the traffic on Airport Road has decreased significantly. Its so much easier to cross the road now. The traffic gets cleared in one green signal. Even at night times (during peak international flight time) there used to be heavy traffic..but now, its like any other road.

So, overall I think it was beneficial as till now since I didn't have to travel, I have been enjoying the improved traffic situation and less pollution. But the day I have to travel or need to drop or pick up someone, I am sure to complain :-)

I wonder if there is any plan to change the name of the road ?! It still is airport road..though whenever I refer to it with that name, people tend to correct me by saying 'its old airport road' !!

Movies..are they so important?

For folks who have known me for a long time, also know that I am not too much into movies, rather I must say that I am not all into movies :-) Not that I don't like watching movies, its more to do with me not being used to watching them! Its something that was not part of my up-bringing.

Why am I writing about this? Well, so Ozzy and Uttaran (my colleagues) were discussing movie as part of our usual afternoon \_/7 time. Both do not know me very well..and like everyone else beginning to know me, they too were quite shocked to find that I don't watch movies. They looked at me as though I was an alien and didn't belong there at all...not that their reaction surprised me (as am quite accustomed to such looks), but just made me ponder a bit. Hell broke lose when I told them that I have been to a theatre only about 3-4 times :-D. Are movies considered to be the most important source of entertainment these days? Are they such an integral part of our teenage lives ? Why am I looked at with such skepticism of even being a fun-loving person? I wouldn't want to believe it is true, but so far I have not met anyone (except one) who has made me feel otherwise ;-)

Ozzy, Uttaran, am not pointing anything at you guys! You guys are simply superb !! Just this question kept bugging me :-)