Tattoo Update

Post care of a tattoo is really traumatic! I mean, you really have to take care of it, so that it looks all pretty and bright. Imagine, a rebel actual goes and gets a tattoo done and then you have to tend to it delicately.

Isn't it like an oxymoron?

The tattoo takes almost 2 weeks to heal. The tattoo spot is to be treated like a fresh wound. Now the tattoo, post it's creation oozed liquids for about a day, which you should diligently wipe away with plain sterilized cotton. The area should be kept dry for about 2 days. No water.

Post that, one needs to keep the tattoo area moist (it should not dry up!) with creams. The creams should be alcohol free, fragrance free, no petroleum jelly ingredient and at last, should not clog pores. The logic being that the above substances will remove the ink from the tattoo.
And you thought it was going to be easy?

Then, the area develops a scab, just like a wound remember! This may itch, and give rise to temptation of pulling it out. Do resist that impulse to scratch or pick as it will affect the quality of the tattoo. Wait for it fall off! Post the scab falling off, the tattoo may look dull and lifeless, this is because a layer of skin has covered the tattoo area and will need another week to fall off.

And girls, if you decide to get a tattoo, please remember not to wax/shave/epilate that area, cause it will cause quite a lot of in-growths and one helluva pain!

Recently went to Russell for a tattoo check up, he said it was coming along pretty. He asked me to visit for another check up post its complete healing and that he would do touch-ups for free! (if needed)

As for me, I am in the final stage, waiting for the skin to fall and still waiting for the final picture to emerge! Also thinking if I should plan another one!

From the Attic

Last Sunday I was cleaning my house, as it was getting painted. I had assigned myself a job! I would clean out the attic, that was dumped with old books and articles. This suited me fine, as one could throw out the articles pretty fast, but who knew what treasures lay in the books!

On my job, I found an old faded hard bound book. As I opened it, found that it was a poetry book that was printed in 1934 and had been bought for 4 annas! For the un-initiated, 16 annas make a rupee! It looked like a text book of sorts for a Grand Uncle of mine. It had his name, the class he was studying in, and several notings of synonyms and antonym!

After rifling through the book, one caught my eye. (with my mind still on the Salman Khan case!)

The Snare

I hear a sudden cry of Pain!

There is a rabbit in the snare:

Now I hear the cry again

But I cannot tell from where.

But I cannot tell from where

He is calling out for aid;

Crying on the frightened air,

Making everything afraid.

Making everything afraid,

Wrinkling up his little face,

As he cries again for aid;

And I cannot find the place!

And I cannot find the place

Where his paw is in the snare:

Little one! Oh, little one!

I am searching everywhere!

-James Stephens

Guess our dear Macho - styled Salman never ever heard the cries of the animals that he was shooting, or if he did, it gave him a rush of testosterone to shoot them and even more pleasure to then eat them!

Little one! Oh, little one, why do you catch the eye of Brutes?

The Bangalore traffic Un - Etiquette

April 18th, 2006. It was a usual day at office with a lot of work and re-work! But the day is etched in my memory cause of the utter callousness I saw on the streets!

Etiquette, does it exist on today's streets?

I was driving back in my car, and with usual traffic snarls I reached Kormanagala. This was a small road that has been converted to a One - Way. There was a huge jam and people honking, many of the cars or bikes were not moving even though there was a green light given by the cop handling traffic. I waited, and not one vehicle moved! And horns were blaring!

I got out of the car to look after having done my bit of cursing and moaning! And voila what did I see, a car in the middle of the road blocking the whole road.

Ordinary you would say. But do have patience to hear the rest!

The car did not have a driver but there were a couple of passengers looking quite unconcerned by the jam caused.

Two green lights passed and not one car moved, and take a hundred guesses to where the driver was! The lady had stopped the car in the middle of the road and gone vegetable shopping! Before you fall off the seat laughing, one did not quite feel that way on the road, as there was also an ambulance caught somewhere behind us!

She got back into the car and started it, we caught up with her, cause, truthfully we were fuming!

Upon asking the lady about the jam she caused, she turns around and says, "Oh but, I had to buy vegetables"
Us: "You caused an entire clogging of the street"
She: "But it was urgent for me"
Us: "Maybe the others also need to get somewhere URGENTLY"
She: "Oh, a 10 min will not kill anyone"
Us: "Did you atleast hear the Ambulance?"
She: "Oh no-one must be dying, they must have put the siren just to get ahead in traffic"
Us: "Are you Human?"
She glares and drives off to cook a splendid meal for her family I guess! And I sure hope that her assumption about the Ambulance was true!

It somehow tells me that we are completely involved with ourselves, not bothered about one person out of our personal orbit! Is this where we plan to head? And if these are the people who are parents, I hate to imagine the children being reared!!!

Completely insane

I really don't know what to tackle! (in my head that is!) So many irritating things happening around me!

What's making me reach the boiling, sputtering point? These...

• The traffic un etiquette of Bangalore (or do these in-sensitive people exist everywhere)
• The Quota system
• The Salman Khan case!

I guess I shall maintain calm till I can write sensibly!

Tattooed!

After months of research, design search and tattoo artist search and post that a lot of procrastination and then down to haggling, last Saturday I got my Tattoo done!

I had actually planned it on Thursday evening, but with our dear Dr. Raj dead, one did not dare step out. Postponed it to Friday, the artists did not turn up. So Saturday it was!

The design I was keen on was a butterfly, as it represents feminity, beauty and freedom! (Ahem, the beauty part, I could not resist) Design had been downloaded from the most amazingly comprehensive tattoo site ever and a snap poll by friends clinched the winner was the butterfly displayed!

I landed at the studio at around 11 (by appointment only) and the design in my pocket. I bounded up the stairs and upon entering the studio, the first thing I saw was the needles! eeks! A sudden fear gripped me and I sat down very quietly and started chatting with the Russell (the artist).

He did his best in educating me, the points I picked up are:

• Changing the needle aint really important, but changing the ink is! As the bacteria & virus (AIDS) thrive in a moist environment
• Insist on a new needle nevertheless
• Insist on fresh gloves to be worn by the artist
• Be satisfied that the artist has the necessary license and permissions
• Helps to see his work!

On the design, it helps if you have selected it with a lot of thought! Advice...

• Don't ever ever ever use the significant partner's initials or name. A tattoo is permanent, a marriage or a relationship aint!
• If you are going in for Oriental language symbols, do remember to cross check the meaning from a trusted source. You don't wanna mean something completely different!

Post this chat, I was ready for the needles. We decided on the colors and the intricacies. The POA was that he would do a free hand drawing on my ankle and if I approved it, we would go ahead.

The drawing with the felt pen was approved and the needles with the ink palette came out. I asked permission from Russell to shout, scream, kick or to holler an order to stop. With these ground rules set, he gave me a last look, asked if I was ready and with an affirmative nod, he set to work.

Well, it did hurt (I wont act macho here), but not enough to scream. If you are ok with waxing or epilating, this should be tolerable too! After a couple of minutes, I actually went numb. So I started watching the match on TV, as I could not really stand the blood.

In exactly 15 minutes he was done with the outline and color filling. I was also done sweating!

Post that, there was a clean up and then the smile for a photograph!Instructions were to take it easy for a day and not to allow water near the tattoo for a period of 48 hours. Also to keep applying petroleum jelly for it to heal. And if a scab formed over the Tattoo, to just let it heal and not pick at it!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it did not hurt. I was sadly mistaken! The next day, it was swollen and red. Just the way if you have had an accident and managed to scrape you hand badly and the next day you cant move it without wincing!

It's healing now, and I am waiting to take a snap and post it!

My mother's quote to this experience was the killer, "Turn around hon, I will brand you for free!" Tsk tsk, little does she know, that is supposed to be the new rage!

now that's service!

The music system in my car decided to go kaput one fine day! And i started fiddling the buttons and trying to check connections to what could have possible happenend. But the stereo was steadfast in its refusal to kickstart back!

And ofcourse this happened at one of the "great Bangalore" traffic jams and my temper went bad to worse and I worked my into one fiery temper(people who know me, know that it can be bad one)! I pulled the warranty card out and knew that this time the automobile dealer was not getting out of this one alive!

I drove to the service station (must say it was late evening by then) and asked for the manager. I tried in as calm a way to tell him that the stereo had decided to call quits and would he please replace it. All the while, I was expecting the guy to give me the following excuses:

* Ma'am, this is not our job. Pls visit the audio dealer
* Ma'am, this is not covered under warranty
* Sure, we'll repair it. But it would cost you!

I must say, i was ready for one fiery arguement!

And what happened next really stunned me into silence. I was escorted inside and after a nice cuppa of coffee was told that they would replace the system. Now, not only replace it, but upgrade it since i had been inconvenienced. And all this for free.

I was out on the road within half an hour.

Being from the service industry myself, I have to say that I was pretty much shocked to see perfect service and yes "service with a smile".

And yes, now my car rocks!

In love...

When I fell head over heels in love, it inspired me to write a little poem. It went something like this…

To the star of the night…

How unlucky are thou,
Shining in your splendour!
Making Heaven of the dark hue,
Loved you are not, nor do you!
Trying to capture a heart or gaze

Alas, I have lost both,
As I am wrapped in the warmth ,
In the warmth of love of my Beloved!

Well, I did not end up giving it cos, it portrayed me as a romantic and I did not care for that! And no, I am not giving names out!

my paper in MBA

I remember studying for the finance exam in MBA all night and was pretty much nervous by the time I reached the exam hall in Manipal! never was good at finance...

And i guess the prof had really had a whale of a time setting the paper, cos he had taken the abstract route! comparing cows to finance! I knew I was done for, so instead of writing the paper i wrote this in my answer sheet!

How futile,

That i waste my youth,

In search of life's joys!

Burning midnight's oil,

Burying my head into

Volumes by day and night

Without sparing a thought,

I work myself

Like a Beast of Burden,

Rushing past my life's mid

And as i hear my bones creek,

I stop to wonder,

'Bout the days gone by

I stroll to smell the flowers

To see the sun dip in the sea

And realise the futilty of it all!

As Darkness sorrounds,

For these existed from the very beginning!

And walked out of the exam hall! To appreciate the prof, he was impressed with the poem and gave me a re-exam!

My favourite quote

Live life exactly the way you want to, you are not getting out of it Alive anyway!

My religion...

When people talk about relegions and their sacred teachings, i am often tempted to say that if one followed the poem written by the same man who wrote Jungle Book, life would be worth lived!
Unfortunately Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936) lost his only son in war and lived a life pining away!

IF - Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

Kudos!

why we need tragedies?

I really cant begin to understand why we need tragedies to jerk us in to action! It's something like Newton's law of motion(an object remains in a state of motion or rest unless an external force is applied to it) http://www.physicsclassroom.com/

On my morning walks every single day, I have been seeing a litter of puppies near my place. I kept thinking of calling CUPA and asking them to pick these little angels, but kept putting it off! Reason: Dont ask me!

A week later I see two of them missing. yes, they had been crushed by a mindless machine driven by even a more mindless human brute...And then i immediately call CUPA to pick the remaining four from the streets. Do i feel heroic? No, just a damn procrastinator...

my first steps to being a blogger

After umpteen self denial, i am stepping onto the blogging world!

Long after I worked at TOI, Blore as a cub reporter, (on the Crime Desk under the watchful eyes of Allen Mendonca) I had almost given up writing.

Making a brave attempt now...