Of Crossing Roads

"Life would have been so much simpler if it didn't involve crossing roads. "
  -The RiceEater

A week or so back, I took the Aero-Express from the airport to Hitec City. The place where I stay falls on that particular route, but alighting near it would mean that I cross the road to reach my home. So I rode the bus till the next traffic signal less than 500 meters away , hired an auto and paid the auto-wallah 30 bucks (or was it 40? ) just to cross the road and go 500 meters back!
Does this say something about me? No? Ah well, let me enlighten you. I have this small (okay, big) problem: I have an irrational fear of crossing roads. I call it "irrational" because, well, it's irrational. (Or maybe not. If you look at the way people drive here in Hyderabad. )
I know many people who cannot cross roads. But I am on a different level altogether. I have reached a point where just the thought of crossing roads (leave alone the act of crossing roads) freaks me out and puts me in a state of anxiety. If I am to go to some place, the first thing I think about is not how far away the place is or how much money it would take to go there, but it's which side of the road the place falls on and if I will have to cross any road to reach my destination. I might even choose to not go there if it involved crossing roads.
It may sound a bit crazy. But that's how it is.

I am not sure if anyone shares the kind of paranoia that I have. But I definitely know that it would do us ( people like me or even close) a world of good if the people in power started building a couple of over-bridges and subways here and there; at heavy traffic places and strategic locations. Wouldn't it make our lives so much easier!

If I were given one day to run the country, I don't know about anything but  I would sure end up making laws to construct over-bridges and subways at every 5 km distance. No kidding!

Sweet Child O' Mine Part 2

The past one month or so has been quite eventful, by my standards.
It began with the "exodus" of the North-Easterners from some southern Indian cities following rumors of possible attacks against them. At the peak of the crisis, things seemed pretty bad and everyone panicked, and for good reason. Though I think the parents back home were the ones doing much of the panicking. We kids were chilled out in comparison.
I left Hyderabad for home the morning of August 19. ( The decision to leave was made at 9 pm the night before. Yes. Just like that.) It was less of me being scared of my safety and more of me wanting to reassure my family by going home. My parents' worry had got to a point where they were calling me up every hour and telling me to stay safe. And to add to it, my brother was shouting on the phone and ordering me to go home. It was getting on my nerves. All of it. So I said "What the hell" and took off on a impromptu vacation. (And it cost me some 30000 rupees. But I am not gonna dwell on the money part. It breaks my heart. )
But it was less of a vacation and more of a Work From Home/ Study Leave. I worked for the better part of my stay at home. And I tried my best to study. Tried. Yes. Kind of fail it was though. But then "home" and "studying" haven't really gone that well together ever since I left home for college.

A day or two after I reached home, I had questioned my decision to come. I reached home on the 18th of August and knew that my leave could be extended till the 1st or 2nd of September at the max. While my sister was expecting a baby around the 8th of September. And I was pretty sure that I would be missing the birth of my nephew/niece. Unless the little bugger decided to come out early. Which we couldn't say anything about.
I had missed my sister's wedding too, for your information. No kidding. (Unavoidable circumstances. No, not quite unavoidable. Bloody company joining made me miss my only sister's wedding. I still curse myself for that.) And to miss yet another important event in my sister's life seemed like a crime. How could I miss the arrival of my first nephew/ niece , no? But circumstances said I would. Everyone said I would. I knew I would.
Brother-in-law told me to extend my leave on medical grounds. Said he would take care of the hospital certificates and all. But problem was that even with the certificates, my managers would easily guess that it was a hoax. And with all the problems I had in office, I couldn't take the chance. I don't want to get fired yet. (I still need a couple more months to figure out where to go next. You see. )

So I shed a tear or two (not really but kind of) , told myself I would come back in a month or so to see my little baby and booked my plane tickets for the 1st of September. I was all prepared to miss the baby's birth.

A day or two went by. And then one fine morning, as I woke up, my mum asked me to come downstairs. I went and she gave me the good news that my sister had decided to go for C-section a week before the expected date! It was totally out of the blue! I hadn't expected my sister to go for C-section. We thought she would be taking the "normal" route. But then she changed her mind. And I got lucky.
The baby was to come on the 1st of September, the day I was supposed to leave. So I had to re-schedule my flight to the next day. (Oh and by the way, 8 out of 10 times, I re-schedule/cancel my flight tickets. Another way of blowing my money. As if there aren't reasons enough already.)

And so on the afternoon of 1st September 2012 (3.13 pm to be exact), my darling sister gave birth to one of the cutest babies in the world. I became the proud aunt of a baby boy. (Wanted a niece. Got a baby boy. So wanted to spoil her with pretty dresses and shoes. Gotta spoil the nephew now.)

When the nurses brought him out to show us, the first thing I noticed was his nose. He's got his mother's nose. Haha. And you have to see my sister's nose to see why I am laughing. She's got a funny nose and it's been my mother's one concern. My mum always used to wish my brother had got my sister's nose and my sister my brother's. Haha. Mum says it's okay for a guy to have such a nose. But a girl deserves better. Makes me laugh every time.

A couple of hours later, I held my little nephew in my arms for the first time and when I did, I wanted to hold him forever. I didn't want to leave home at all after having seen that cute little thing. But sadly I had to. The next day itself. (Bloody work! )

He's now 12 days old. Growing cuter day by day. I look at his pics and I smile instantly. Brightens up my day. He makes me want to leave everything and go home and hold him.