Vedasri Siddamsetty

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Split your lifetime into minutes of ten each. Then do all you can to while away as  little of the tens as you possibly can.

The words are the crux of the life of the man himself. The man in question is Ingvar Kamprad from Elmtaryd who also lived in Agunnyard. A simple name that has made a big difference. So much so he was the world richest man in 2007 and continues to figure in the list of the uber rich. His story, like all the success stories began at his late teens and has sailed on till now when he an octegenarian.

Many years after IKEA being in business I got to visit the store. The store for one is utterly delightful. Every store, the brand and the graphics have all one usp and that is of good design. The price is kept low and is almost unbelievable. You dont have to be rich to be clever they say. One cant help but agree with such marketing captions. The quality of wood used is definitely questionable and in most cases it may not be wood at all! But as of today with all the environmental worries the marketing manager at Ikea is definitely not a worried man. Made with recycled materials and keeping in mind all the sustainable issues. They may not have furniture for keeps but they do have fun, quirky stuff if only you’d like replacements every 3 years! Nevertheless with my eye for beauty I fall in love with IKEA everytime I go there. And yes the swedish desserts, they make me want to have a sweet tooth. Smart, chic. Two words that precede the most important, cheap.

Though our house is not filled with furniture from IKEA ( Indians that we are, long-lasting means everything to us), we do buy all the accessories that IKEA makes to for an easy existance.

So much so now am their friend. Quite literally!

A bday treat basket for my 24th birthday all the way from my family!!

Realisations galore, new ideas lure

for lo! behold am now twenty-four!

A yearful of less warning

and good sense dawning

not to mention the learning

as the year begins to close

Tales of adventure

of not so far dentures

looking for greener pastures

and whirlwind ventures

A new beginning

in corporate living

seeing and working

a novelty in being

Strengthening of the heart

and bonding with the hearth

helps mend things burnt

with a firmer resolve

Ambitions come close

take form and get a hold

for there is much more

in the offing I am told

As I bury another year

spent in considerable fear

and become more dear

to everyone who is near

I learn what I need to know

of patience and brow

of beauty and lore

for I have found my chore!

A. Age: 24

B. Bed size: Double. Hardly 1 year old, precisely six months old. Hardwood with a little grill design.

C. Chore you dislike: Doing the dishes! Got myself cheerful yellow gloves to make it tolerable. It does work, the color that is.

D. Dogs: Had 2 pomeranians who I had to leave behind in my parents home after marriage. Hope to have 5 dogs someday. A beagle and a st bernard in the list!

E. Essential start to your day: Weekdays, turning on the The primetime show. Weekends finding my running shoes!

F. Favorite color: Yellow!

G. Gold or silver: Gold, loopier the better 😉

H. Height: 5’7″

I. Instruments you play(ed): Passed the grade 2 in piano ABRSM exam of the Royal school of music! Hoping to do the rest, all in good time.

J. Job title: Architectural Coordinator.

K. Kids: Someday!

L. Live: Singapore. The (is)land of aplenty!

M. Mom’s name: Mommykins!

N. Nicknames: One. Veds.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Zero – I’m very lucky!

P. Pet peeves: Extreme, unrelenting negativity. It gets you nowhere!

Q. Quote from a movie: Its more like a passage but I quote, “Relationships-there are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up a lot of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you, you love, well thats just fabulous.”

R. Righty or lefty: Am righty and contrary to popular belief the right side of my brain is more polished 😉

S. Siblings: My little brother! Who is not so little anymore as he towers over !!

T. Time you wake up: Between 7 and 8 most days. Its hard at times but I love early wakings.

U. Underwear: Always cute!

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Bittergourd!!!

W. What makes you run late: Changing clothes.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Dental!

Y. Yummy food you make: Ahem! My best should be my Indian fanfare or maybe my Italian.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Giraffees….or dolphins! I adored them as a child!!!

The latest India-Pak match at the 2011  world cup was a friendly one, in more than one way.

The D-day as a lot of Indians would like to call it was one that brought out the patriotism in me. After explaining painstakingly to my Malaysian colleague about the two warring nations all afternoon I headed down to Boat Quay to catch the match with some friends. Boat Quay was packed! So to say the least. I had never previously seen so many Indians in Singapore at one time. Or rather Indians and Pakistanis. The atmosphere was buzzing so to say the least. Watching from Singapore it was the first time I got to see the tensing match with Pakistanis on the next table. Indians painted their national tricolor on their cheeks while the Pakistanis wore their team jersey with much elan! Here we were cheering and it was a match worth watching, we won.

The next innings I saw at a family friends house. Not so fierce the cheering I did here was much lady-like. The first cricket match Ive seen in a long time and so much fun. The players seemed to be having fun too, after all the pressure the smiles were really endless. 🙂

There is a restaurant chain in Singapore by that name. And the food there is stellar. As I took my first bite I was enticed, the second I was teased and by the third I was floored. The vegetable seekh kebab roll is awesomest. Something that I would recommend you all to try.

The roll got me thinking.

26th January 2011 was a special day. The husband and I were invited to the Republic Day Celebration hosted by the Indian Embassy in Singapore. I can probably never forget the feeling upon entering the Banquet Hall in Shangrila Hotel,  Singapore. For company we had the creme de la creme of Singapore, the affluent Indians in Singapore and most importantly the Indian Foreign Services officers. The atmosphere was completely buzzing with achievement and positivity. Conversations moved from India’s new revenue policy to the possible expansion of the Indian art scene in Singapore. Here were a bunch of people who talked ideas. Going by the look of it all, they all seemed ingrained in ideas. Great people indeed talk of ideas. The visuals and the music in the background did little more than produce goosebumps. Needless to say I felt marvellous. Business leaders, entrpreneurs and industrialists were all there making impressions on India’s premier officers.

Then on a humbler note, at the recent International Contemporary Furniture Fair. I take great pride in observing that people paid more attention to the fact that I come from India. The eyes of most people literally light up at the mention of India. The severity of race classification may still be there but one cannot miss the spark in the eye. At lunch I noticed more than one instance wherein a meeting between Indians and foreigners was on. In office I cant help but smile as our Managing Director tries so hard to impress land developers from Bangalore. The receptionist was swiftly instructed to arrange for Jain vegetarian food for the entourage. So much so she came to check with me if cheese was alright. For a company so large and connected it was so endearing.

There are bound to me more such instances. A colleague of mine remarked that he would love to work in India, two others joined in the chorus. Is it just me or is the world suddenly turning Indophile? Commonwealth fiasco we think, but the world doesnt seem to care. Once again they are seeing potential where we refuse to see. There are concerns, they seem so superficial. For whats not to conquer with fire in the belly? I can almost hear the rolling of the drum beats!

Writing in from Singapore, I feel, for everyone out there.

It really is the time to Go India!

Some things are better left to gut feeling and instincts. If not for others, for mine definitely works.

I have always felt so rejuvinated after writing/talking, that when I came across a blog pushing my case I was impressed, with myself.

What do you think?

http://ontechies.com/2011/01/26/blog-more-it-is-good-for-your-health/

Its literal translation is till today and is the name of a News Channel broadcasting from Mumbai, India. The point is that I have never seen or heard another news channel like it till today!

One has to see to believe. A simple overcast cloudy sky will be linked to Nostradamus, his predictions. A genuine case of forgetfulness will be linked to Alzheimer’s, and how! The string of news-hosts on this channel, with their dramatised expressions and versatile tones cover everything happening in, out and around the country.

The descriptions are enough to make your day and the stories are to keep you in good spirits.

Watching MediaCorp’s channel 5 in Singapore and their simple broadcasts I miss the sensations that Aaj Tak managed to create. So much that as I saw the bland forecast of the pick-pocketeer of Singapore a dramatised version with the hardhitting words was running in my head. I couldnt help smiling.

We, the Indians love spice. In everything!

The Indian Freedom struggle harps on the magnamity of the leaders who drove the country into liberty.

By the turn of the 21st century there have been dozens of movies made and an even more stunning number of books written about the freedom struggle and its offspring, our independence. So much so we are forced to believe in our freedom.

An uprising is what India is witnessing every day. Be it in the homes of the average Indian, in all domesticity or in the dense jungles of our many states. At a distance, the many nations that are a bridge between the east and the west. The idea of freedom is so elusive that even when a man has freedom he doesnt truly believe so.

At this juncture am forced to think, are the extremists of today, freedom strugglers of the future? The silent uprising in Cairo is an antonym of the brewing war in Tripoli, are they telling the same tale? Fighting others wars seems to be big brother, America’s strategy to beat unemployment in their own country. Never must have a career in the army seemed so appealing to the enterprising and hard-working lot. So many countries still left to fight for. At this rate the army need not worry unemployment for several deacdes.

This isnt to belittle any body’s effort to bring freedom. But do these soldiers oops saviours ever realise what their fighting for?

Living in burqas are frowned upon by many, class distinction are frowned by even more and let me not even get to arranged marriages. At lunch the other day my friend with wide and concerned eyes asked me, “You dont have even that much freedom in your country?”. It probably is all a matter of perspective. Burqas are a cultural phenomenon in most countries, women seem to not mind them at all. The middle-eastern women, each nothing short of a greek goddess, lives a full-life, and in many cases a much better life than her european counterparts. One off cases of abuse should definitely be ostracized but at the moment am talking for a collective whole.

Correct me if you think I am wrong. But I have come to believe that freedom like happiness comes from a sense of being. The British took Indians as slaves, they abused Indians, they humiliated them, they were a nightmare! But really were they? Lets go back and see how it happened? I analyse that the trade/industury is one of the most important driving force of a culture. If trade is good/business is good then “all is well”. The British came in through the trade route, conquered the industry and then never looked back. So did India lose its freedom by giving in to the British trade completely?

The people in Telanagana, Andhra Pradesh would have never dreamed of a seperate state had in not brought with it monetary rewards! Really is it money that rules the world? And in turn affects the “freedom quotient”? A woman is considered independent and free if she earns well. The greater the earning the “freeer” she seems to be.

The word freedom is defined by the the ability to make choices. So well in a nutshell that explains it all. How good the choices are is well secondary. But its the fact that we get to make a choice irrespective of the consequences is what freedom is all about. India is free today, probably telangana will be free tomorrow and whats not to say Libya will be free in the future.

The point I try to drive at in the above ramble is that we are all really really free. Given that at any point of time anywhere in the world the basis of freedom is that which is born from the freedom of thought. And the best part of freedom is that it comes with absolutely no responsibility. And thats probably why its misused.

We are therefore, only that much free, as much we want to be.

Hence I seem to see little sense in the “freedom struggles” of the “middleists” or the “extremists”.

And its so very important for history writing to be factual and unbiased.

If successful will Osama beat Obama in the race to be the “Father of the World”? I guess it all depends on which side of the fence youre on.