White

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I'm an idiot. Anybody who wears white on a just-rained street deserves what they get.
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Why being Literate and being educated are two different things:
I was third in the queue for the bus this morning, behind an antique,frail looking man. There were about ten more people behind me. The bus trundled up the hill slowly and stopped where it should. Lady at no.7 suddenly breaks the queue and swings into the bus like King Kong. A lot of hissing and booing ensued, but it was a waste of energy. Fortunately, the others in the queue were civilised and we got in like homo sapiens should.

I couldn't let King Kong enjoy her seat peacefully though. It just wasn't fair. I walked upto her seat and told her in my best 'polite' voice : There was a queue before you!

King Kong replies : If I didn't break the queue, someone else would have. (Which as a matter of fact, did not happen - the queue stayed intact inspite of her antics)

I didn't bring my umbrella today. She was saved from fatal damage to her mehendi laden head. Instead, I gave her my best 'pitying' look as if to say "I feel sorry for people who think like you do. You don't deserve a reply in return" and left it at that (Signs of the times : I HAVE mellowed!)
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Heard a talk on "Thalassaemia" last evening. Scary. There are 40 million Indians who are carriers of Thalassaemia. You and I could be one of them. Almost all carriers are healthy, again like you and me.Thallassaemia is NOT a disease or a virus. It is a genetic blood disorder. If you have kids who are healthy and don't have Thalassaemia, you don't have to worry. It is likely that you are clear. BUT if you are a 'carrier' and your spouse/spouse-to-be is also one, then your future child could be in serious trouble. Children who have Thalassaemia Major will survive only if given regular blood transfussions throughout life. SO, those who are SINGLE or married and want to have kids, PLEASE get yourself tested : it takes just a simple blood test at any path lab to verify whether you have Thalassaemia or not. You can do the test at any age. But by the time you get married you should know if you are a 'carrier'. But, definetly before planning for a child, you MUST know your status.

More info is available at http://www.thalassemia.com. For people in Mumbai, you can contact 'Citizen' on 26118514 and 26193498.

Do the test. There's more than a good chance that you might be one of the 40 million Indians who is a carrier.

On that worrying note, Ciao.