गणपती बाप्पा मोरया !

बरेच दिवस मनात होतं की मराठी लिहून पहाव . संधी आणि वेळ दोन्ही ज़रा कमीच मिळतात आज काल . आज ज़रा कामामधून फुरसत मिळाली. आज शनिवार. उद्या विनायक चतुर्थी, गणेशोत्सवाची सुरूवात.

बाजार ही जागा प्रत्येक सनाची जणू साक्षीदार असते, कुठलाही सण असू दे, चार दिवस आधीपासून बाजार त्या त्या सणामध्ये लागनाऱ्या वस्तूंनी सजलेला. आणि गणेश उत्सवाचे तर विचारूच नका. सुंदर, सुबक नक्षीकाम केलेल्या असंख्य मूर्ती बघतांना मन हरखून ज़ात. मूर्ती, तोरण, दूर्वा, नारळ, केळीची पाने, आणि सजावटीचे रंगी-बेरंगी सामान बघताना काय मजा येते।

चला बाकी नंतर. I'm not good at typing Marathi with good speed। It is taking too much time to get the correct word. I also have to go and prepare for the celebration tomorrow.

सर्व वाचकाना गणेश उत्सवाच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा .

गणपती बाप्पा मोरया !

When it rains, it pours!

Be it true or not with other matters, it turned out true, literally, with rains here yesterday. It hadn't rained here in last two months. Clouds hovering over the heads I and my colleague went out 36 kms away from office. What a long drive! Pleasant weather, nice road, huge traffic on most of the part!

Having done the work we reached office, back at around 5:30 in the evening. 6 in the wall clock and my colleagues started saying goodbyes! Not having checked mails, I decided to stay back and thought of leaving after 15-20 minutes. Little hungry, thought of having some snacks at the corner of the road. And as I was packing up for the day, it started! The rains yesterday as I remember have come after almost 2 months. And it started so heavily, don't ask! Clouds from my office window looked jet black, dark outside as if it was 7:30 or so! Deafening loud sound of the clouds, and flashing lightening continued and gave a hint of what was going to be a 3 hour long wait in the office!

Yes, waiting for rains to stop, I and two of my team mates, a security guard in the office sat down patiently, each one of us going to the window, checking for the status time and again. But His intention was different this time. What can be called a 'drought like situation' was turning into a flood out here. I did not dare to see a 3 feet high water logged on the roads, making it impossible for any vehicle to move (as my friend, stuck up on a road reported!).

Clock ticked 8 O'clock and hunger started sneaking up, and energy lever dipping down!Made a call to a friends had a long talk, 52 minutes precisely, to kill time. Finally, when voice went down such that what I spoke was perhaps audible to myself only, I decided to hang up the phone.By then my colleagues went had done a outdoor survey of possibility of going on road! When they came back, one of them said that we would have to spend night in the office itself and also better we order some food from McDonalds or Dominos. Given the tiredness I have had, I refused the idea and asked them to wait.

And then came a time when it stopped pouring and the mercy of the lord converted the rains into a drizzle. I took out my much raincoat, which I bought last year but did not ever use. Usually, You carry an umbrella everyday fearing the rain-god but never rains, and the day you forget it, you get drenched! Fortunately yesterday I was carrying my raincoat. I was glad to pull it out from the bag wore it over my new clothes. Making sure that my wallet and watch are under cover, I and my colleague finally logged out of office at 9:20 pm.
The climate outside was pretty pleasant. Riding the bike, the droplets hitting the face through the helmet were amazingly soothing for me. Thinking of what's in the box for tomorrow, reached home in 40 minutes. :)

swine flu and Hyderabad

This is not new, but should be helpful for the readers.

As they say, Precaution & Prevention is always better than cure.

• Wash your hands frequently, with soap. To make it most effective, rub the soap lather for 20-30 seconds
• Avoid touching places like door knobs, railing on an escalator etc and wash hands after touching them
• Avoid touching your nose, eyes or mouth as these are the ways virus might infect you
• Avoid hand-shakes
• Avoid crowded or public places like bus-stops, stations, malls etc
• Eat healthy – more vegetables, fruits, protein rich food
• Sleep well- 8 hours a day to rest your body appropriately
• Avoid long journeys / laborious physical work
• Avoid travel to cities which are hit badly by the virus, like Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad. If needed, use masks.Stay home as much as possible. Weekends need not be celebrated by outing
  
  

Test Centre for Swine Flu in Hyderabad is located at

Govt. General and Chest Diseases Hospital,

Erragadda,

Hyderabad,

Andhra Pradesh

040-23814939

Contact Person: Dr. Prasad, Ph: 9849902995

Another piece of information I found while talking to the doctor mentioned above is that the masks used for prevention are available at surgical shops in the city. Also he informed me that when you buy a mask, ask for 3 layered mask. That is the best one recommended.

Click here to find Test centers for swine flu in India

Click here to find medical & surgical shops in Hyderabad (24 x 7 category).