Using but in a sentence

But is a conjunction. It joins two sentences
To begin a sentence with but is grammatically wrong.
Here are some nice proverbs that use BUT

• Do not look where you fell BUT where you slipped
• Don't make love at the garden gate, love is blind BUT neighbours aren't!
• Everybody wants heaven BUT nobody wants to die.
• It's nice to be important BUT it's more important to be nice.
• It's only rock 'n' roll BUT I like it

But that does not mean I cannot begin with a BUT! Many writers have cheerfully ignored such rules!

Going strictly by rules of grammar it is not correct to say
But I do not have the patience ...
But I am scared of technology ...
But it is boring to sit and prepare a speech ...
But I am always harsh and curt ...

On the other hand, the right thing is to say is this.
I do not have the patience, but ...
I am scared of technology, but ...
It is boring to sit and prepare a speech, but ...
I am always harsh and curt, but ...
Hey, come to think of it, the conjunction BUT joins two sentences
and minds
and hearts
wow!
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Miracle in my kitchen
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If you pay peanuts ...

... you get monkeys.
Monkeys are quite cute actually.

monkey comes for peanuts

We actually did just that at Janapada Loka bangalore. we held peanuts and they obliged... so sweetly.

This proverb is all about pay and employee calibre. You cannot expect a worthy man for a lower hand out.
But I like to take the proverb out of its limitation.

We make the choice.
We are answerable only to ourselves.
What is right for you? That is the important question.

curious monkey at janapada loka

If the shoe fits, wear it

Cinderella did! And look what it brought her.

The guy who protests the loudest is the one who is guilty.
Arguments spiral out of context because one of the two is not willing to wear the shoe even if it fits.

If the description is true, if the accusation is valid, if the compliment is justified ...
accept it with grace.
if the shoe fits, wear it.

a shoe that fits

A cat may look at a king

The internet breaks down many a wall. Open almost any site and you have a window at the end of the page that invites you to leave your comment. Comments, advices ... jeers and insults ... all distributed at will.

10 years ago we watched an event on TV and fumed in the obscurity of our living rooms. If we were audacious enough to voice opinions we were told in curt Kannada ... Neenu yelli - avanu yelli ... meaning look at you ... huh? where are you and where is he??
So accepting the truth of the times badava nee madagnathe iru  ... we remained mute*

Today we twitter, we blog, we leave a comment, upload a video, and with no hint of a blush. The cat (or even a rat) not only looks at a king, it meows it yawns and makes other noises too!

The proverb implies that a person may not be that great but that does not deny him certain rights. He is not entirely restricted in the presence of a superior.
What are you doing?
I am writing Sachin's biography
WHAT? You are going to write Tendulkar's biography?
Well,  a cat can look at a king. So. Why not?

But of course there is a world of difference between LOOK and SEE.
A cat may look but would he really comprehend the king? Would he really see?

* kannada proverb: literally: poor man you be what u are

April showers bring May flowers

The proverb ASbMF displays English sentiments. In parts of Ireland, Scotland and UK the weather in April changes from warm sunshine to icy sleet in a day. The April showers are a continuous thing offering little respite. Suddenly in May the clouds part, the sun shines through and the flowers blossom. It must be an absolutely amazing experience. Aaaah! They gasp. All that wait and suffering was worth it. How beautiful the land looks!

Perhaps the first to use this phrase was Geoffrey Chaucer in about 1400. Chaucer writes in the Prologue to Canterbury Tales, When the April showers, and the blossoms of May have given way to mellow June ... only Then will the pilgrims begin to move.

The turn of every season brings on happiness and hope. (Man is such a creature of change!!)
In India a rain is always welcome. So perhaps we do fail to understand the grouse they may have against April showers! Still, too much rain, means clogged drains, flooded streets and damp socks ... this can be quite painful. In Delhi we have our own treasure of May flowers. They are called GOLDEN SHOWERS!

cassia fistula - amaltas - yellow shower

Our friend Ajit, roped in a trusted peer and managed most of the office work, took his wife to an evening out, and on the way home visited his friend's baby. Yesterday was April Shower...but he lived it through and
Look at him now, bibi khush, baby ka baba khush and boss bhi khush
Today it is May flowers indeed!

My father had sound advice... this specially on the day I brought home my report card.
Kai kesaradare bai mosaru ... a proverb in Kannada that literally translates to ... if hand gets marshy, mouth gets curd!! A diligent farmer reaps a good harvest and lives well.
This too shall pass ...

• Do your harsh duties today and the good times will come.

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one more picture of Golden shower

amaltas - yellow canopy in May

Any time means no time

An American in America stops to help me. I say 'Thank you for helping me with the bags' and he shrugs and says 'Anytime'.
The Indian in me is confused. The coin gently tinkles into place. 'Anytime' - it is like saying -no problem.
It is maybe a contraction of - Oh! I would be happy to do it for you any time!

That takes me back to Calcutta... and a totally different use of "Any time"
We had uncles and aunties at the culture-club where we met on Thursdays ... friends of our middle class parents, secretly feeling a bit uppish because they worked on higher pay-scales. At the end of the social gatherings smiling adults would nod and say to each other ... haan so let us meet outside also. Do visit us with your family - Any Time. ... Banni yava-glaro!
meaning ... well .. it's ok...no hurry...don't take it too seriously!!

Our friend Ajit has to develop 3 avatars today.
twenty days ago his boss handed him a file and said not priority... do it any time you are free
2 months back his friend got a lovely baby girl. He decided to visit them... sometime ... Any time.
5 years ago he married. She had said let's go for a musical concert. He said, sure ... anytime
and today the file, the baby visit and the are due. They have all said TODAY!

Truth is
when you hear - any time - you can assume the job will remain - not done
we work on - dead lines - and if no dead line is set, the job just does not get done.
that is a reality
Any time means no time

All cats are grey in the dark

Beauty and physical appearance is given way too much thought space ... much more than it deserves.
Stunning looks knock us down..........other sadder looks put us off
but the sway of looks can be only temporary. Finally it is the performance that counts
so while selecting
a chauffeur ... a cook
a secretary ... a spouse
a sofa set ... a cell phone ... a house
remember:
All cats are grey in the dark
It is the stuff inside that really calls the shots.

We had been to Zangoora the dance-drama-theatre show in Gurgaon. All actors boogied on to the stage and took positions. The stage was dark. We saw only mingling silhouettes. We watched, mildly curious.The spot lights came on. The lead actor Hussain,  a familiar face on TV, spread his arms wide Shahrukh style... and the discerning audience gasped. Is it he?? We watched with renewed vigour.
All cats are grey in the dark.
But who wants to be the grey cat? We work, we entertain, we dress and we pray only so that we do not remain grey cats. That is what all the strife and struggle is all about.

I have used the proverb in two different ways. Both imply that it is the stuff inside that counts.
The first way of using it is the traditional one. This is the way Benjamin Franklin used it in his absolutely stunning letter to his friend ... urging him to choose between an old woman and a wife!

The second is what I have seen in the more recent books. 

All's well that ends well

Ajit bent down and peeped frantically into every auto rickshaw that sped by. uff-ho ... he muttered to himself. this one is also occupied.  He was in this mess because the car had gone for repair.
No actually...he was in this mess because he had forgotten to book a cab. Arre he knew the car was in the garage, he knew had this 9 O'Clock meeting. He should have booked a cab na?
He bit his nails - no not actually...but metaphorically - in the auto as they trundled towards office.
And of course it had to happen today! the lift was out of order.
Ajit huffed his 180 pounds up the stairs ... and heaved to his cabin. He glanced at the cell phone ... it was 10 minutes past 9! He was scr***
The office boy came and said - Saab, Bada Saab told me to tell you.... Meeting is at 11.
Ajit beamed, deposited his laptop on the table and went for a coffee..
All's well that ends well.

All is well the ends well -  is a line of consolation ... a method of cheering oneself.
You know you messed up big time. You goofed up with the organizing. You did not work according to plan. Your tongue did not mirror your thoughts. Still somehow things work out. And the result is what the doctor ordered. The postponed meeting is just the ticket you are looking for!

A generation ago we agonized over the MEANS. We paid more attention to the HOW.
Even though Ajit made it to the meeting, his dad would shake his head in disapproval. Tch Tch This is not done, he would say.
Generation Next is realistic. To a greater extent it lives in the present. without giving much importance to the baggage. We only want to know ....so finally what happened?
The time for this proverb is truly here. Today we believe this -
All's well that ends well.

Accidents will happen

Ajit makes a wild gesture in his friend's house and C-R-A-S-H  at his feet are the shattered pieces of a blue bowl. Who had kept it there on the fridge? He looks around helplessly

No problem says the friend's wife, a false smile in place, ... accidents will happen.

It is ok yaar!

And then at a family get-together Ajit is sitting next to Meena Aunty. They are drinking juice and have exchanged smiles twice already. He is desperate to make some conversation. Oh Aunty will you be going with Seema when she moves to Mumbai? Aunty looks wide eyed - Seema is moving to Mumbai? Yaa she told us when she came with us to the pub. Aunty splutters - Seema came with you to a pub??

Oops! Accidents will happen.

Ajit beats a hasty retreat............now in aam English that means - he ran away.

Farhan Akhtar with his endearing broken voice looks at the camera in the hindi movie - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - and says nonchalantly "shit happens" 

He is talking about walking away with his best friend's girl-friend!

Sometimes despite our best efforts things do not work out the way we planned it. 

It's like a hand has swooped down to place a rock in the path of a stream. the stream struggles against the rock and finally makes a new path to surge ahead. The stream does finally leave the rock behind.

Shit happens is the 'cool' modern equivalent to Accidents will happen.
Like the stream that does finally make its way. It is indeed a good idea to say Shit Happens and just move on.