DREAMZZ...

I AM BACK!!!

2011-11-26T14:58:00.000+05:30

What can be more disturbing than forgetting your own Blog's URL???!!! Yes, it just happened with me. It's been over 3 months that I have not even visited my blog, forget about writing anything here. So many things have happened in these past 3 months…

I have switched my job… I have been working in office without taking any leaves… And yes, I have been seriously WORKING (habit of which I have become out of touch)… timings have changed… travelling has become a pain… Weekends are eagerly awaited for… All in all, I have been over occupied with lot of things…

But the good thing is that I am learning at the new place and getting work which I always wanted… so at the end of the day, I am satisfied…

So, what's new??? Some of my sweet friends have expressed it to me that they have been missing my blog and I have been itching to scribble anything, just anything on my blog just for those friends…

Ummm… I can't write about everything that have happened in the past 3 months but let me see:

1. Have visited Infy-Mysore campus and was awestruck by the magnificence of the campus. It impacted me so much that I cursed myself for not doing engineering and not getting placed with Infosys and not landing up at Infy-Mysore as a trainee…. That much was the impact of that RESORT. What do you want when you are away from a proper city? Multiplex, grocery store, bank, ATM, gym, recreation centre, swimming pool, transportation, nice place to live, pizza or nice eating joints, a football or a cricket stadium, saloon, doctor, security, internet, bowling alley…. YOU HAVE EVERYTHING IN THERE… I better try to put some pics…

Training Center

Hostels-for trainees and guests (thats where we stayed)

Beautiful pathway

The Famour Multiplex building with the basketball court

I was obsessed with this building

Swimming pool (at the first floor) and the recreation center around

Cycles for easy commutation in the campus

Gallery

2. Finally watched a movie in a hall… Rockstar… Though I was not in a mood to watch it coz "that's not my type"… but finally gave in… I can't say that I was disappointed. Ranbir Kapoor was definitely amazing and very much into his character but songs were out of my scope. I know most of you are crazy about those songs but please… Sadda Haq- O eco-friendly nature ke rakshak, main bhi hu nature… what the hell is that?? And Nargis Fakhri…phew… she was unbearable. Somehow the movie was predictable. I have read some novels and watched some movies which described the tale of a budding artist finally achieving success and not able to handle it, so it was kind of predictable but yet, RK was good.

3. Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri di???!!! My South Indian friends, I know this is going to hurt you guys but Dhanush is irritating in this song. I felt that he is totally drunk and singing some rubbish in his sleep (and is about to throw up--- my hubby added this and I totally agree). What kind of music are we getting these days?? I guess till early 90s the songs were meaningful and then, suddenly it all changed. I better shut my mouth here about music or I will be banned from the society…

4. The power of technology- I call myself an average net savvy but till 2 months back I was missing the most amazing aspect of internet… Video Chat. I had heard about Skype but imagine my MIL got her Skype ID before me!!! The first time I used Skype and I felt the power of technology… My brother and sister-in-law sitting in USA and we were talking face to face. I know, all of you might be thinking that am such a super excited stupid girl. This is such an old thing now. But yesterday we used it in a much better way… Skype video Conferencing. Delhi-UK-Bangalore… The entire family was on Skype and talking to each other all at the same time. I was almost feeling like all of us were sitting together at the same place and having a good time!!! God Bless those who keep on inventing new things and are making us live together in a virtual world…

5. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is finally a mom… How does it impact me? Just that no more morphed photographs of Salman Khan as her baby son… No more betting on baby girl or a baby boy; no more time wasting pundits on TV predicting her baby's future.

What else? I would again try to be regular on my blog but who knows… Be Safe and Be Happy… CHEERS!!!

New Design...

2011-08-12T09:11:00.000+05:30

Phew... I wanted to change the design of my blog for so long and today I finally got time and willingness to change it. It is so confusing... So many options, hit and trial, applying the changes, changing it again, experimenting and so on...
I have finally done the changes... Though the previous one still remains my favorite but this one is also not bad... What say???!!!

Give your feedbacks in the comments section but please, don't be too harsh on me... It took me almost an hour to get this decent design....

Akshay, I have finally recollected how to add the photo to the blog Title... To know more, kindly ping me on chat...

AIYYOOO!!!!!!

2011-08-08T16:25:00.000+05:30

Some of the major accidents can take place in your very own kitchen… I learnt that lesson on this Sunday afternoon. I could have done away with our patented lunch menu for weekend- daal-chawal but then thought to follow the family tradition of Sunday kadi-chawal. I have never made kadi in my life, don't like it much and so have not even seen my mother preparing it.

Since it is made a little differently by my mom from what my M-I-L (mother-in-law) prepares, I thought to learn it from my MIL rather than Jaipur Mummy. Even though she was not well, she explained me the process.

For those who don't know what kadi is, please help yourself at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadhi.

It started off okay. The pakoras were a bit tight so I frantically call her again (this is call#2 and I may use the word "frantically" very repeatedly in this blog 'coz it was a frantic day).

She calmly tells me that it may happen, don't worry and soak them in some water. They would be fine. Phew…!!!

Then the next step- I took some besan and mixed it with curd and water and other ingredients. Ever since I had taken the besan in the utensil, I had that something-is-wrong kinda feeling. Nevertheless, I went ahead and that's when I made Frantic Call#3 to my ailing M-I-L. She again tells me not to panic and add some more water. Only problem might be that we may end up with huge quantity.

We added more water and again tried to bring it to boil. WE = I + Nimit. But it again solidifies. How much water will we add? I knew I have added too much of besan. God, for how many days will we eat it? Forget about eating, even after eating it for four days, we may have to throw it away… And how will we eat it, it is smelling only besan and no other aroma…? That's when I realized that I have committed the worst blunder in the kitchen. Tonnes of tasteless kadi = one cooker almost full of this thing. And yes, then I started crying like a child who has just wasted some very precious resource or have screwed up the most important exam of life.

Nimit had to push me out of the kitchen and into the bathroom. Stupids!!! He was not punishing me but wanted me to take my bath while he does some damage control.

He might have made (frantic) Call#4 to my M-I-L and after almost 40 minutes, when I came out of the bathroom, he greeted me with the manageable kadi, not amazing but decent in taste; not as liquid as it should be but atleast not a solid pancake.

You can avert a major accident in kitchen if you have a personal disaster management team, your understanding husband and your on-line F1: M-I-L J

I am still in the shock of what happened yesterday but I must inform you that the kadi was not that bad. I even brought it in my tiffin today… It was good and we may have to eat it just one more time. So, it was a manageable quantity.

Also, most of the experiments done by me in the kitchen have been more than successful (except dosa, which I am very close to master now). So, those of you who have been thinking to visit me and taste my food, I have shown you both sides of the coin (I am such an honest girl). Toss it and leave the rest to God, me and your kismat!!! Hu Ha Ha Ha…

LOL!!!

2011-08-04T15:17:00.000+05:30

Hey All,

First of all let me clarify that I rarely read newspaper and my previous post on Fairness creams have nothing to do with the article published in Delhi and Pune Times on the almost same topic. I don't read Bangalore paper itself. So, it was my original post.

Second of all, nothing… Well, I was just getting bored so thought to again bother you guys here. It's my personal platform and I can write any crap on this blog.

While coming to office today in the Volvo bus, just when I was almost admiring one fellow's nicely polished pointed shoes, he stepped on my left foot so badly that I actually felt numb for few minutes and whatever little admiration for his shoes was building up, just vanished…Puff…!!! It is hurting me even now.

If anyone of you have not yet travelled in public transportation and have some time to kill and want some free entertainment, my advice is to give it a try. The way people start marching towards any vacant seat can actually scare away any terrorist also. Even if someone is adjusting his/her bag just like that, some of the standing passengers would take it for granted that the current occupant is getting down on the next stop and run to block that seat. At times it becomes difficult to climb down from your seat since 3 people are blocking your way!!!

Some of them have to talk over the mobile LOUDLY. Whenever I get on the bus, I make sure to keep my mobile on vibration 'coz I don't know if it rings will I be able to pick it up or not. Why bother all the passengers with my ringtone?? But most of them don't follow this practice and you ought to listen to their irritating ringtones ever since their phones start ringing, them realizing that it's their own phone which is ringing, then taking it out of their untraceable pockets, looking at the screen to make out who is the caller and then clicking that Green/Accept Call button…

Another thing that I noticed (just now one fellow strengthened my observation)… Most of the population just ignores whatever is written on the doors in CAPITAL and bold letters. If the door says PUSH, majority of the people have to PULL the door and vice-versa. When I say majority, I mean 90% of the educated population. Few days back when I was about to open the door to the staircase in my office building, one boy/man tried to overtake me in full style (goggles, headphones, funky bag, cool walk etc) and tried 3-4 times to push the door and finally turned towards me to say that "it is locked. Sorry, have to take the lift". I just stepped forward and PULLED the door and walked in… Funny… So there I could think of one tagline: "Dikhaave pe mat jao, apni akal lagao"

There are so many such incidents which we see around us daily. It's up-to us to take it lightly and laugh about it silently or let these people irritate us with their stupidities. It depends on my mood how I take these incidents but right now sitting in front of my system, I am just laughing out loud… LOL!!!

BE FAIR!!

2011-08-02T17:02:00.000+05:30

Oh… I am getting depressed… Advertisement industry is making me feel depressed. Actually now only I have realized the actual reason of why I was not able to become the MD of my company even after working tirelessly for 3 years here... Why I was rejected in some of the interviews… Why I did not top my college and was not the Head of the Student Council. Thanks to these Ads for opening up my eyes. Gosh, I missed it….

I did not use the Fairness creams!!!!

Had I just invested more money in buying and more time in rubbing those fairness creams on my uneven dark face, I might have either been working in Bollywood or holding the highest designation in my office. Oh, and not to forget; Mr. Husband would have been getting expensive gifts for me every day!!! Oh God, what do I do now?? Oh yes, I can start using them now also. It will take what, max of 7 days to get that GLOWING skin and I could even roam about under the sun without the umbrella. And people, let us not forget that the world respects only those who have glowing fair skin and not some darkish loser. After 7 days I am sure I would get what I want in my life, sure shot…

Okay now, what exactly do these fairness cream ads want to tell us? Specially, in a country where the natural complexion of majority of the population is not WHITE but brown. We were discriminated by the firangi population based on our color and our grand-fathers fought against them and on every 15^th Aug we feel proud for them. And what's with this concept of applying these creams for "instant" fairness to get immediate success? Oh, on top of that, these creams are endorsed by those heroines who do not dare to walk under the sun without their spot boys running behind them with the umbrella… And if you don't believe your celebrity idols, they have amazing graphics/animations to show how their creams just penetrate deep into your dark skin and destroy those dark cells and give you the complexion which the world regards…

Agreed that now there are loads of people who want to become fairer but why are they insulting those who are happy with whatever skin tone they have?? Girls in India are, at times, still rejected because of dark skin but please, using Fair n Lovely does not guarantee job or fan-following or boyfriends or respect…

10 Secrets...

2011-07-11T15:52:00.001+05:30

Thanks Pranali for tagging me and God bless your friend Mia for tagging you… Is there anything called 8^th sky as well?? I am exactly there.

Though the tag is a tough one… 10 Secrets… If I write them here, they won't be secrets anymore… So, I have to be very cautious about this one… Here it goes:

1. Nimit knows about it but others don't. After watching one of the episodes of Byomkesh Bakshi in my childhood, I always have to look towards the window of any room (be it a washroom) that I enter into, to check if anyone is peeping through it, even if I am on 100^th floor and the window opens to sky only…. I still do that. TV can have bad influence on kids…

2. I cannot walk on someone's right hand side. Even if I walk, after sometime, I would abruptly switch the sides. Whenever I walk on someone's right hand side I get a feeling that I am about to fall on my right hand side…

3. I am not at all patient. I would start something with all josh and planning but after sometime, I would get bored and quit it

4. I doze off in the bathroom in the morning (that's why I take long time), normally on week days when I get up early and am in no mood to go to office

How many are left?? Oh, 6…

5. This is a top one… Ever since my brother had gone to study engineering and there was a time during any day when I was alone, I would switch on the music player, put on my favorite song and sing aloud (VERY LOUD) and occasionally dance as well… No idea if someone already knows about it or not

6. Though I don't believe in ghosts or spirits but given a choice for time pass discussion, I love this topic AND once through with the discussion, I get paranoid about everything around me for about half a day or so J J

7. I always get scary dreams about my accidental death in lift, by drowning, by falling off the cliff or an accident while travelling by train or plane… I want to die single piece actually without any scratch or something on my body…

8. I am scared of dogs/stray cows etc. One more thing… I have noticed this. A stray cow/dog might be standing/sitting quietly but as soon as I pass by their side, they HAVE to react and they have to move as if they were waiting for me to come to attack me… They all conspire against me!!!

9. Many people during my college days think that I was all attentive in classes every time. But I was attentive only during few of the subjects. During other classes, I used to make some or the other cartoon or drawing (if I had any of my old registers, I would have given you a proof) or write in mirror image style. Oh yes, I can write very fast in mirror image style in notebooks or papers (not tried it much on black/white boards)

10. And here is the biggest confession. I cheated, yes; I cheated using my chota chota chits in 2^nd semester HR paper in MBA (not the whole paper, just 2 questions). But apart from that I could never pull it off… L L

These were some of my secrets… There are lots of other secrets as well which I would never disclose… he ha…

I am not going to tag any one, coz I know that no one else, apart from Pranali, is interested in this. Still, if someone is, do go ahead and leave a message in my comments box and I will definitely check it out… CHEERS!!!

??

2011-07-06T09:19:00.000+05:30

I had earlier also written about losing our minds at the drop of the hat and do something horrible. On top of it, time and again we witness some judgment passed by the court which leaves us open mouthed.

One such incident: Neeraj Grover murder case. I did read about the case when it happened but then it got entangled in the legal corridor. Last week again it grabbed our attentions. On Friday a judgment was passed… The lady, Maria, gets a 3-year imprisonment and the man, Jerome, gets 10 years sentence. But since Maria has already spent 3 years in jail during the trial, so she is a free bird now.

I am no one to comment on whether Neeraj himself was all good and clean but the fact is that he was murdered and disposed off by Maria and Jerome. It's about the way this heinous crime was done. It's about the insensitivity of the murderers and her lawyer, who claims that the body was not cut into '300' pieces and showed the photo of the body in a press conference. It's about how on earth did they 'plan' the murder and decided to chop his body. Merely thinking about the moment and what must be going on in their minds at that time sends shiver down my spine…

We were watching a discussion on NDTV news yesterday and the lawyer was shamelessly adamant on the point that "since she is his client, it's his responsibility to defend her and he will do whatever he must to ensure this". Fine, you are your client's lawyer but does that make you an insensitive human being? Someone has lost their son in such terrible way and you are showing his body's photograph to defend your client…

What else can we say… Such cases are just making it scary to live…

IT WORKS!!!

2011-07-04T16:12:00.000+05:30

YES... It works... now I can write a post, e-mail it from my desktop to the blog address, access the blogger dashboard on my mobile and publish the post.... YE !!!!!!

The wide screen is amazing... As good and easy to use & navigate as in a normal pc...

CHEERS!!!

HEYLO ALL....

2011-07-04T15:59:00.001+05:30

Heylo….

I am back after a "blog-aakal" (term coined by Pranali)… Have been busy with a lot many things at home and in office… And today finally I thought to connect again with my blog….

The most important tragedy that could happen to me which prevented me to post anything on my blog: all of a sudden my IE settings changed and I am not able to open the blogger dashboard L L

Another tragedy, I used to read other blogs using Google Reader but it refused to open. Just now have got my IE upgraded to IE7 and now I can access Reader but dashboard is still inaccessible.

BUT, lot of other good things happened. Mr. Husband celebrated his birthday on 1^st June. Shall not disclose his age or else will have to face the consequences… I made a nice personalized calendar for him with the pictures of those who matter to him the most. Yours truly also celebrated her birthday. Again, shall not disclose the age: that's a universal law… Girls (ha ha... don't laugh, I am calling myself 'girl' and not a 'lady') should not tell their age in public… Btw, my main reason to put up this post comes now….

Mr. Husband gave me an amazing gift… Samsung Galaxy S. Those who don't understand what's the big deal about this, I must tell that it is the most happening phone in India these days (after iPhone)… That's my perception; 'coz the moment I tell anyone that I now have Samsung Galaxy S, their reaction suggests that its equivalent to owning a Merc J J

Thanks Nimit… and now, I dedicate almost 8-9 hours mindlessly fidgeting with my new phone… truly in love with its amazing wide display, touch screen, keyboard, voice… though, this may look against the very nature of any female, but after this, I don't need any gift for another 2 years from Nimit now… but if he wants to gift something, that would totally be his decision J

Last month, my parents and mausi-mausaji people went to Badrinath and successfully completed their pilgrimage. Almost exactly a month later, in-laws also embark on their journey to Badrinath. We were tensed down here, 'coz that's the rainy season and it becomes dangerous but they all came back safely and satisfied yesterday… That's a big relief…

Does someone remember that my office had been once divided into teams for various team events??!!! So, the last team event was announced many weeks back- dance competition. Other teams started practicing religiously and my team decides to sleep over, as usual. I and other 3 active members also decided to chillax (chill + relax). But the event gets postponed and I find so many unknown people of my office asking ME as to why our team is not participating. The humiliation levels cross its limit and 4 of us decides to give it a shot…

2 non-dancers (boys) + 1 semi-dancer (I) + 1 fairly good dancer (Pushpa) = 4 participants from the Nuts 'n' Bolts.

We sweat ourselves out for 2.5 days, mix two songs and somehow come on the stage. We start our 'performance'. 1^st song goes well with lot of cheers and we start with the 2^nd song. I couldn't take off my dupatta at the time of song transition, but that's a minor error. And all of a sudden, our song gets cut and I could hear the final piece of music… Damn… all such stupid things happen with my group ONLY…. So, we stop abruptly for few seconds, standing like confused aliens on the stage… But I must say, it was fun… That was the 1^st time in my life that I volunteered to dance on a stage in front of a crowd (last time I remember myself standing on the stage was when I was in 1^st or 2^nd standard, when the complete class is made to dance in the annual function). No prizes for guessing, our team came last in the events. At that moment I was angry with my 'team-mates' and was cursing our bad luck with the music but then that was just an event and I was amazed to see such fine enjoyable performances from other individuals and groups.

All in all, a very happening month just passed by… And, this is a test post which I am planning to post via my phone… If it works, I will be regular here…. CHEERS!!!

Jurassic Park...

2011-06-03T15:23:00.000+05:30

Guess what… few days back, I don't know why and how, I was thinking about one of my favorite movies- Jurassic Park (first part) and yesterday it was coming on Sony Pix. Thank God I was reading that section of the newspaper in the evening (which I rarely do) and saw that it is coming at 9 p.m. J

I am totally in love with its theme music and merchandise and the whole concept of the movie. I also had a video cassette of JP and would religiously watch it after every school exam got over (even if it was just a trivial unit test). My bade bhaiyya happened to be even more involved with this movie. I remember him making a T-Rex painting on a chart paper and pasted on the main entrance door of our home in Jaipur and innumerable JP logos in his drawing book, which looked complete replica of the original ones… I can recite the movie frame by frame and always wanted to visit the actual JP theme park in those automatic cars… wow!!!

Let me keep making a list of the old movies that I want to watch so earnestly… God, can I have ET please???!!!

Trip to BANDIPUR!!!

2011-06-01T14:42:00.001+05:30

I am back again… Previous week was a mix of good and the sad times. Sad, coz, one of my nieces (6 months old baby, my cousin's daughter) got admitted to a hospital and while I am writing this, she is still in hospital in Bangalore. Such a tiny body was tortured with so many needles. One for putting on the drip and rest to suck her blood for endless tests. I must not speak more about it else I will end up crying. But it is depressing to see a baby suffer so much... I can only pray for her early and fast recovery.

The better part of the week was when our cousin sisters visited us from Delhi. We had already booked our rooms at a resort at Bandipur National Park- MC Resorts. The point to be noted about the whole trip was that we were always moving on time. Decided to drive by our own car with our very own in-house budding singer- Nimit, singing as ~~badly~~ nicely as the original singers of those long forgotten Punjabi songs… Picked up another cousin of ours from Mysore and reached our destination in good time…

Carom Time

MC resorts turned out to be a comfortable place, not a luxuries resort but a quiet and a clean one. The staff was polite and the rooms were spacious and nice. The meals were not extravagant, as in, not a very long list of dishes but tasty and filling. After many years probably played carom and after many months played TT (none of us tried our hands on chess, since we were on a vacation and not supposed to use our brainsJ). The setting was nice…. Play by the pool side.

First sight of the Elephants

After lunch, we were left to ourselves and so we played cards and then it was time for the Jungle Safari… Safari can be done by their Jeeps or the side-open buses. For jeeps, I guess, you need to book early and/or pay more. So, we mounted on the bus and started on our safari. I was anyways not expecting to see the tiger/s but as soon as we entered into the jungle, there was a sense of excitement. Looking curiously behind the bushes as if I would be the first person to spot the tiger (and grab the 15-seconds of fame).But I have no idea how a species named DEERS can always be found in any forest easily posing for camera!!! So, as usual, they were our first encounters. Then we spot the Indian Elephants, behind the bamboos. The driver and the conductor instructed us to remain quite…. Shhhh…. But, hello, the bus itself was making noise…

Anyways, they were standing at quite a distance (I had to use the zoom feature of my digicam) but as soon as they started flapping their big ears, an annoying family started freaking out and the lady was literally close to breaking down and pleading the driver, "bhaiyya, chalo, wapis chalo, bahut dekh liya haathi".. I mean, c'mon, you have come all the way down here to watch only deer and peacocks???!!! Oh, btw, she was (they were) all so excited on spotting the peacocks and the birds and yes, her voice specially was very annoying…

DEERS

Bison

A Family of Elephants

This Elephant came very close to our bus

The othe r man stood up after some time and almost shouted at the driver since the poor fellow was just doing his job- show as many wild animals as possible for full value for money… "chalo wapis, hum kab tak haathi dekhte rahenge, humare saath bachche hai, chalo wapis (resort)!!!". Uncle, if you were accompanied with kids, you could have chosen to stay at the resort or even better, could have stayed at home only… Moreover, it would be great if you let the kids see those animals which they have seen only in their books. Anyways, we saw elephants, bison, lots of deer, PEACOCK, kingfisher and that's all I think. Got the chance to see an elephant very closely, playing with mud… Once back, we were welcomed with refreshing tea, coffee and biscuits and then again, the cards time… Dinner was also simple but nice…

Then we tried to show off our guts and sat by the pool side and started discussion about ghosts, spirits, our beliefs about them or any incident… That's when we could hear an elephant. It must not have been very close to our resort but not very far also… Immediately, I started scanning the dark bushes by the boundary wires of our resort to make sure that in case Mr. Elephant is very close by, we get ample time to run for our lives J it was cold by the time and we shifted to the bonfire place to play Uno (we can't live without cards)

Jungle Trek

Swimming Pool

Next morning, ooops, early morning, we got ready for a trekking session into the jungle… with our past experience with trekking, we were confident that we don't need shoes, our floaters would be enough. We started the trek by 6:30 and walked through the jungles… I was damn excited (again thought that I would encounter some wild animal within very close proximity)… and again we saw only deer… the trek was nice… Could feel the non-polluted environment in the early morning pleasantly cold time. And then, our guide asked, "madam, are you tired?? Can we go up that hill for trekking or you want us to go back through the jungle only?". How can I get tired of trekking? Pat came the reply, "no no, we can go up the hill... Is it too steep?". When he assured that it's not a steep ascend, all of us got ready to climb it. And that's where little Nikki realized that she is probably growing old at a very fast pace. After climbing non-stop for 5 minutes, Nikki has to stop to take deep breath. She was not like that till 2008 atleast, when she climbed happily on an excursion trip to Garud Machi… Throughout our trek up and down the hill, I was, though, enjoying it, but was getting worried about the deteriorating shape of my health. Anyways, somehow, we came through it and our guide told us that the total distance covered by us was 10 KMs!!!!!!!!! 10 KMs in 2.5 hours… not bad… Our legs were aching but all of us did enjoy this…

My Time Pass with Camera

And then, we attacked the breakfast and took that refreshing bath and back to the pool side… Others played cards while I played with my camera. By 11:30, it was time for us to head back to Bangalore. MC Resort gave us a souvenir at the time of checkout- a framed photograph of a deer… Nice gesture…

We halted at Mysore, where we had our lunch at the place suggested by our local Mysore Guide- Sohit/Sho/Shobhit J As I said earlier also, we were back to our home in a very good time… by 5:45 p.m. Not bad at all….

It was a refreshing break from our routines and spent nice time with each other after a very long time…

Final verdict on Bandipur:

1. Don't go there with a hope to spot a tiger or other carnivorous animals, which depends on the LUCK….

2. MC Resort is a nice comfortable place to stay, would give recommend it for others

3. Enjoy elephants and bison and deer

4. Don't miss the trekking and DO CARRY YOUR SHOES for doing it… Don't show off your heroism that you can trek without proper shoes on…

5. Go there with your friends or big family; else you may get bored…

6. And we had a nice time there…

Another MILESTONE!!!

2011-05-23T17:38:00.000+05:30

Okay, there I changed the status message of my gtalk saying: "Today I complete 3 years of my Professional Life...!!!!!!!" and here my friend congratulates me and asks if I have written the blog or not?

I seriously had no intention to write a blog on this particular milestone but since he has poked me, I thought why not oblige him (Parikshit, if you are reading this, I dedicate this blog to you)

Btw, earlier my status message was: "Today I complete 3 years at 3i Infotech. Don't know if this is a happy or a sad occasion". Then another friend of mine suggested, why use 3i Infotech's name and get confused about it, rather call it 3 years of Professional life. I really felt happy and relieved at that…

I still cannot digest the fact that my father worked at the same bank for almost close to 32 years!!! I am already feeling suffocated after 3 years. As one of my bro-in-law says, "to get a hanuman, you have to be a Lord Ram first". But sadly, there is no Ram in today's corporate world (if there are any, I wish their number to increase drastically) and so there is no Hanuman.

But I am pretty impressed with myself when I see my bank account. My parents used to fill my piggybank or there were festivals to earn money when I was a child. At times, to tease me, my father would often say, "tum kya jaano khoon paseene se kamaya huye paise ki keemat" (how would you know the importance of the hard-earned money?). But I know it now. I know its value. It hurts when someone takes away my money and does not return it in terms of the service or the favor promised in lieu of that money.

It's not that I have nothing to boast about in these 3 years. I have had my share of joy and happy moments, some learning (which, sadly, was limited to not more than initial 2 years only), new friends, meeting new people or shall I call them strangers, travelling to few of the places/rural places, imparting training, tasting local food, nothing-less-than-adventure-type of experiences etc etc. Thanks to one of my official trips, I happened to meet my long lost family friends and was able to spend quality time with them at Baroda. Have seen so much of politics that many a times I have decided to call it quits but stayed back.

I know I might be sounding as if I have completed 30 years of my professional life when actually the number stands at just 3 years but in these times, completing every single year is nothing less than an achievement. And on top of that, this is a MILESTONE and my readers already know how I am hell-bent on remembering the milestones… btw, 15^th May, 2006 was my first day at ICFAI college and hostel J Five years!!!

100 Truths!!!

2011-05-19T16:49:00.000+05:30

Okay, since I don't have many followers and amongst them also only few are bloggers who are not taking care of their friend (ME) and so I have no source to get myself tagged with some interesting tags. Since past few days I have been reading lot of other blogs as well… Many are crap but still some are very interesting and I have decided to steal some of their tags and help myself come alive (right now, I am about to fall off my chair with drooping eyes), and this may continue for some of the next few posts.. Steal a tag, tag myself, complete the task and pass that on to someone else J

100 Truths!!!!

I have stolen this tag from a blogger named: Dhanya.

1. Last drink: Tea

2. Last phone call: to my hubby dear

3. Last text message: to my hubby dear again J

4. Last song you listened to: Baari Barsi (Band Baaja Baraat)

5. Last time you cried: thank God I am not crying much these days… and for good reasons, I don't even remember when I cried last… I guess February…

HAVE YOU EVER…

6. Dated someone twice: not even once L (btw, going out with your fiancée is not dating, is it? If it is dating, then YES)

7. Been cheated on: in love???!!! NO. Otherwise, in Life, YES

8. Kissed someone and regretted it: NO

9. Lost someone special: Yes

10. Been depressed: so many times…

11. Been drunk and threw up: NOOOOO

LIST FOUR FAVOURITE COLORS:

12. Black

13. Purple

14. Green, as in Moss green

15. Blue

FIRSTS:

15. Made new friends: Yes, I guess during kindergarten days but I don't remember them now

16. Fallen out of love: No

17. Laughed until you cried: Yes, few days back, subject being Nimit… he made me laugh

18. Met someone who changed you: Yes, many people actually, starting with my friends during MBA

19. Found out who your true friends were: Yes. Should I list down their names?? Fir kabhi…

20. Found out someone was talking about you: Yes. Thank God they were talking good things about me when I landed up there

HAVE YOU:

21. Kissed someone in your friends list: Yes, husband J (what were you thinking??!!!)

22. How many people in your friends list do you know in real life: Almost all

23. How many kids do you want to have: 2… but I will update this after discussion with Nimit J

24. Do you have any pets: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

25. Do you want to change your name: NO, but I want people to spell out/speak out my name correctly (I am not NIKITHA and I am not NITIKA… it's NIKITA)

26. What did you do for your last birthday: went to Yercaud a day before and on the birth day, went to Hogenakkal falls, with Nimit

27. What time did you wake up today: Thanks to our maid, both of us got up at 5:50 a.m. and then it was on-off thing. Finally out of the bed by 6:35 a.m.

28. What were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping

29. Name something you CANNOT wait for: a new job... ASAP

30. Last time you saw your father: 22^nd April, 2011

31. What is one thing that you could change about your life: my bad luck, which played its role many a times (DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THE OCCASIONS WHERE MY GOOD LUCK FAVOURED ME)

32. Most visited web page: Gmail/Google

WHAT'S YOUR

33. Name: Nikita

34. Nicknames: Nikki (Nikka also)

35. Zodiac Sign: Cancer

36. Male/Female/Transgender: Female

37. Elementary: in Delhi

38. School: in Delhi/Faridabad/Jaisalmer/Jaipur

39. Colleges: BIT (Jaipur)/ICFAI (Gurgaon)

40. Hair Color: black/ dark brown

41. Long or short: Medium

42. Height: want to increase it but now no chance, 5' 3" or is it 5'2"??

43. Did you have crush on someone: Yes, but he turned out to be No#1 rotlu so that balloon got burst

44. Ever been in love: YES (after marriage)

45. Piercings: Ear

46. Tattoos: No

47. Righty or Lefty: Righty

48. First Surgery: None till now… Touchwood

49. First piercing: Ear

50. First best friend: They became my best friends all at the same time- Jaya, Puja, Shikha, Smiti J

51. First sport you loved: cricket (typical Indian)

52. First pet: Never had one and never want any

53. First vacation: Don't remember (parents claim either Goa or Kolkatta)

54. First concert: At college- Euphoria

55. First crush: we have talked about that in this section only…!!!!

RIGHT NOW

56. Eating: nothing

57. Drinking: water

58. I'm about to: post this on the blog

59. Listening to: Darling… Saat Khoon Maaf

60. Waiting for: office hours to get over soon

YOUR FUTURE

61. Want kids: YES

62. Want to get married: invalid question, already married

63. Careers in mind: In fantasy world- a rich Actor (Celebrity types). Real world- don't want to think about it, but a typical Business Analyst in IT industry

WHICH IS BETTER WITH OPPOSITE SEX

64. Lips or eyes: Eyes… that's the first thing that I notice about anyone

65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs (not taking Nimit into consideration in this section)

66. Shorter or taller: Taller

67. Older or younger: Older

68. Romantic or spontaneous: I guess, most of the questions are invalid now… I don't need to think about them now, I am happily marriedJ. But still, spontaneous…

69. Nice stomach or nice arms: stomach

70. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive (not over sensitive)

71. Hook-up or relationship: relationship

72. Trouble maker or hesitant: Trouble maker

HAVE YOU EVER

73. Kissed a stranger: NOOOOOOO… do people actually do that???!!!

74. Lost glasses/contacts: No, I am a responsible girl J

75. Broken someone's heart: Yes, I have been told so… though, I never knew about it at that time

76. Had your own heart broken: in love? NO; otherwise, Yes (in so-called friendships)

77. Been arrested: What are you saying?? NO

78. Turned someone down: No one asked me

79. Cried when someone died: Yes

80. Liked a girl that is a friend: Yes, in a straight way… she is my best friend J

DO YOU BELIEVE IN

81. Yourself: rarely

82. Miracles: Yes, started believing when they happened in my life

83. God: Yes

84. Love at first sight: No, I believe that's just a crush…

85. Heaven: Yes

86. Santa Claus: No, but want to believe when I see those little kids waiting expectantly for Santa Claus to handover their gifts on Christmas…

87. Kiss on the first date: No

88. Angels: No

89. Devils: Ha ha ha… Yes, there are so many around me….

ANSWER THURTHFULLY

90. Is there one person you want to be with right now: Yes, my papa… missing him very much today…

91. Had more than one BF/GF at one time: you kidding me?? I never had any BF L

92. Wanted to kill someone ever: Yes. I have my list of my targets ready with me…

93. Among your blog mates, whom would you like to kiss: No one

94. Committed a blunder and regretted later: Yes, let's not get into the details, it (they) is (are) very embarrassing

95. Wanted to steal your friend's BF/GF: No… wanted some of their qualities in my husband though…

ASSOCIATE WITH SOMETHING YOU WEAR

96. White: my newly stitched crisp white cotton chudidaar

97. Black: my Adidas T-shirt. Nimit has the same t-shirt in Red color J

98. Red: my new kurti and my very old top (with Om sign) which I pulled out from somewhere when I went to Jaipur this time

99. Pink: one of my short kurti's, I loved its color but it faded much before its life L

100. Posting this as 100 Truths: Yes. That's why I stole it in the first place J

I don't know if someone is interested/ idle to do this but I WANT TO TAG Pranali, Akshay, Vipul (when you finally get time from shifting), Sandeep, Palani sir and my friend TARUN… Tarun, this can be your much awaited FIRST POST on your blog J

Let me know all of you once you are through with your tag in my comments section… CHEERS!!!

AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-05-19T10:47:00.000+05:30

Many a times my in-laws (and even my husband-in-lawJ) have told me to speak-out-loud… They often wonder how I have such a low voice. But that's how HE (look skywards) has made me. If I try to speak in higher volume, my voice resembles that of a crow. But I guess, in normal circumstances (bole toh, when I am not sitting in a restaurant playing some rock band type music or when I am lying/not confident of what I am blurting out), my voice is not that bad to capture.

So, why this justification kind of a post about my not-so-surili voice? It's because I often wonder how some people have such high-pitched irritating voice?? There are people who have high volumes but still pleasant to hear but I am talking about those people whose whisperings also itches my ear…

Just 5 minutes back, I went to the washroom in my office and I spotted that girl. Believe me, I actually have dropped my idea to use the washroom many a times when I saw her standing there, talking to someone. Though she talks in Kannada and so I don't understand a word that she speaks when she is supposedly whispering something to her friend, but it irritates me… I can, at times, even hear her blaring voice even when I have come out of the washroom, especially when she is roaring, I mean, laughing….

That reminds me of one of my English teachers during school time, Anjana Ma'am. I am sure that she is not reading this post. Our class teacher had made a rule to rotate our seats every day (we had 5 columns and I guess 6-7 rows). So daily rotate the rows and weekly rotate the columns. Anjana Ma'am had the habit of entering the classroom, put off her footwear in a corner and either teach us while walking across the classroom or mostly sit on the first bench (facing the class) of the middle column. The poor fellows of that ill-fated bench (2 per bench) always had hard time. I never believed that initially. But one fine day, it was my turn to sit there. My co-occupant quickly shifted to the 2^nd last bench of the room before Ms. Anjana comes. I told her that she may not be that bad (she had been taught by Ms. Anjana since many years and that was my first year with her being my English teacher). BUT… There she came and decided to sit on my desk and I actually could not make out of what she is speaking after 5 minutes, coz I had gone deaf!!! After the class, my friend came laughing and checked out my red ear coz, I had tightly covered my left ear when she was blaring right in front of me. She had a shrill voice… Difficult to imagine such voice coming out of such a small figure… and GOD!!! When she would shout at some student…

I remember my first individual presentation on a book review during my MBA days. I stood there in front of the class of around 40-45 students and my faculty who was sitting on the last bench and cleared my throat. I greeted everyone and started the slide and to my horror, the slides were displayed upside down. I choked there itself. I didn't have the confidence to brush this blunder aside, crack a joke and continue with my presentation. I fumbled to see if I can get that thing right but I couldn't do or say anything. Some of my new friends signaled me to pause, take a deep breath and continue; some of them signaled me to excuse myself and come back to my seat. But that word itself was not coming out. Then my lecturar called me and made me sit next to her and continued with other presentations. It was such an embarassment. That's when one of my friends told me to rehearse in front of the mirror before any such presentations; keep a glass of water with me at that time and keep drinking at regular intervals to avoid dry throat; to gargle regularly with lukewarm water and sing out aloud when alone. I took his first advice and today I am confident enough to address people. I have given lot of trainings in my job and unlimited presentations in college.

I often wonder why God has not given me (and many other people) a strong voice, I am not praying for a shrill one but a strong clear voice.

OBAMA KILLED OSAMA!!!!!!

2011-05-04T14:17:00.002+05:30

The most wanted terrorist has been gunned down, as per US of A. OBAMA said OSAMA is dead (status message of one of my dear friend). Looks like a new tongues twister to me. You can easily interchange Obama with Osama by mistake. By the way, "Osama" word is already present in the dictionary of MS Word and "Obama" is not. Just an observation… You forgot, I am an Analyst. Don't you dare laugh at this…

Anyways, Osama is dead but never ending controversies have taken birth. Even my little brain is suggesting that something is wrong. The world is asking all sorts of questions. I will tell my concern later on…

1. Is Osama actually dead?

2. Was Pakistan not involved in the US operations?

3. Was Pakistan hiding Osama?

4. Why Osama was buried in sea so urgently (USA, though, says that it was after all the forensic tests were done. So it was not done in any urgency)

5. Was Osama dead many years ago only (natural death) but after getting fool-proof links only US is claiming that they killed him? [Presidential elections at stake]

6. Osama anyways was not an active member of his terrorist group; there are other dangerous members alive, who can strike in even bigger way anytime now. Was Osama murdered by his own group mates?

7. Etcetera etcetera….

My concern is also on the similar lines:

Is it sure that USA has killed Osama or have they got inspired by the Bollywood movie Tere Bin Laden and killed innocent Pradhuman Singh, who played the Osama look alike in the movie???? There is no news of Pradhuman… This incident has taken place during appraisal time. Obama might have done so to claim the highest rating and promotion (extended Presidential tenure).

Whatever be the case, I now want to read the complete true stories about OBL. Wikipedia (my favorite encyclopedia) quotes this about his personal life:

"In 1974, at the age of 17, Osama married Najwa Ghanem at Latakia. According to CNN national security correspondent David Ensore, as of 2002 Osama had married four women and fathered roughly 25 or 26 children. Other sources report that he has fathered anywhere from 12 to 24 children."

I mean, look at the range of estimate of number of children fathered by OBL- 12 to 24. I don't understand, if OBL was such a deadly terrorist, his mind always occupied on planning some or the other attack, when did he take off time to marry 4 times??!!!

It took 10 years for US to kill this most wanted terrorist but I guess the controversies will remain open for a real long time from now… Real OBL or not; killed by US or his own group members or natural death; 12 children or 24… the fact is that OBL is dead… OBAMA KILLED OSAMA!!!!!!

Time Flies...

2011-04-14T16:41:00.000+05:30

So yes, we have completed 1 year, 2 months and 2 days of our marriage today….

Okay fine. This post has nothing related to our married life milestones. It's just that I have completed so many pending jobs at office and feeling damn sleepy and was not getting any appropriate beginning to write a post.

Last two weekends just flew by. We went to Hyderabad for the long weekend. On the historical day of 2^nd April, 2011, India won the Cricket World Cup-2011 after waiting for 28 years and 6 world cups. It was as if India has just been announced the World's Super Power, taking away that throne from the United States of America (Amrika). Even more interesting was the semi finals with Pakistan, our childhood rivals. Every single office made sure that they put up television sets for the employees and implemented the dress code- BLEED BLUE. The offices which could afford, gave a half day. The others anyways wore deserted look in the second half, everyone has run away to watch how Indians would thrash away the other team. I guess it recorded the highest ever TRP. And WE WON…. It was nothing less than winning the coveted cup itself.

Every Indian holding his/her breathe on the Finals and there came the final six from our Mr. Cool captain. Emotions flowed- on field and off field. Crackers, national flag, shouts and cries. Barring few, I guess, all the Indians were on the road, taking the "victory lap". One car hits the other, the victim comes out smiling and demands explanation, the accused driver says, "Sorry bhaiyya, sorry, by mistake…" and the victim gets back into the car…. No fight, no brawl, no exchange of swear words… That's when you know that India has won the World Cup….The Indian team squad has won a permanent place in the history of the Cricketing world…

Next day was the picnic day for my dear husband. Ever since we got on the back seat of my brother's car; who was uncomfortable since they (brother and his wifey) didn't know the way to the destination; we (I & Nimit) had put on our fun caps. We were negligibly concerned if we were on the correct path or not. I just wished that my brother and sis-in-law don't throw both of us out of their car. The destination, by the way, was Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. This was Nimit's first visit to the place; all others had been there before.

I caught so many photographs of the super excited kid (I am talking about Nimit) just posing for the camera voluntarily I guess for the 1^st time in his life. Finally, all exhausted, we were satisfied that we had a great time there.

Last weekend, we had cooked so much that the left over fed us for the next three days of the weekJ. Two proper dinners on two consecutive days, the only days when we could sleep without any account and do absolutely nothing but this weekend, we were even busier than the normal weekdaysL. But we took off some time to finish off the long pending shopping. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are the proud owners of new Sony Vaio E Series laptop. Applause… Thank You, Thank You… Still have not got time to explore it completely but will do that shortly. Aaah!!! Time flies…

ROFL...

2011-04-07T16:07:00.000+05:30

I was casually signing into my rediffmail account when a news on the home page hit my eyes:

"Mamata's paintings sold out for over Rs. 1 crore!"

Out of curiosity to make sure that this Mamata is not the same Mamata that I am thinking of, I clicked on the link to find out the details and guess what, it was the same Mamata that I have thought of- Mamata Banerjee. And I could not stop laughing uncontrollably ever since I saw her "precious paintings/masterpieces" and read her "humble" interview about her paintings. For those who can access this link, here it is:

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-wb-assembly-mamata-paintings-sold-out-for-over-rs-1-crore/20110407.htm

For those who cannot, let me past it here:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Although Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's collection of 95 paintings were sold out within three days for a staggering price of more than a crore rupees, she refuses to be acknowledged as a painter.

"I am not a painter. I am just a commoner, I don't know how to paint. Mine is a casual approach with creativity and nothing else," said Banerjee.

The three-day sale-cum-exhibition of her repertoire at private art gallery 'Gallerie 88' that began on Monday received a stupendous response even from artists with the organisers saying that her paintings were sold out for more than crore rupees.

Delighted with the positive feedback about her brush strokes and sketches on canvas, Banerjee has decided to try her hand on some more paintings and support her party funds to meet electioneering expenses.
"I am still painting because fresh orders are coming and all my previous works have already been sold," she said, adding that in between poll campaigns and 'padyatras' she manages time to express her creativity on the canvas.

Party sources said the Railways Minister will paint as many paintings as possible within this week, before she begins her campaign in north Bengal which goes to poll on April 18.

Inaugurated by eminent painter Jogen Chowdhury, the exhibition, titled '25 Hours In A Day,' was widely appreciated by painters Shuvaprasanna and Sameer Aich, dance exponent Amala Shankar and singer Dwijen Mukherjee among others.

The buyers include industrialist Harsh Neotia, Jay Mehta, co-owner of IPL franchisee Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

The Trinamool leader justified selling her works on canvas to raise fund for her party's poll expenses saying that it is better than soliciting money from people.

"Money is needed for elections. Instead of taking money from people this is a small attempt to raise fund to meet poll expenses. I prefer state funding for election. We have to wait for that. If it is done I will be the happiest one," Banerjee said.

A part of the proceeds will also go to the party's mouthpiece Jago Bangla.

Trinamool Congress vice-president Derek O'Brien said that the exhibition was the third in six years.

The first exhibition was held in 2005 generating an amount of Rs four lakh.

The second one in 2007 fetched Rs 14 lakh and the entire proceeds were given to the victims of Nandigram violence

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pay attention to the following line:

"Party sources said the Railways Minister will paint as many paintings as possible within this week, before she begins her campaign in north Bengal which goes to poll on April 18"

Are you sure that the party sources are talking about paintings? The poor lady must have set a target for herself- 100 paintings by this weekend. Mr. M.F. Hussain and other eminent painters must learn something from her. You can paint masterpieces at the rate of 100 per week!!!

PS: Mamata Banerjee's fans, please don't mind. It's just that I am not able to digest her speed and the drawings…oooops, masterpieces from her…

CENTURY!!!

2011-03-28T15:20:00.000+05:30

Here it is… My 100^th Post on this blog… a big MILESTONE…

Ever since I can remember, I have never missed the Filmfare awards night and every time after watching it, I would dream of giving a Thank You speech someday. As there is no chance of giving the speech on the Filmfare platform, let me have the honor on my Blog platform (which holds equal importance in my life now)

"First of all, I would like to thank God (look upwards) for giving me enough time to put all junk in my head in words and irritate others. Then, I would like to thank someone who introduced this concept to me. He is none other than my husband's mother-in-law's daughter-in-law's husband. His was the first blog ever that I read and was awestruck to see that he can write such beautifully and then I tried to imitate him and created my own blog (that has been a practice since childhood- imitating him). Unlike me, he is such a sensible person and even more sensible writer. Though, at this moment, I have more number of posts than his but if you want quality and not the quantity, you can refer to his blog (but that does not mean that you have to completely ignore mine).

After him, I would like to thank those people who read my blog and on top of it; they congratulate me on my writing skills. Those who tell me this on my face, I can clearly look into their eyes and tell what's going on in their minds ('how much rubbish this girl can write and when will she stop???!!!'). But still, a big thanks to all of them for being kind enough to me. Then came a time, when I started publishing my every new post on my FB profile and that was the height of irritation caused by me to my FB friends. Still, there are people who take the onus of clicking on that 'Like' button and encourage me to continue with my efforts. They deserve another Thank You from my side. Love you guys.

A partial Thank You to my company. Partial, because, I can open the blogger dashboard but can't view my own blog (actually, I can't view any blog). So, Thank You for enabling the blogger dashboard so that I can atleast post my rumblings without waiting to reach home. And No Thank You for disabling the blogs.

Now, a Thank You to Anjana Ma'am, Dhaam Ma'am and John Sir and other English teachers who taught me this wonderful language and favored me way too much over other students by overlooking my grammatical mistakes which greatly helped me in learning and loving this language, unlike Mathematics, where almost all my teachers pointed out my minute mistakes, which lead me to hate that subject. I mean, I know 2+2 =4 and not 40, but at times, you ought to give a benefit of doubt to the poor child so that she can atleast love the subject. You don't have to point out every mistake committed.

And how could I forget my parents. Thank You mummy for making me cram the complex spellings during my kindergarten days. Thank You papa for subscribing to Reader's Digest (which I never read, except Fun Sections) and buying Champak comic book in English, rather than Hindi.

It was not easy to achieve this milestone. I hope that I would continue entertaining (read: irritating) you guys forever and achieve more milestones. Thanks for being with me and undergoing the torture of this very short Thank You speech (I am going to cry now). Take care"

AKHIR KYUN???

2011-03-18T14:40:00.000+05:30

I always wondered what relatives are meant for… No, I know they are "the relatives"… but they are programmed in one specific way (that's what I wonder about)… They have standard questions to ask as per the status of the victim. Here is my research report:

1. If A (from here on, A = victim) is in 10^th standard:

a) "When are your board exams starting from?"

b) "What subjects are you taking in 11^th?"

2. If A has appeared in the 10^th board exams and is trying to relax for sometime after those grueling exams (the same questions are used when A has got over the 12^th board exams):

a) "When are your results coming",

b) "Board results are out na, how much did you score?"

3. If A is in 12^th standard:

a) "What are your subjects?" (Point to be noted: they must have already asked this question when A was in 11^th standard, but they tend to repeat it to get on to the next question)

b) "What are you going to do for your graduation? B.Sc. or engineering (for Science section) / B.Com or CA preparation (for Commerce section) /B.A. (for Arts section)?"

c) "Which college did you get into?"

4. If A is in 3^rd/final year of graduation:

a) "What are you going to do for PG? MBA??" (This time, section does not matter)

5. If A's placement session is about to start in PG course:

a) "Which company did you get in (??!!)?"

6. If A's placement session is in progress:

a) "Which company did you get in (??!!)?"

7. If A's placement session has ended:

a) "Which company did you get in (??!!)?"

(They are more concerned for A to get placed than A's parents or probably A him/herself)

8. If A is in job (this question will be asked irrespective of A being in job before or after PG):

a) "When are you getting married (wink)?"

b) "Have you already found someone in office (wink)?"

9. If A has just got married:

a) "When are you giving us the good news (wink)??"

10. If A has 1 kid and is celebrating his/her first birthday:

a) "When are we getting the good news next time (?????)??"

Once A has got 2 kids, the relatives' standard question bank runs out of any more questions and they apparently lose any interest in A's life. Still, some relatives do find out random questions based on the personal level of (dis)liking for A.

PS: all my dear relatives please don't take this on dil pe…. That's how relatives are programmed by God… and no one should question HIM (I have already started using the standard question bank on those A's who have reached 3^rd level of status and occasionally on those who are on 8^th level of status)

PPS: here relatives mean- people generally over 40 years of age…

PPPS: I am not in any mood to work today and so lot of research ideas are wandering in my little mind

??

2011-03-17T16:59:00.000+05:30

Just now I got confused… My closest friend who is working as an Assistant Director and Creative Director and what not in Bollywood sends me a simple SMS in the morning, just when I was getting down from my office bus to enter the hell, saying: "M in hospital..."

All panicky, I call her up to enquire as to what has happened and there she is calmly narrating how she met with the accident and has a broken wrist and had undergone a surgery yesterday. I know she has broken each part of her body till now atleast once and is unaware of the words like pain and fear but she has a badly broken wrist today. Finally, on a happy note we ended the call… (Happy, 'coz, she hates being sad and since there is no pain and she was happy to 'see' her surgery while the doctors operated on her wrist)

Just now she sends me another SMS informing me that Johnny Lever and Gulshan Grover had come to see her and are taking care of her bills (due to urgency she was admitted to one of the most popular and thus costly, hospitals). I should ideally not be happy or excited since my friend is in the hospital and have a broken wrist. But here I am replying to her SMS that "WOW... please tell Johnny Lever that I loved him in Baazigar"… As soon as I sent that SMS, I felt so bad [read: guilty]...

Why do Bollywood and people related to this industry always excites me??!!!

I wish my friend gets well very soon…

Unhelpful “Help”

2011-03-17T15:23:00.000+05:30

I am talking about the tab Help in a particular computer application or what comes once you press F1 on your computer keyboard. At times, you get such amazing help from this tab that you actually can make a nuclear weapon without any prior knowledge about what is 'nuclear' and what is 'weapon'. But at times, it does NOT help you AT ALL. You keep on keying in all keywords to search for the criteria or run through the entire Index table but it does not respond, apart from "No matching items found". On such occasions, even if you try to search for Nuclear Weapon definition in its very own Help manual, you will end up getting results like "Clean and Clear" L

Now, don't go by the literal example of nuclear weapon and one of the biggest PJ of clean and clear (I am just too furious today with this feature and so you have this example coming in from me)… The day at office started with my boss introducing his idea of giving the front end designed page for all the new services for which we give SRS to our development team, by creating the forms/pages in HTML, thus saving their effort in coding for such forms. He showed me some websites where we can create such HTML pages within five minutes. He also suggested a freeware where we can import such HTML pages and link it to some database, which could be really helpful for our development team in reducing their efforts. He suggested me to do some R&D on that freeware using the HELP to do such linking.

Happily I designed the forms with all my creativity, imported them to this freeware and started playing around with various buttons and options. I was playing around since I assumed that whenever I would get stuck, F1 will help me out. So till then I must put in my genuine efforts to learn this petty freeware. Finally the time came when I had to press F1 and believe me or not, I have spent almost 2.5 hours on that tab and had not got even one single meaningful information out of it….!!!

Have typed the keywords in all permutations and combinations, have gone through the entire Index, Glossary and Content table… have lost my precious forms created almost 5 times… had tediously designed them in this very freeware… have discovered such features which I never intended to BUT not what I was searching for… On top that, I know that whatever I am searching for will turn out to be the simplest feature to be implemented and then I will bang my head on this monitor…

This post could have been much shorter than this but since I don't want to go back to that HELP and I need some break, I am putting in more time and lines in this post…

Long Time, No See....

2011-03-07T18:04:00.000+05:30

Appraisal time is here again. Lot of stress on my mind to mention two significant accomplishments during the appraisal period; what were the facilitating factors which helped me perform and what were the limiting factors… what are the comments which I would want to give to my company… This is the third time that I am filling these fields and every time it looks as if I am a fresher. I had repeated the same comments this year as well. I still have not learnt how to mention limiting factors in the professionally subdued language. I have to check it again and again before final submission.

By the way, I was just going through the statistics of my blog and found out something important. As an analyst, I ought to join the dots and get some information out of the loose ends; so please don't mind if you find out my 'analysis' as a complete waste. The most viewed/visited post of mine till now is the Last Day at Office and the second place is held by Self Appraisal post. And this Self Appraisal post has gained its popularity during this time of the year: appraisal time. But the Last Day at Office has been the winner since the day it had been published. I guess people get to this post of mine when they must have been searching for the suitable "last day" mail of theirs in the office on Google (only to find out that the last day mentioned there is absolutely different from what they have been searching for J )…

It has been almost a month that I have last written. Had been neck deep buried with work at office, lot and lot of things happening at home and left with absolutely no time to stop and write.

Biggest news to share: my best friends are now parents of a healthy baby boy named as Aiman- meaning Fearless. I regularly take a look at his pictures before I start my work at office. It's like a feel good factor. Newborns- they have so many things at their disposal these days (this statement made me realize that I am growing old and that I belong to such an old generation L). Yesterday, we were searching for some suitable gift for another baby- my cousin also became a dad recently (two more ladies to deliver in coming months- year 2010 and 2011 looks like the most auspicious years I guess). I was surprised to see the kids section. Such pretty small things, but mind you, none of them can be called inexpensive. Bed covers fitted with a jersey, tiny little clothes, shoes, washing machine, bottles, sterilizers, lullaby players, cots, prams and what not. My sister-in-law informed me of a gym for babies this morning!!!! Gosh…. All of them pretty enough to lure any parent to buy them even if they may not need them. At the end, I got confused and decided to revisit the shops to finally buy something suitable later.

Holi is round the corner and this would be the third year in a row without 'playing' holi. But I am expecting my favorite delicacies of Holi from my mom- Gujiya and Papdi. That would help for some time… Till my next post, stay fit and stay happy… CHEERS!!!

PRECIOUS ONE YEAR !!!

2011-02-09T13:29:00.000+05:30

Okay, I ought to write something but am not being able to write anything. Have tried writing something but every time this Backspace button has erased everything.

"Why is it so important to write something?"

Good question. The answer is that we (I and Nimit) are approaching our first wedding anniversary day. If I can write out a post on every trivial issue, this calls to write a novel, if not, then atleast a post is a must. Since 29^th Jan of this year I can clearly recall each day of the last year same time period. That was the day when I gave my office colleagues a nice party and left for Hyderabad to celebrate my brother's 1^st wedding anniversary. I and my bhabhi had practiced like maniacs for the dance that we were to perform on my sangeet. We had meticulously planned everything. On 1^st Feb 2010, I had landed at Jaipur. Another cousin of mine was getting married on 3^rd and so we had attended his sangeet ceremony and were looking forward to the wedding. But then came the day which can be called the villain of my wedding. Caught fever which turned out to be a symptom for Jaundice. 7^th Feb 2010 was the day when I was admitted to the hospital. This day when I am writing this post, last year same day same time, I was getting ready to get discharged from the hospital. Guests had started pouring in and my family was struggling to smile and welcome them.

I must not dwell further into how they managed to carry out the wedding with a smile on their faces. That makes me feel more terrible. And it was not only my family which was struggling to keep up the spirits, my in-laws, my close friends and closest relatives, who took turns to look after me and stand by my family to take care of the proceedings.

Exactly a year to the ordeal (not my wedding, but this jaundice thing) and I have no clue how the time has passed so quickly. We have had wonderful times and lot of tensed moments as well. I can say that both of us have changed in this one year. Now I am not much concerned about just a small circle of my acquaintances but a lot of other people- two sets of families and two sets of friendsJ. There was a time, when I was not much worried about my dinner; anything would do but now I have to assure the menu for the three meals in advance. I cannot just like that visit my parents; I have to take care about lot of other things. As for Nimit, I am sure I have made him more patient. No meditation or therapy required for that, it's just that I am a very difficult wife to handle… So the best policy is to be patient J J

Surprisingly, my nature is getting transformed into a typical married woman nature… Every time I open my cupboard, I feel that I don't have good enough cloths to wear (and I should buy more); every time I look into the mirror, I feel that I have gained atleast 10 kg of weight from the last time that I had noticed; every time I talk to any bachelor friend of mine, I ought to ask him/her about his/her wedding plans; I have started being a part of the gossip groups; have started discussing with other married female friends of mine about the type/categories of husbands and place our respective husbands in one of the categories... Phew… That's quite a big change in me…

Nimit has learned quite a lot about kitchen etiquettes (he helps me a lot there); he is getting to used to be called JIJU/Nimit JI; his wardrobe has some forced (thanks to me) entrants- strange colored, shaped and sized cloths; he now has an account on one of the most happening social networking sites and is regular on it; now his to-do list of weekends also has shopping, movies and eating out; his family has also discovered that he can SING those songs which no one has listened to or don't even recall (though they think that I am the reason for this change in him but I must confess that even I am not aware of such songs and his IQ about movies is not bad at all)…

There are lot many things to relish about this past year… Lot of things to learn from to grow mature with each passing year… I just wish and pray to God to help us make each other's lives ever wonderful and enjoyable and keep us together forever…. Amen!!!

Such Confusion...

2011-01-31T13:13:00.001+05:30

Okay, I was kind of confused about something. Thinking about so many things all at the same time but not coming to any conclusion. I decided to plug in my iPod to give some peace to my mind but it didn’t work. So, as per my habit I opened up Google and typed the word stating my state of mind at that moment and I type “Dilemma”. I got so many results and I chose Wikipedia.

Wikipedia successfully describes the meaning of the word and I could relate to my state of mind accurately but the second section of the page left me zapped. It further put me into confusion by representing the word by some mathematical equations, which I had hated throughout my life.

Have a look at what Wikipedia says about Dilemma and find out its Use in logic section…

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Dilemma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A dilemma (Greek: δί-λημμα "double proposition") is a problem offering at least two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable. One in this position has been traditionally described as "being on the horns of a dilemma", neither horn being comfortable, "between Scylla and Charybdis"; or "being between a rock and a hard place", since both objects or metaphorical choices are rough.

This is sometimes more colorfully described as "Finding oneself impaled upon the horns of a dilemma", referring to the sharp points of a bull's horns, equally uncomfortable (and dangerous).

The dilemma is sometimes used as a rhetorical device, in the form "you must accept either A, or B"; here A and B would be propositions each leading to some further conclusion. Applied incorrectly, it constitutes a false dichotomy, a fallacy.

The erroneous spelling dilemna is often seen in common usage. It appears to have been taught in many areas of the United States and all over the world, including (but not limited to) France, London, Yorkshire, Jamaica and Australia.^[1][2][3]. There is no prima facie reason for this substitution error and there is no erroneous parallel to be found with the word lemma, from which dilemma derives.

[edit] Use in logic

In formal logic, the definition of a dilemma differs markedly from everyday usage. Two options are still present, but choosing between them is immaterial because they both imply the same conclusion. Symbolically expressed thus:

Which can be translated informally as "one (or both) of A or B is known to be true, but they both imply C, so regardless of the truth values of A and B we can conclude C."

Horned dilemmas can present more than two choices. The number of choices of Horned dilemmas can be used in their alternative names, such as two-pronged (two-horned) or dilemma proper , or three-pronged (three-horned) or trilemma, and so on.

Constructive dilemmas--

1. (If X, then Y) and (If W, then Z).

2. X or W.

3. Therefore, Y or Z.

4. All are possible.

Destructive dilemmas--

1. (If X, then Y) and (If W, then Z).

2. Not Y or not Z.

3. Therefore, not X or not W.

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?????

What was that all about???

HAVE WE LOST IT COMPLETELY??!!!

2011-01-27T15:34:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I grabbed the newspaper to find a horrible incident on the front page. A dutiful government official was burnt alive by fuel mafia gang in broad day light in Maharashtra. Later the news channels had started showing the visuals of his 100% burnt body. All he was doing was stop the illegal infiltration of fuel. Some altercations took place between the alleged gang leader and the official and the members of the gang just poured the kerosene and set him on fire. Even thinking of what that person might have gone through when he was torched, send shivers down my spine.

There are numerous cases which have come to light when people had just lost their mind in an instant and in that moment had done some or the other ghastly crime. Very recently I watched the movie No One Killed Jessica, based on the incident which can be the biggest example of what I am talking about. A bartender refuses to give a drink to a politician's son and he feels offended and shoots the girl.

If I can't have what I want or if I am stopped from what I am doing, I will kill the obstructive person. Simple.

Many a times I feel highly irritated over the stupid drivers while we are driving down in our car and I wish to stop them and teach them how to drive. At the most, I want to slap them tight to give them a lesson but I am afraid of doing so. Who knows if the other person might be carrying a gun and shoot us? Or track us down and do unimaginable things? There are several cases of road rash killings. And it's not just that the crime is committed by politically or financially strong people these days but even by common man. The ultimate solution is to kill the other person, without thinking of the repercussion or about any of the two families- the victim's as well as convict's families.

This reminds me of a case that I read in the newspaper few months back. An auto driver was fighting with his girl friend over the phone and blocking the way of one of the motor cyclists. That man was honking the horn because he had an international flight to catch in few hours and was getting late to reach his home to pick up his luggage. The irritated auto driver got out and beaten up the man so badly that he succumbed to the injuries within few hours and died.

All of us, apart from only few, have become so egoistic and sick at mind that even a smallest attack or question on our ego hurts us to the core and we pledge to torture the attacker to the highest possible level. We have made this place risky to live for everyone. It's like: mind your own business and don't preach me ever else you will pay for it, brutally…

As a reaction to the incident of Maharashtra, all I can feel is scared, unsafe, angry, sad and helpless towards this major shift of our tempers…

SING-A-ALONG....!!!!

2011-01-25T10:41:00.000+05:30

Here I am… After a long long time… Had been madly busy with office work and less time for rest at home... Oh well, when I say "office work", it includes serious/official work as well as Fun work. I mean, hope you people remember Nuts 'n' Bolts. It was the Singing Competition this time which kept me busy or should I say that I made myself busy with it.

Singing is something which I enjoy as an audience but am pathetic at it. I sing only when I am alone at home. Ironically, I cannot live without listening to Bollywood songs. So, I thought, let me be the facilitator to make my team meet, decide on the songs and finally rehearse. I and my friend, both worst singers of the world, took time from our official work to repeatedly send mails for the team meeting but I must say I was deeply disappointed by the response of my team members. Apart from 4-5 regular souls, no one turned up ever. Others were pulled to atleast attend the meeting and help decide the songs but they never turned up again. At one point of time I had decided to ask my team captain to formally withdraw our team's name from the competition. Better than making a fool of ourselves in front of other teams. But then came Income Tax to our rescue. I know, Income Tax can never be used in positive terms but because of Final Investment declaration verification scheduled exactly on the original date of our competition, the competition was postponed to a later date.

Finally, some more members joined the team meetings and sat to decide on the songs. Decided something; was changed the next day; no one turned up for rehearsals the other day and finally 5 of us scrapped everything and finalized on some other song and rehearsed. On the day of the competition, though very less but respectable number of team members came for rehearsals and there we go…

The competition started and I must say that one of the singers (who happens to be my boss as well) and another guitarist, both of the rival teams, sang and played amazingly. I know, they belonged to my rival teams but what's good must be appreciated. Hey, but don't think that we were bad. Though the performances didn't go as good as I had visualized and wanted them to be, had we rehearsed properly, but we were good.

And here I announce that our team shared the 2^nd position with one more team. Yes, we came 2^nd… APPLAUSE!!!

THANK YOU... THANK YOU...

But I am still not happy with the unity of my team. I know everyone is busy with lot of work, so are others in the office. But everyone can take out atleast half an hour each day which is otherwise dedicated to tea/coffee breaks… Grab your cup of tea and attend the meeting, simple… Next competition is of Mad Acts and I have no clue of what the hell it is. I hope WE come together and practice on time to get the 1^st position… Amen!!!

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR...

2011-01-07T10:10:00.002+05:30

WISHING EVERYONE OF YOU A VERY HAPPY, PROSPEROUS, JOYOUS AND SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR- 2011 !!!

The year ended amazingly, with lots of fun at office and my parents' visit at home. One week into the new year and it does not seem too exciting. My parents have left, have lot of work at office, so many things said and done which should not have been... I pray to God to please be kind to us atleast at the start of this year...
Anyways, as I mentioned in my previous post that our office is in celebration mood and my team is called the Nuts 'n' Bolts, I took some time off to make few posters, which I would want to share it with you guys...

Next post may have few of the pics of our group during the previous week... different dress codes on each day. It was total fun. Though I missed on one of the days, Angels n Demons... Watch out for the pics soon... CHEERS!!!

We are the Nuts n Bolts!!!

2010-12-28T17:45:00.000+05:30

After spending almost three years in this company, finally I am witnessing some efforts by our HR team to make the employees happy or I may have been at wrong locations earlier where there were no such activity.

As the year end is approaching with just one week left, we have different dress codes for each day. Yesterday it was Tie and Pearl day, which majority of us were not aware of because of the late announcement. All 450 employees are divided into 5 teams and there would be team events every Wednesday. Teams would get points based on the performance and at the end of Jan/Feb, the winners would be announced. That's something to look forward to.

Our team met yesterday and gave introduction. Though it was sad that out of 89 members, hardly 25 people turned up. Rest were either busy, or absent or not interested. Everyone of us suggested one name for the team and we finally zeroed on at Nuts 'n' Bolts and it gives me immense pleasure to inform you that this name was suggested by me J Nut and Bolts make a fine machinery… That's the logic behind the name.

Anyways, today 's dress code was Mix n Match and again, most of the people have decided to ignore this and wear traditional office clothes. I thought that once I reach office I will put on the additional things which I have brought with me (I can't wear them and travel in bus, entire Bangalore is not aware of our dress code for the week) but I couldn't find apart from 2 souls in the office following this code. So, the things would be put on at the time of photo session J

I don't know how things would turn out but I am as excited as a college student to see all the teams gearing up to promote their team names and marching in the office with their teams and I can see the commencement of the war between the teams… Lets go…!!!

What you s(h)ow is what you get…

2010-12-24T11:35:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I momentarily got something to ponder about. I realized it later though. My colleague wanted me to prepare test cases for one of the modules. For those who don't know what Test cases are, it's like a testing methodology. You make all sorts of scenarios to test the functionalities of a module developed. Like, if you enter this and click on this button, these are the front end and back end processes and output. But they include both positive and negative cases. As in, how actually the module would behave and how it will react to any wrong input or in case of any exception. Since I had not prepared test cases earlier, so he gave me some examples.

"If you enter some wrong value, this is the error message which should appear"; "if the user selects this and the mapping is not available, this is the warning message which should appear"; "if the transaction is not completed, the database won't store the details of the incomplete transactions" etc etc…

So, I prepared further and sent the file to him and he politely calls me and appreciates me of doing this task BUT with a word of advice and observation. I had mentioned only the cases where any wrong value is entered as input or in case of exceptions how the module would behave but I had completely missed out the cases where the module would behave with positive values and in normal flow. But he said that it was not my fault. It was because he had shown all negative examples to me so I perceived that preparing test cases mean listing all negative cases. It was like, I co-related the word testing and the negative examples and made out that for testing a module, I should look how the module would react to wrong input. Had he given me positive examples also, my perception would have been totally different.

Moral of the story:

Make sure of how you want the person to perceive any situation and show him the complete picture. One sided picture is incomplete and may have permanent impact which may become difficult to modify later. People rarely use their minds to probe further to get the complete image. What you show makes more prominent impact. Imagine, if I would not have sent him the first file of the test cases and would have gone ahead to prepare cases for another 6-7 modules and given all of them to him. I would have been irritated on learning the actual functionality of the test cases after so many of them and my effort in rectifying all of them later.

Go Maldives!!!!!!

2010-12-17T10:34:00.000+05:30

Warning: This may turn out to be a very lengthy post. Read it on your own risk…

"Oh… Thank you for getting me stamped for the first time after six years of my birth"

J That was my passport. My first International visit and we went to Maldives… I don't know if any one of you reading this have been to any such beautiful place but for me it turned out to be the best holiday destination ever (Andaman and Nicobar now hold the 2^nd position in my list). The first look at the green-blue water and white sand of Maldives from the aircraft and I could not stop clicking pictures non-stop. Every green spot was making me forget the tensed routine life.

The airport is Male International Airport (called as Hulhule airport until 1981) and is situated on an island (Male city). It looked very small as compared to my perception of International airports. It was quiet and no hassle to pass through the immigration. The flight duration was 1 hour and 40 minutes. Once you step out of the airport, there are kiosks of almost all the resorts and the escorts would be standing there to transfer you from the airport to the respective resort. As a practice, one island holds one resort. There are roughly 1100 islands which constitutes Maldives with the capital city being Male. The airport transfers are usually done by the speed boats of the respective resort. Once you reach the resort, you may go through various excursion activities which your resort may conduct. We stayed at the Bandos Island Resort and there we could opt for snorkeling, water sports, dolphin watching tours, night fishing and bar-be-que, half or full day island hoping, romantic dinners etc etc. Apart from that, the resorts also offer spa, club activities, swimming pools etc. It's advisable to take the full board plan (breakfast, lunch and dinner included) since it may turn out to be costly affair otherwise. If you don't want to do anything, take your novel and have a sun bath (which is very much preferred by the foreigners).

On arrival at the resort, some formalities were done and we were given a welcome drink. We were made very clear to reach the dining area on time to take the meals, for once missed, the buffet would be closed. The staff was very friendly. From there we were taken to our room by a battery operated car (I don't know what it is called actually). And I was almost zapped to see our room or I should say the Jacuzzi Beach Villa. It was almost at the beach and double story villa with bedroom on the 1^st floor and on the ground floor were the living area, bathroom and the Jacuzzi. For almost 6 villas/rooms, there was an open air shower and a tap outside each of the rooms, so that we can take a shower and wash our feet and get rid of the beach sand before we enter the rooms. It was the white sand beach and the water was crystal clear.

The chefs and waiters were also very friendly. You pass anyone and just give a simple smile and you will definitely get it back. Found out some staff members of Bangladesh as well and they knew India means Mumbai and Delhi J I had actually got addicted to the homemade breads, cup cakes and the cakes that they made. Every meal would consist of some variety of potato, chicken and fish. The vegetarian folks may not worry of getting only the sea food since there was a balance of veg and non-veg dishes. We had opted for Dolphin show for that day which was to start at 4:30 p.m. By the way, Maldivian time is 30 minutes behind our time. In the meantime, we decided to go at the beach and do some photo session and atleast get ourselves wet J

Then we started on for the dolphin show. We were told to sit at the front or I must say the bonnet of the steamer (with an assurance that we won't be thrown into the sea in case of high speed). We cruised for some 20 minutes to reach the area where lots of dolphins were expected. When we reached there, we saw two boats racing with each other, only to realize that they were racing with a dolphin in between their boats. Initially, it was hard to spot them but later on we kept looking down and around our steamer to spot them. Whenever someone could spot the dolphin, the crew and other people would start clapping and whistling to attract them and make them jump. For about 1 hour we spotted them, cheered for them and clicked them. After that, it was as if we have tired ourselves and so everyone settled down and the crew served us drinks- orange juice or Malibu cocktail. Once back, we decided to roam about the island. We checked out the souvenir shops. There were three of them. One of them was called Brush. There were three artists who would do oil painting on articles like, t-shirts, wood, key chains, cups, chart paper etc. Of course of sea beaches and then put them on sale. It was very impressive. There was a club lounge as well, where you can play TT, pool, tennis, work out in gym, take steam bath and sauna. Not to forget, the swimming pool. We would normally go to another restaurant area (Harbour) and stand there and watch fishes. We spotted 5-6 sharks and 1 baby shark as well.

Kayaking

We also checked out the water sports area and enquired about what all we can do since we don't know swimming. He suggested that we can do Fun Toy and Kayaking. He also told us that though snorkeling here was suggested only for the strong swimmers, still we can get the kit on the rent for the day and he would take us in deep water to see corals and fishes. Anyways, for that day we booked fun toy and kayak. Then we went for the fun toy. We were made to sit in an inflated boat and tied with the speed boat. It was scary initially but then we started enjoying it later on. After lunch, we went for the kayaking and we were instructed to remain in the shallow water. It was fun then but very tiring, which we realized when we went back home and took hot water bath. After that we realized that it was indeed tiring. Then we went to the club in the evening, played TT and tried other things.

On the third day, we decided to just relax and be at the beach and the swimming pool only. Before that we went to the Angerrik Spa. It was such a quiet and calm place. No noise at all. Then we went to the swimming pool and jumped in the Kids' pool. Then some sun bath and then to the beach, along-with the photo session.

Maldives is a place to relax completely. No noise, apart from that of small kids enjoying in water. No need to exert yourself. Every corner looked soothing to eyes. I would say, full paisa vasool J

DEAD(ly) SEA....

2010-12-07T17:04:00.000+05:30

Okay, enough… That's the end of everything. I can't take it anymore… that's the end. I swear…

Where can I go? Can I hang myself? But that would hurt badly. Should I drink poison? But what if it does not work quickly? I would have to die terribly. No. I don't want to die like that. I will drown myself in the sea. That won't hurt; I will quickly choke to death once I am completely immersed in the water. Besides, two more people have died in this vicinity recently. It may look like a criminally planned attack till they find my note. Perfect. Tonight is the night.

I wrote my suicide note, blaming no one in particular but everyone actually. I wore my favorite black trousers and black tee. Do I need shoes?? No, I don't need them. It was a bit cooler compared to other days and windy. I should go at the far end to drown. No particular reason but just being smart, unnecessarily. People will look around for me before finding my note or my body, if at all they find it out. I walked some five hundred meters but decided to go farther. After walking for almost half an hour in that dark night with sky illuminated with sparkling stars and full moon against the background rhythmic music of waves, I decided to end my journey at that point. I recalled my parents, my closest friends, my teachers and my enemies and moved forward to get immersed.

"Hey watch out… What are you doing?", someone called for me from behind.

I decided not to turn and make my face visible to him; let them search for me.

"None of your business mister. I am going for a small swim. Is that a problem for you?", and I again moved forward

"Yes, that's a problem for me. I am supposed to guard this place. If you won't stop, I will have to get up and pull you aside"

Damn… I should have rather drowned nearer to my quarters.

I decided to go back, out of his guarded area.

"Hey miss. If you don't mind, you can come and sit with me. I have lot of stories to tell, if you are interested", I still didn't turn around and started walking quickly

"I suppose you are free and have nothing to do that's why you thought of swimming at this hour of day. Why don't you join me to kill my time? It's anyways not safe to swim at this time…", he started following me. Enough of this non-sense. I decided to turn around and shout at him to leave me alone.

"Look man, I am here not for some picnic or leisure. I had come here to commit suicide. Did you hear me right? TO COMMIT SUICIDE. If you don't want to get tangled in police case, let me go and leave me alone. Do you understand??", I was almost shouting on his face.

He was a young man in his mid twenties. Clean shaven and wearing nice clothes. He can't be a guard.

"Oh, you have come to commit suicide. Amazing. But you can jump in there after 5 a.m., that's when I get off duty and someone else comes in"

"I am not going to schedule my suicide according to your working hours. Now, will you let me do what I have come here for?"

"Sure. By the way, do you know how to swim?"

"If I would have known, why would I decide to end my life by drowning?"

"Oh, I must tell you even if you would have known swimming; it was no guarantee of saving you once you decide to end your life. It's very wild; the ocean. By the time you decide to abandon the idea of suicide and help yourself get out of that monster, you would have already lost the battle. It's very scary to die by drowning yourself in that vast sea"

"Thanks for your information. Suicide, in any way, is always scary. I know that"

"No seriously. Just look at it. It's dark, it's wild and it's making some noise. The moment you put your first step in that water, you will get a chilling feeling going up your spine, it's cold, damn cold. Then as you will go inside it, the noise would be thunderous. It's not as quiet as it looks. You would want to shut your ears but you won't be able to. You think the water will immerse you in it quickly? You are gravely mistaken. It will soak you slowly and slowly. Initially you will feel that you actually are swimming but when it starts gulping you in, you would want to release yourself desperately. That's when it will start eating you in at terrible speed. Tell me, which is the worst drink that you have had ever?"

"Well, I don't like milk, so I guess that's the one". Why am I even listening and talking to him? I am answering him. But there is some shine in his eyes and some sharpness in his voice, which are compelling me to listen to him and talk to him

"Okay. Imagine your mother running after you to drink that milk… yuck… and suddenly she grabs your mouth and starts pouring that big glass of milk into your mouth and you are desperately try to run away from her clutches. And you are chocking", he has become animated now. Using his hands and eyes a lot

"Errrrrrr…… that hurts. I have chocked myself many a times like that in my childhood. Even when I would get out of her clutch, I would feel that someone is blocking my breathe"

"That's exactly how it feels once you start drowning. The salt water will overfill your body and you would have no place to puke it out"

"Wait. Why are you telling me all this? Are you trying to trick me into quitting my plan? If that is the case, you are mistaken. I am not quitting", I regained my conscious.

"Oh, but I thought you are quitting. You are quitting life. I just thought to warn you with my experience, that's it"

"Your experience?"

"Yes. I experienced all this when I was at your place 10 years back. It did hurt badly. Even I was a swimmer. It didn't help much. I did commit suicide the same way"

I am talking to a ghost who committed suicide by drowning in these waters 10 years back!!!! Everything is quickly turning into small black dot…

THAAAAACK….. My head hit that heavy rock…. Strange wire like images… Blue…. Green…. Red…. Black…. Everything is turning black….

"Oh, miss… get up please. Let me complete my story… I tried to commit suicide but the owner of this villa saved me and that's why he gave me the job to guard it. Get up miss… Oh, I guess, she also has died of shock… I never meant to scare her away… She is the third one to die like this. Shit… I decided to tell first that I am not a ghost and I tried committing suicide and yet again, I told her that at the end. Oh, I am such a bad pacifier; I am such a fool. I promised to keep people away from committing suicide but I am killing them. OH GOD!!!!!"

Awake...

2010-12-07T11:50:00.000+05:30

What if you wake up someday and gradually find out that everyone is fast asleep and not willing to wake up?? Roads are deserted, no policemen, no criminals, no doctors, no one to turn to take help of… Initially, you may just smile at your freedom. That you can buy whatever you wish to without paying, you may not have to work, and you can do whatever you wanted to. But when you realize that only humans are the ones who have fallen asleep and not the animals and that they are marching towards your city, what will you do? Oh, on top of that, the animals start talking to you in your language…

That's what Awake-by Egan Yip is all about. While searching randomly for some e-book to download, I came across this novel. Found the preface exciting so downloaded it. For grownups, who likes to read thriller or biographies, this novel may look kiddish (it actually may be for children below 15 years of age, but I enjoy being in this category at times J ). While reading this novel, I was constantly imagining that an animation movie is going on in front of my eyes. I wonder if any animation movie has been made on this, if not, it's a good plot.

Anyways, it's a story of two teen boys (Kevin and Andrew) who realize on a morning that everyone around them has fallen asleep mysteriously and not waking up. On top of that, the cats and dogs reveal that the animals understand human language and they can talk also but only in case of emergency like this. Normally, they pretend not to understand or speak human language for various reasons (to avoid becoming witnesses in criminal cases, for example). They tell these kids that there is an organization of animals (HPC) to take charge of the situation and know the reason for this sleeping epidemic. They decide to go to the nearest town to understand the situation and on their quest, they meet few more humans, many other animals (friendly animals). All of them try to keep themselves awake to avoid falling prey to this epidemic. Meanwhile, wild animals, who hate humans to the core, have started pouring in the city to take back their land. Kevin and team lands up in an underground lab to find that a scientist was doing experiment on whether people can connect with each other in their dreams while sleeping. The experiment turned wrong and the result outspread throughout the world leading to this epidemic. But now the scientist has also gone to sleep and so he cannot suggest any remedy to the problem.

When the kids and HPC are searching for a possible solution, they are continuously attacked by forest animals, who are controlled by a dragon who wants to kill all humans to take revenge against them for killing his bread to extinction. At this point, initially the fight between forest animals and kids was going good but it was over stretched. They were confronted over and over again. At one point, I thought that the fight is over and they will get back to reveal the solution to this sleeping epidemic but they were again attacked. In case, someone decides to make a movie out of this novel, please cut short this part…

On going back to the lab, a robot has designed a machine to let Kevin go into Dreamland and urge other people to wake up and come out of their dream (the ideal life that they want to lead and that they can do only in their dreams so, no one wants to wake up and Kevin got to make them realize that they cannot forever live in dreams). They finally succeed in waking up everyone and everything comes back to normal, without others knowing about the adventurous and horrible endeavor of these kids. The wild animals are back in forest, the dragon is dead and other animals are back to using their animal language, except with these kids. I enjoyed reading it, except the over stretched part of animals fighting with the kids. CHEERS!!!

Honesty....

2010-12-06T10:32:00.006+05:30

Hey All,

While browsing on the Internet, I came across this short yet beautiful article by Sudha Murty, so thought to share it with you... Some of you might have already read this... Enjoy....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honesty comes from the heart

One bright June morning three years ago, I was reading my Kannada newspaper as usual. It was the day the SSLC results had been published. While columns of roll numbers filled the inside pages, the list of rank holders with their photographs took up almost the entire front page.

I have a great fascination for rank holders. Rank is not merely an index of one's intelligence, it also indicates the hard work and perseverance that students have put in to reach their goal. My background – I was brought up in a professor's family – and my own experience as a teacher have led me to believe this.

Of all the photographs in that morning's newspaper, one boy's photo caught my attention. I could not take my eyes of him. He was frail and pale, but there was an endearing sparkle in his eyes. I wanted to know more about him. I read that his name was Hanumanthappa and that he had secured the 8^{th rank. That was all the information I could gather.}

The next day, to my surprise, his photograph was published again, this time with an interview. With growing interest I learned that he was a coolie's son. He was unable to study further, he said in the interview, because he lived in a village and his father earned only Rs 40 a day. Hanumanthappa was the oldest of five children. His father was the only breadwinner. They belonged to a tribal group.

I felt sorry for this bright boy. Most of us send our children to tuitions, to coaching classes, buy them reference books and guides, and provide the best possible facilities for them without considering the cost. But it was different for Hanumanthappa of Rampura. He had excelled in spite of being denied some of the basic necessities of life. While I was thinking about him with the newspaper still in my hands, I gazed at a mango tree in my neighbour's compound. It looked its best with its fresh bark, tender green leaves glistening with dewdrops and mangoes that were about to ripen in a few days. Beyond the tree was a small potted plant which, I noticed, had remained almost the same ever since it was potted.

It was a calm morning. The air was cool and fresh. My thoughts were running free. The continuous whistle of our pressure cooker broke the silence, reminding me that half an hour had passed.

Hanumanthappa's postal address was provided in the interview. Without wasting much time, I took a postcard and wrote a letter to him. I wrote only two lines saying that I was interested in meeting him and asking whether he could come to Bangalore. Just then my father, ever a practical man, returned from his morning walk. He read the letter and said, "Where will he have the money to come so far? If you want him to come here, send some money for his bus fare plus a little extra to buy himself a decent set of clothes."

So I added a third line to say that I would pay for his travel and clothes. Within four days I received a similar postcard in reply. Two sentences. In the first he thanked me for the letter. In the second he expressed his willingness to come to Bangalore and meet me.

Immediately, I sent him some money and details of my office address. When he finally arrived in our office, he looked like a frightened calf that had lost its way. Probably, it was his first trip to Bangalore. He was humble. He wore a clean shirt and trousers. His hair was neatly parted and combed. The sparkle was still there in his eyes.

I got straight to the point. "We are happy about your academic performance. Do you want to study further? We would like to sponsor you. This means we will pay your fees for any course of study you wish to take up – wherever it may be."

He did not answer.

My senior colleague, who was present with me, interrupted with a smile, "Don't go at the speed of bits and bytes. Let the boy understand what you are suggesting and give us his answer at the end of the day."

When Hanumanthappa was ready to return home, he said in a low and steady tone, "Madam, I want to pursue my studies at the Teachers Training College in Bellary. That is the one nearest to my village."

I agreed instantly but spoke to him a little more to find out whether there was any other course he preferred. I was trying to make it clear to him that we would pay the fees for any course he chose. The boy, however, seemed to know his own mind and knew exactly what he wanted.

"How much money should I send you per month? Does the college have a hostel facility?" I asked.

He said he would get back to me after collecting the correct details.

Two days later, he wrote to us in his beautiful handwriting that he would require approximately Rs 300 per month. He had planned to take a room on rent and share it with his friend. The two boys planned to cook for themselves in order to keep their expenses down.

I sent him Rs. 1,800 to cover his expenses for six months. He acknowledged my draft without any delay and expressed his gratitude.

Time passed. One day, I suddenly remembered that I had to pay Hanumanthappa for the next six months. I sent him another draft for Rs 1,800.

This too was duly acknowledged but I was surprised to find some currency notes in the envelope along with his letter. "Madam," he had written, "It is kind of you to have sent me money for the next six months. But I was not in Bellary for the last two months. One month, our college was on holiday and during the next month, there was a strike. So I stayed at home for those two months. My expenditure during these months was less than Rs 300 per month. Therefore, I am sending you the Rs 300 that I have not used for the last two months. Kindly accept this amount."

I was taken aback. Such poverty and yet such honesty.

Hanumanthappa knew I expected no account of the money sent to him for his monthly expenditure. Yet he made it a point to return the balance money. Unbelievable but true!

Experience has taught me that honesty is not the mark of any particular class nor is it related to education or wealth. It cannot be taught at any university. In most people, it springs naturally from the heart.

I did not know how to react to this simple village boy's honesty. I just prayed that God would continue to bestow the best on Hanumanthappa and his family.

Source:
WISE AND OTHERWISE

A Salute to Life

By Sudha Murty

EastWest Books (Madras) Pvt. Ltd.

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OH GOD !!!!

2010-11-26T16:33:00.001+05:30

It was a tiring day at office. It's almost 10 p.m. and thanks to one hour journey from my office to home, I could take a nap in my cab. But the bumpy roads guaranteed that it's not a sound sleep, just a small nap or a series of small naps.

I struggled to open the lock of my room. It is an old lock and the key had switched many hands and has lost its original shape. Old lock and twisted key made my life miserable each day. Right now, I could not think of anything but to lie down on my creaky bed as soon as possible. Every inch of my body is aching.

As soon as I managed to open the door to my almost empty apartment, I felt proud to have managed to keep it clean, specially the bed. I closed the door and crash landed on the bed. This bed also had switched many owners. My landlord decided to give it to me instead of giving it to the kabaadi-wala.

"Why do you want to throw money on a new bed? I have a spare one with me. Keep it. Young people like you won't settle down with any second hand thing. Look at us. Life is all about saving money. You need to compromise sometimes…", he had said.

That time I also thought that there is nothing wrong in taking a second hand bed only to realize later that it was not the second but close to 5-6 hands old bed. But I compromised.

As I lay on it staring at the ceiling, I didn't realize that I have not even put off my shoes and belt. My body won't move anymore. It needs rest. Desperately needs rest.

Suddenly, I felt suffocated and a thin drop of sweat trickled down from the back of my head and landed on the bed sheet. Though the street was usually empty at this time everyday but still I could hear some racing bikes and occasional trucks. But after the drop of sweat, I could feel the vacuum. No voice, no noise, no air, no oxygen. Do I need to open some windows? The apartment has been closed since last 16 hours. I had been in office since then.

Reluctant to move, I struggled to get up to open some windows. My body is not moving.

I have to get up or else I will choke myself to death…

But it won't budge. The ceiling is turning black. Suddenly, my left arm starts to pain and I start sweating profusely.

What's going on? I can't hear anything or see anything. Gosh, my arm… The pain is terrible… I need to get out of here…

I start searching for my mobile in space. I needed to call my friend-cum-local guardian immediately. I need hospital. I need a doctor…

Wait a minute… Where am I? I can see light. I can move now…

But this is not my apartment. Oh My God!!! Where is the floor? Where is the roof? I am standing on the clouds… What has happened to me??

"Relax dear. You are safe here… "

I turn to see an old man, real old man with long beard and wearing strange clothes. I have seen such costumes in mythological serials.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"I am GOD…. You have reached heaven"

"WHAT???!!!! Ha ha ha, yes, GOD… You are God and I am dead, right?"

"Right. You died of a heart-attack"

"Listen uncle. I don't know if Ramleela auditions are going on in my area but you have failed in this audition. I am just 26 years old. How can I get a heart-attack?"

"Long working hours, no exercise, junk food, no rest, computers, stress… What else do you need for a heart-attack? You don't need the age but an unhealthy heart and life style to get one. Don't worry, you no longer have to work. You are in heaven now. Wait for some time and I will send you back to earth after a re-birth"

"But you can't kill me. I was doing my job. If my work demands me to work non-stop for 20 hours at a stretch, I have to, else I would be kicked out of my company. Why did you do this to me? I have so much to do… I did not even meet my parents, my family, my friends… How will they come to know that I m dead? You did not give me time to even call them…", I cried

"I have taken care of that. Your parents will call you and you won't respond till morning. They will send your friend to check you out. He will find you dead"

"DEAD… it looks so easy to you, as if a routine affair for my friend to find people dead in their apartments?"

"Calm down. I gave you enough time to speak to your family and meet your friends. But I guess, your job took priority over them"

"If you are God and you had given me enough time to spend with my family and friends, you only must have put my job on priority. Because you are the GOD…"

"Don't blame it on me. I don't decide your priority list and how exactly you are going to spend each minute of your life. I just make a path for you when you are born"

"Oh, in that case, why at this moment did you decide to make me suffer the heart attack and take my life?"

"But that's my job. Your life had to end at this moment. I had to call you up here"

"Who wrote my life?"

"I did"

"So, why didn't you write it properly? It should have been crisp, clear, detailed and step-by-step process should have been defined for me to follow. I never knew that my life will end at this moment like this and that I have such little time to spend with my family and friends"

"We cannot write it with such details else all of you will know when you will die and so will manage accordingly"

"What's the problem in that? After all, the bottom line is to live a good life. If I know that I am going to die at xyz time on abc day, I would have paid my loans, or not taken them at the first place, I would have stayed with my family rather than moving out for job, everyone would have been happy"

"But if everyone will be happy, how will you humans understand what is the pain, the sadness, the grief and the sorrow?"

"Why do we need to know these things? We would have known only happiness"

"But when you would have lost someone, you would have cried and that may have confused you as to why you were crying on the loss. Oh and how would you have learnt that you have lost someone?"

"I simply wouldn't have cried. If you would not have written crying in my life, I wouldn't have cried. You are making me confused now"

"What do you mean?"

"Simply that if you would have either written my life step-by-step and clearly, it would have been better or you would have introduced only happiness, then it would have been good"

Now he is confused. He is thinking…

"May I ask you something?"

"Yes, sure"

"What job did you have down there on earth?"

"Why? I was a Process Manager. I used to write Process documents and other technical documents"

"I understand. Can I hire you to write step-by-step processes for human beings, other races, planets and all?"

"Hmmm… What package will you offer me? According to industry standards, I expect a hike of 25% but since you are God and this would be a very high profile job with my direct reporting to you, I would want 40% hike"

He has closed his eyes…

"I have thought about it and I suggest, you better go back to your job on earth. I will write an updated version of your life and you may stay there till you are 80 years old. This much salary I cannot afford. I can't stand you anymore. GO BACK TO EARTH NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Tring tring tring…..

"Hello"

"Hey, how are you? I have been calling you since past 1 hour. Your mummy is getting hyper here. Talk to her"

"Ya dad. I was just…"

"Where were you? Don't you have time to talk to us??", it was my mom

I smiled…

"I have lot of time now mom…. Relax. I can talk to you till I am 80 years old…"

And we talked for another hour; I slept, woke up in the morning and went to work…

There I am my dear Processes…. You saved my life… J

Ye Dilli hai mere yaar...

2010-11-15T15:27:00.000+05:30

Okay, before I start this post, there is a special note for die-hard Delhi fans: I love Delhi J

There is this strange irony of my life. The more I used to consider Delhi-NCR as the worst place to live in, the more connected I became.

I was born in Delhi. Nearly 90% of my school life was spent in this region. When I completed my schooling, I was kind of relieved that I don't have to come back to Delhi. I was happy at Jaipur. But I landed up at Gurgaon (NCR) for MBA. I was placed and my company stationed me at places like Mumbai, Chennai and now Bangalore. And guess what??? I got married to a Delhiite.

But there is something magnetic about this place. I may have started realizing this magnetism only after spending some time in South India. The name of the famous roads, the numerous autos which keep on exhaling unbearable polluted fumes, the street food, the roadside chit-chat sessions of young groups, housewives buying vegetables from vegetable carts in their night gowns and bargaining on top of that, India Gate, the disinterested government employees, the government buildings, historical monuments, congested streets where there is no space for parking and yet each family proudly own atleast two cars, cheaper daily-use commodities (here I am comparing with South India), jugaadu attitude, Metro, latest model of cars or bikes speeding along-with cars which may crumble down to a pile of metal anytime etc etc.

Whenever I would travel through Delhi Roads, I feel some kind of connection with the names of the roads and areas, though I may not be able to guide you to any damn road of Delhi. Barakhamba Road, ITO, CP/ Rajiv chawk (for Metro travelers), Dilshad Garden, Akbar Road, Sardar Patel Marg, Rajghat, Janpath, Rohini (this is where I spent almost 7 years), Pragati Maidan, Dwarka, Mayur Vihar (this is where I am going to spend rest of my life J), Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, Kamla Nagar etc etc.

I may not have been to all the historical places of Delhi but just passing by them also gives a sense of pride to be present in the capital city of India- Delhi. It is polluted, it has now got extreme weather conditions- too cold in winters and too hot in summers, it is congested, it is cunning, it is the prime aim for terrorists, it is crowded but whatever it is, people born and brought up in Delhi cannot stay away from this place for long.

Here you get the best street food of India. Here you don't shy away from buying things from street and bargaining too even if you are the wife of the Director of a company. This is the place where you can sit in any local market with friends yet have a feast with inexpensive momos and chole-kulche. The roads may be less crowded during mid-night but not deserted, where the business language is English when you start and quickly changes to Hindi or Punjabi, where people have started travelling according to the timings of Metro, where still there are numerous areas where uninterrupted power supply is still a dream but the people are complaining and not rebelling, where people have forgotten the concept of balcony (almost 95% of the families residing in apartments built not very recently have covered their balconies and converted them into rooms), where people are too concerned about their health and so religiously go on morning walk and gulp samosas and chicken tikkas in the evening…

But Delhi is rightly named as a place of people of golden hearts (dilwale). Only a true Delhiite may cherish the title song of Delhi-6 J. Though I cannot call myself as 100% pure Delhiite, but I love this place in spite of all the ironies with which the people live here.

PLEASE… DND!!!!!!!!

2010-10-29T15:20:00.000+05:30

Just when I am awaiting that magical SMS from ICICI bank informing me that my account has been credited with the salary, I am getting all sorts of SMS but not from ICICI :(

On an average, in every 5 minutes, I am getting 3 SMSs from my credit card company, builders, beauticians, shopping malls, travel portals etc etc etc. suggesting me to avail their offers to make my Diwali extra special with heavy discounts !!!

"Get a manicure absolutely free on a bill of Rs. 2000 at Lakme…": If I can inflate my bill to Rs. 2000, I am rich enough to get a paid manicure….

"Get 50% cash back on base fare of 2 round trips or 4 one way tickets on cleartrip...": If I would have got this SMS when most of us were getting heart attacks with soaring ticket prices for Diwali trip, it would have genuinely helped me. I think almost 85% people have already booked their Diwali tickets by now. Rest 10% will be in such hurry that they won't even remember of receiving this SMS. 5% would, I guess, be able to avail this HEAVY discount on base fare. Try to give me this discount on the total fare.

Even when I have taken up 'their' Credit card, my name is not yet chalked off from their calling lists. Every other day I get a call from them to take up their credit card and I beg them to delete my name from their list but they won't listen. Why are they wasting their time, effort and money on the already existing customer to become their customer?

I have already taken up almost 5-6 insurance policies. No, that's not the truth but that's the status that I maintain whenever I get a call from some insurance call center because if I tell that I have taken 1 policy, they won't leave me because their product is giving the maximum benefit and cover to me. So, I have taken up non-existing insurance policies. I guess, 5-6 policies together would cover me better than their product.

I am not interested in home or personal loan and I am still a student. Oh, I am still a student because they are not interested in giving any loan or credit card to students and so, they will keep down the phone immediately without persuading me to take up their product…

On my mobile, I hardly get 1,2,3,4 or may be 5 calls in a day of my interest, that is, from my friends and family members. But I get almost 9-10 calls and 15 SMSs on a normal day from these companies which would continue to call me to sell their product or offer even when my name would be registered in DEAD peoples' list. It looks that I have bought this expensive phone (expensive when I bought it) not for my personal use but to receive their calls and SMSs :(

PLEASE... DO NOT DISTURB ME….!!!!!!

The festive spirit...!!!

2010-10-19T12:29:00.001+05:30

Every year I eagerly wait for this time of the year, 'coz that the time when celebrations start… After a break of few days, shraad- when we pay homage to our departed family members, starts Navratra- a nine day period to worship the Goddess of Power- Durga. Post which, Dussehra is celebrated. After few days, Karwachauth (my first one this yearJ), then some or the other puja and finally Diwali. Time to buy and wear new glittering clothes, eat delicacies, observe fasts, arrange puja (and get amazing prasad), watch your city spend maximum on lighting the streets, clean and decorate your home on war-footing scale and pace to welcome Goddess Laxmi- the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity and eat-meet-and-dine with your near and dear ones without thinking about your workplaces.

I have been missing observing Navratri at home from past three years. No, I don't keep fast or anything, but I love the smell our home is filled with during these days- my mother would do daily aarti with cow-dung cakes and I would wake up with that pure smell and my mother would make sure to keep aside a large portion of the Prasad of dry fruits for me, 'coz I love it. On the last day, 7 or 9 little girls (kanyas) are fed with even more amazing poori-chana-halwa and so we would also get it. These things can also be prepared on any day of the year, but somehow it tastes awesome on that particular day only. I don't know the logic so don't ask me why.

I had been in South India from past three Navratris and it's nice to see, or rather know, that these 9 days hold equally good importance for South Indians as well and they are celebrated throughout India (all regions) in some or the other special way. Bengalis celebrate it in the form of Durga Puja- the biggest festival for them in the year. They put up magnificent pandals of the clay-made deities and offer puja in their unique way. Now the various Bengali Associations in various cities also put up such pandals. We attended two such pandals in Bengaluru this year. North-Indians, as I explained, observe fast during these days. Few, otherwise non-veg eating communities, transform into pure veg category during these 9 days. Few other communities, on the contrary, offer non-veg dishes to the Goddess as chadawa, which is later distributed as Prasad. Gujaratis arrange garba and dandiya nights and it has become famous throughout the world. Down here in South India, Ayudha Puja (8^th or 9^th day of this period) holds special importance. People worship their tools, workplaces, homes, vehicles and any other thing that hold special place in their lives.

The 10^th day, marked as Dasahara or Dussehra or Dasara (Mysore), culminates the 9 day period of Navratri (nav-nine and ratri- nights). It is celebrated as the day when Lord Rama killed Raavan and is symbolized as the day of victory of good over evil. In North India, life-size effigies of Raavan, Kumbhkaran and Meghnaad are burnt (they are fitted with crackers). Many communities believe that this is the most auspicious day for children to start reading and writing and so they worship pens, pencils and books on this day and some schools, especially in South India, also start their yearly session on this day. I miss this day as well. We still have this child-like eagerness to go to some Dussehra mela, organized at various places in North India. Eat street food, watch the effigies being burnt and shop on special Dusshera-Diwali discounted prices.

Phew… these are the times when you miss being away from your family. Though we are undoubtedly going home on Diwali but will miss half the fun (or should I say, we have already missed it L )…

Btw, last year, Diwali was on 17^th October and on 18^th October our (mine and Nimit's) roka ceremony took place… Milestone, you see J

Cheers and have fun in this festive season…!!!!

The GOD!!!

2010-10-04T14:22:00.001+05:30

I am back from Hyderabad. That's where my brother lives and since he is not there, my parents have come to take care of my sister-in-law. Last time when we were going to Hyderabad, we missed our train by few minutes. It was all because of the cab that we had booked… Cab, obviously, cannot take secret lanes and cannot stuff itself in any possible empty patch on road. And so, this time we decided to leave well in time and take an auto.

If you want to have a Sholay experience, or, you want to feel what Hema Malini (Basanti) might have gone through when she instructed her mare, Dhanno, to run for their lives, all you need to do is board an auto during the peak rush hours. You will get the feel. Though, we never told our auto driver that we are in any hurry or we may miss the train, he took it as his unsaid responsibility to drop us in flat 1 hour and so we reached the station 2 hours before the departure time.

My father and sister-in-law had come to pick us up in my brother's brand new i20 car. I loved the car. It's the first major joint possession of my brother and sister-in-law and they are proud to have it. It's so smooth and the interiors are also amazing. Wow…

Oh, forgot to mention. The Enthiran fever. I had only heard about it earlier but witnessed it for the first time. Rajinikanth is considered God down here in South. His movie was releasing after many years (his last movie being Sivaji- a huge hit released in 2007 but these 3 years are considered MANY years by his die-hard fans). Enthiran released on 1st October, a day after the Ayodhya verdict. While passing by a multiplex, a saw hundreds of people outside the complex, police vans and flags and posters. Since I was not able to see what posters were they, I thought that some political party must be having some meeting post verdict, only to know later on that they were the fans of Rajinikanth waiting there since early morning to get the tickets. I don't know if it is the rumor or what, but the tickets were sold for as high as Rs. 5000 and one confirmed source told me that the tickets were indeed sold at Rs. 1700. While going to catch the train later that evening as well I saw huge number of people, ooops, fans gathered outside a shady theatre with police vans and media cars.

Sorry to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, but I think Rajinikanth's fans are crazier than your fans or they might have be this crazy for you when you were young. Just read on Wikipedia (yes, I again relied on Wikipedia to gain knowledge on the superstar) that Mr. Rajini was born in the year 1949, which means he is 61 years old (he will complete 61 years in December). And he starred with Aishwarya Rai in this latest release- she is 37 years old. But who cares as Mrs. Bachchan herself is a big fan of this superstar. I honestly have no idea as to why he should be worshipped. It must be, no, it actually is for his style and dialogues and mannerisms rather than ACTING. What Rajinikanth can do, no one else can but I don't find it amazing. May be because I watch a movie to see acting but end up watching Rajinikanth running on water or in air or shooting 4 people with a single bullet or him igniting cigarette or matchstick on a bald man's head and things like these which makes no sense for me. But if I continue to write more about my personal views on his "acting" skills, I may be found murdered by his fans in next two hours so better I shut up my mouth. But yes, I actually want to see Robot (Hindi version of Enthiran) on the big screen.

Before I end up this post, just wanted to paste few lines/ facts about Rajinikanth, which my friend had just got from somewhere and forwarded them to me. Long Live Mr. Rajinikanth and best wishes for the new movie…

RAJINIKANTH

For those who don't know who Rajini is ………..

· When Rajini is doing push-ups, he is not lifting himself – he is pushing the earth down!

· Rajinikanth can divide by zero!

· He can delete the Recycle bin!

· He can slam a revolving door!

· He once kicked a horse in the chin – its descendants are today called giraffes!

· He can make onions cry!

· He can drown a fish!

· When he looks in the mirror it shatters, because even the glass is not stupid enough to get in between Rajinikanth & Rajinikanth!

· He never wet his bed as a child – the bed wet itself in fear!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's UP???

2010-10-01T15:18:00.002+05:30

So, I am back to the blog after a long time, I guess. Many historic and long awaited events have happened during this time and lots of things have come up for never ending discussions.

My office- Finally, after months of delay we have shifted to a new office premise this Monday. All the separate offices of Bangalore have now been consolidated at one place only and so, we, who have got used to meeting just 40 co-workers, are now surrounded by almost 100 more people and one more office is yet to shift. The office premise houses almost 5-6 more companies and so is properly maintained, which means that I can proudly show my relatives that THAT is my office J

Side effects of this new office are that no cabs have been provided and the office timings have also shifted which means board the crowded BMTC buses and reach office on your own; no TT table and so we are bound to grow much more lethargic than we were in our old office. But that's okay. Some positive aspects and few negatives won't make much difference.

Commonwealth Games (CWG)- The latest topic for numerous jokes, cartoons, forwarded mails, debates, criticisms, discussions by any and everyone, national pride at stake, last minute preparations, frantic appeals, blame game, view point of every prominent personality etc etc. I am planning to dig myself into Internet and know how India won the title as the Host of CWG 2010. I want to know the person responsible to propose the name of India to host this mega sports event knowing that how united we Indians (read: politicians) are when it comes to host such an event, how aggressive we are in preparations and how honest (non-corrupt) we are when hosting an event of such magnitude. Constructing Metro train network was the only visible preparation for CWG until late last year.

The main idea behind awarding such responsibility to a developing country is that they will take up an unprivileged area and build a games village to bring attention to that area and later on maintain it. But WE decided the heart of the nation Delhi as the venue and changed the already messy place to worsen the situation. Agreed that Metro has come as a boon to Delhi but we have not thought about the consequences of the fact that we have impaired the national capital to prepare for CWG and the inconvenience that would be caused to local population and others while the games take place. Oh, by the way, when I say WE, I mean the respective people responsible for this mess. Somehow I still remember the meaning of the word WE, even when these great politicians don't. Many countries (rather many unknown countries till now) and athletes have withdrawn their names from the participations on the grounds of hygiene and safety and security. Replying to the concerns raised by our guests, our honorable in-charges blame it on the difference in the meaning of hygiene of Indians and the guest countries. Mr./Ms. Ministers, stray dog paw stains and faeces on beds, washrooms with paan stains, waterlogged corridors, faulty electric fittings- none of them are OUR (Indian) standard of hygiene, they might be YOUR personal standard- don't pull US (Indians) into this. Now time has come when everyone has understood that CWG is more of a burden for us now and praying that they get over ASAP without any further hiccups. This was not how it was meant to end. We should have been proud to host them and now… no further comments.

Ayodhya- Without putting in the exact year when the crises started, I can say that this case has been the longest running case in the history of India's legal system. Hindus claim that Lord Rama was born on this piece of land- mind it- not 1 inch here, not 1 inch there- exactly on that piece of land and so this land belongs to Hindus. Babar invaded India and constructed a mosque there. Someone from Hindu community put the idol of Lord Rama there, even when the court has put the stay orders on that disputed land. Then Babri masjid was illegally and violently demolished leading to clashes among the communities. Ever since that incident, the usage of the word "Ayodhya" in public has kind of become an outrageous act. Yesterday was the day when High court was to pass the legendary and most awaited verdict. Most of us decided to remain indoors and those who had to attend offices chose to leave their workplaces much before the verdict time. The judges have divided the land equally in three parts- One for Lord Rama (temple), one for Muslims (Mosque) and the last for an akhara. I was kind of amused as well as irritated by the Headline of today's TOI – 2 parts for Hindus and 1 for Muslims, which is sure to ignite a flame of inequality in the decision in Muslims.

Few questions to our secular leaders-

1. Can you please prove that Lord Rama was born exactly there? Even if he was, can you build a temple in Ayodhya only but not on that disputed land? I know the answer will be a big NO.

2. Can both the communities come forward and donate the land for charity purpose-like build a hospital or school or orphanage? I again know the answer. A Big NO. Because they love their religion more than charity or society.

3. Can both the communities build their temple and mosque and pray silently now? NO. Because they don't believe in this settlement. If one community is happy or satisfied, the other want to disturb it.

After 60 years the judgment had come and again they will go to Supreme Court, which means another 60 years of animosity.

Apart from these national and personal events, I want to share a small incident. I was going somewhere in an auto 2 days back. It was 12:30 P.M. and sun was shining really bright and it was hot, pollution adding further to this hotness. On one of the signals, there were many vendors selling key chains, flowers, plastic airplanes, rubix cubes etc. I spotted one young handsome boy from a well to do family carrying a dustbin and he came upto me and asked politely in fluent English- "Ma'am, if you have any waste that you want to dispose off, kindly put in this bin. Help save us the environment". I had no waste to dispose off. Then he turned to my auto driver and asked the same thing in Kanadda. He too refused. I was kind of amazed by this drive. This young man was followed by few others, including children. On going ahead, my driver puked his tobacco on the road without even looking if someone was coming on his side or not. I asked him why he did not do that in that bin and he smiled and said- "Madam, ye sab show off hai, ye log khud bhi kachra failate hai". To this I replied that don't compare but you do your own bit to maintain cleanliness and greenery and he smiled at me as if he was making fun of me and saying- "Madam, this is India. This is how we are and we not ready or willing to change. Let everything remain as bad as it is now".

I may not volunteer to carry such bins but I do my bit to save electricity and water and maintain cleanliness which each one of us can do. Please do that. CHEERS!!!

Life's Highs

2010-09-13T16:14:00.000+05:30

Okay, so first time in my blog life I have been tagged- by Pranali for my 50 Life's Highs. .. Never had actually thought about it, so had to stop and think hard on what usually gives me a high

Here it goes…

1. Receiving salary credit SMS from my bank early on Saturday morning (last Saturday of the month or first Saturday of the month)

2. Immensely dark clouds during day time, turning the day into night

3. Getting the 'Missing you' SMS from my hubby exactly when either I am missing him or typing SMS to him only or I am depressed about something

4. Getting a Cadbury chocolate (and instantly eating it)

5. My birthday

6. Call from my friends

7. Receiving a direct mail (not any forwarded mail) from friends and close relatives

8. Downloading my favorite songs and transferring them on my IPOD and listening to them again and again in loop

9. Wearing a new dress

10. Lush green garden or mountains

11. Watching the never ending sea

12. Vacation (and the process of planning for the vacation)

13. Achieving something which I so earnestly wished for but had equally strong doubt about achieving it. Confusing?? Like, I never thought that I would be placed in any company through my college placements but got placed on Day 0.

14. Getting and giving surprises

15. Compliments

16. Looking at my engagement ring (and flaunting it to others)

17. Knowing that everyone thinks that you are very intelligent and talented when you know that you actually are not J

18. Getting highest marks in the subject you are weakest in

19. Finishing off with major exams

20. Watching movies in theatre

21. To know of surprise holiday declaration by school/college/office in the morning

22. Chocolate fantasy cake, actually anything related to chocolates

23. Crashing on the already made cozy bed after the most hectic but fruitful day

24. Making your parents and loved ones laugh till they have tears in their eyes

25. Knowing that someone is thinking about you at this moment

26. Taking long bath with hot water on weekends

27. Driving the car on a smooth lonely road

28. Visit to historical places

29. Getting clicked or clicking beautiful photos (even Self-clicked photographs)

30. Cleaning and managing my home and almirah after it being in utter mess for a long time

31. Sitting, laughing and chit-chatting with my huge family for long hours, doing nothing late in night

32. Getting compliments on new profile picture

33. Preparing exotic meal/any meal for that matter with my hubby

34. Singing aloud and dancing while taking a bath/when alone at home

35. Receiving any unexpected good news from the most unexpected people

36. Watching cute little wobbly-bubbly kids smiling, laughing uncontrollably, doing anything stupid but cute and trying to run (when they have just started walking), fall down and laughing at their own stupidity

37. Logging on to Gtalk first thing in the morning and finding so many friends online

38. Gossiping

39. Someone close's wedding celebrations, getting ready in beautiful outfits and unlimited singing and dancing

40. Reading about space and the vast distances and time periods related to space

41. Watching beautiful dance or song performance live

42. Eating spicy street food after a long gap

43. Approaching the climax of a suspense-thriller novel

44. Flight take off and landing time

Unexpected out of me, but two recent additions to my personality;

45. Shopping- rare event but whenever shopping, shop till our hands are no more able to accommodate any further bag J

46. Wearing a saree with heels

47. Excessive tiredness after doing some physical activity (like exercising after a long time, climbing up some hill, long walk etc etc)

48. Outdoor management games which include fun along-with brain teaser exercise

49. Writing a meaningful blog (though this is a rather rare situation to give me a high)

50. When my hubby dear is back from work J

Phew… If you have to sit back and think about them, then the list can go well over 50 but as of now can think about these many… Thanks Pranali for tagging me… CHEERS!!!

TTPTTT

2010-09-09T16:26:00.000+05:30

Okay. This post especially for my friends at office (on request by them): TTPTTT

TTPTTT: Total Time Pass on Table Tennis (TT) Table

I started playing TT here only but mostly I am a loyal and regular spectator/audience. But these friends of mine, have playing TT as their most important KPI (Key Performance Indicator). Every shot missed is followed by an angry sigh by the player and some yelling by his/her partner. Every successful shot played with style calls for a high-five and applause. When 5 points are lost at a stretch by a team, they try to wake each other up by saying "check". I always wonder what exactly has to be checked. Anyways, that's how they try to bring back some points in their favor.

By now, I can make out a distinct playing style of each of them and the players who play best as a team (any guesses???).

Without taking their names, I may list down few of the actions and characteristics of each of the players. If they are reading this blog (and they have to read it), they may put the name against each of the person against the respective actions in the Comments section:

1. He avoids doing the service at the start of the game

2. He has a unique action while playing, which I have given the name as 'Kung Fu Panda' style- try raising one of your leg half high and raise both your hands and then play the shot, as if doing a Kung Fu stunt

3. He has problems with the side screen – won't reveal what this side screen problem is

4. She can play on two TT tables simultaneously – she plays while running here and there. At times, I can see all three players standing at one place and playing and she being the only one to play while running all over the place

5. He is always energetic while playing – most of the shots that he plays do not land on the table but outside the table – can even start dancing on the ringtone of any mobile phone, which starts ringing in the middle of the game and thus, he can distract other players (beware of this distraction)

6. She keeps on mumbling something while playing – it can be some instructions/strategy that she wants to convey to her team mate or just reciting a checklist of what all she has to do once she is back in office or just a lame comment

I play it whenever I am in a mood and play just for the sake of doing time pass. But the six players mentioned above (in disguise) play to release the frustration, tension, stress and boredom and actually count how many games they have won or lost and discuss over the reasons for the loss. I wish, some of them to take an initiative to hold a 3i Infotech TT Championship soon.

Very shortly, we may be shifting to a new premise and most of them have a major concern of that new office – no TT table. That's sad, I know. Playing TT does offer a major relief/break from the IB that we keep on staring at throughout the day (at times, literally staring at and doing nothing). IB: Idiot Box- the computer.

But whatever it is, TT is the only saving grace or the reason for them to come to office, closely followed by the unpalatable food in the canteen. CHEERS to TT Table…!!!

They are monstrously HUGE and COMPLICATED…

2010-08-31T22:46:00.000+05:30

There are few things which make me feel scary just with their sizes and complexity. Their use is indispensible these days and I am compelled to wonder about them and admire their inventors and designers.

Air planes

Every now and then we travel by flights simply to save our time. They can transport me from one place to another in a matter of few hours which otherwise would have taken days to cover by road or rail. In the cockpit, the pilots are surrounded with more than 50 dials to adjust altitude, speed, direction, to know the status of the fuel, the engines, each part of the plane and the sky. One mistake by them and atleast 150 lives can be lost. I always wonder how much precision is required at each micro second level. We have seen incidents where a small mistake has resulted in disaster. The entire design is so complicated. There was a series on plane crashes on Nat Geo- Seconds to Disaster. I remember one of the episodes in which a small tiny part of steel fell on the runway from nowhere and while taking off, it hit the fuel tank of the plane and the plane blasted within 30 seconds after take off. The investigating team could not point this out for months together. On looking closely on the take off clip only they realized this small piece flying from the runway and hitting the tank causing instant blasting.

Heavy Earth Moving equipments

These days Bangalore roads are up for complete makeover with construction of so many flyovers. Every day I see those huge earth moving machines, drillers and all. The height of the blades of these drillers only is as high as my height. They drill down the concrete road in a matter of few hours. Imagine someone commits a small mistake and the consequences of the mistake or if the machine handler is not careful with the direction of the blades. God forbid, any of these fall on anyone, that can be the last moment of that person's life.

Space shuttles

I toss a stone and it falls down on the floor. Reason? The gravitational pull. So scientists decided to make a machine which will be released with such a speed that it beats the earth's gravitational force. A space station itself has been constructed and placed in the space. The astronauts walk in space, repair these huge complicated architectures in space. Something which I see from earth every night, moon, these machines have been there. I cannot imagine to even see a rocket (I mean an actual rocket, not a dummy one) in my life. On one of the sites, I found answer to one of my endless questions about rockets and space shuttles. Every time a rocket launch is shown on TV, two parts are shown to fall down. I always wondered, what parts are they, why do they detach themselves from the rocket and what happens to them, they might fall somewhere on earth. It might hurt someone (though this last part was a stupid question, since scientists are not such fools to let a heavy part fall on someone's head).

I found the answer on one of the sites: "Rockets normally come in parts or stages, to save fuel. Once a stage burns all its fuel, it is released to burn up in the earth's atmosphere, or, occasionally, fall in the ocean. On the shuttle, the external solid rocket boosters are reusable, so they are dropped into the ocean with a parachute, and recovered, while the external liquid fuel tank is used for a longer time, and, when released, burns up in the atmosphere. On some of the rockets to the moon or other planets, a stage may orbit the earth/moon/sun/etc. or, as in the Apollo program, crash into the moon"- By Amateur Astronomer- Kenneth Renshaw.

Space shuttles and space as a whole is always going to amaze me. Salute to the inventors of such huge and complicated machines.

For more amazing Q and A on space, you may try this site: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Space-Exploration-2540/

What is Freedom???

2010-08-27T08:23:00.000+05:30

"….While I was fighting, I heard other people speaking in the name of freedom, and the more they defended this unique right, the more enslaved they seemed to be to their parents' wishes, to a marriage in which they had promised to stay with the other person "for the rest of their lives," to the bathroom scales, to their diet, to half-finished projects, to lovers to whom they were incapable of saying "No" or "It's over," to weekends when they were obliged to have lunch with people they didn't even like. Slaves to luxury, to the appearance of luxury, to the appearance of the appearance of luxury. Slaves to a life they had not chosen, but which they had decided to live because someone had managed to convince them that it was all for the best. And so their identical days and nights passed, days and nights in which adventure was just a word in a book or an image on the television that was always on, and whenever a door opened, they would say: "I'm not interested. I'm not in the mood." How could they possibly know if they were in the mood or not if they had never tried? But there was no point in asking; the truth was they were afraid of any change that would upset the world they had grown used to."

Have just started reading Zahir- by Paulo Coelho and on Page # 10 itself, I found this paragraph. From past 30 minutes, I have been reading this again and again and realizing how true it is. Most of us just bury our talents and wishes to pursue a life which we don't love but are assured by someone else that this is the life which is meant for us. That someone can be our parents, friends, colleagues or peer group. How many of us have got the courage to stand against all of them and tell that I want to live MY life differently? Forget telling this to others, how many of us could tell this to ourselves?

One of my closest friends calls me up one fine day and declares that she has quit her secure job in a bank to pursue her interest in Media industry. I almost shout back at her and silently keep on praying to God to give her either some wisdom to come back to lead a normal life or to give her a nice break in the industry as soon as possible. After almost 3 months, I get a long mail from her stating that she is the Assistant Director in one of the leading soap operas and that she now sleeps like a child and is no more an insomniac because she is doing what she wanted to, enjoying it to the fullest, gets exhausted and gets a satisfied sleep.

Though, it's true that changing your path may never be a cakewalk. You may have to face lot of struggle. But what scares most of us is that the people who mean the most to us may also refuse to hold our hands in our tough time. The one who can stand alone is the winner. But most of us cannot.

Forget taking a different path, we are not even ready to take risks in our lives. As a simple example, how many of us would jump excitedly on the idea of Bungee jumping on the coming weekend? On such offer, I would have to think about my household jobs due to be completed on this weekend, my relatives who are about to visit us, my family who would simply instruct me to drop the idea of doing such risky action and I may just follow them and indeed drop the idea. We are spoon-fed since childhood that we are destined to follow a set path and are not allowed to engage in risky business. Schooling, graduation course which ensures a good white-collared job, post-graduation which ensures high pay-package, 9 to 5 job which may be extended till late in night or even next morning but gives a regular salary, get married to the one chosen by our parents, start a family and repeat the cycle. I am afraid to quit my job and pursue my interest simply because quitting the job would mean no income from my side. Then how will I meet my ends and support my family?

We do talk about freedom and enjoy the national holiday on the Independence Day on every 15^th August but we still have not understood the meaning of this word "Freedom". Freedom does not mean to react instantly to something without even thinking of the consequences. It means to live the way you ultimately want to live and enjoy and be proud of it. I should take the responsibility of my life and the direction I give to it. Honestly, I might have thought this way about thousand times in my life but still I am not independent and have no guts to quit the path chosen for me by others and make my own way.

What is this?

2010-08-23T08:43:00.000+05:30

When I travel in my office cab, everyday I witness something or the other weird thing, which makes me wonder- what is this?

1. Namma Bengaluru Traffic Police

Just imagine, a crossing, with 4 lanes in 4 directions. You are standing in one of the lanes. The lane just opposite to you also has vehicles. Suddenly, the traffic policeman signals you to move on. You have to take a right turn. Seems simple. But no. Only when you start taking the right turn you realize that the intelligent policeman has also signalled the vehicles standing in the opposite lane to move on. Some of those vehicles also want to take right turn. BOTTLENECK. Each of us want to take right turn, some wants to go straight, but we have blocked our ways.

2. Cab Drivers (including my own driver)

Cab drivers have amazing ego. If the innocent normal person driving in front of them does not give them side as soon as they honk their deafening horn, they gets into revengeful mode. They will keep blaring their horn and scare the hell out of that innocent fellow. Thats not all. They would bring their cab by his car's side and stare him and show him their fists. Mr. Driver, that fellow has also paid Road Tax, he is scared of his death, he has a family to look for and he has all rights to drive safely, than drive rash.

I always used to think, why do all the cabs are in bad shape. Now I know. Recently my cab driver was given an almost new cab to drive. That was some 30 days back. Now, this new cab looks as old as 10 years old. Why? My driver would accelerate from 0 to 80 kmps speed in just 1 minute and won't slow down even if they know that there is a speed breaker some 6 feets away. They would put brakes only when they are barely 30 cms away from it. Then again speed up and so on.

3. What are Helmets for?

As per my knowledge, helmets are meant to safeguard your head, in case you meet an accident. Initially it was meant for only the drivers and not the pillion riders. But few years back, Delhi police made it mandatory for both the riders of 2 wheelers to wear helmets. It's for your own safety. But sometimes I see the pillion rider only wearing the helmet or none of them wearing it but holding the helmet in their hands and putting it on as and when they spot a policeman. Why are people so ignorant about their loss and life but concerned about the challan that they may have to pay? Which one is more important to save- Life or Challan?

4. 2-Wheeler drivers talking on mobiles while driving
Believe me, even when I am at home and doing something in kitchen, when I cannot hold mobile with my hands, I prefer missing the call and talk only when my hands are free, else I won't be able to concentrate on either- the call and the work that I am doing. But, I am amazed to see 2-wheeler drivers talking on their mobiles by fixing them up in their helmets (that's the only use of helmets for them, I guess). They will fix it up between their ear and the helmet, tilt their head and talk while driving. If you are much more busier than Mr. SRK or Manmohan Singh that you cannot stop and talk, then I understand you but you obviously are not that big shot (else, you won't be driving a 2-wheeler). So, why not stop on the road side for a moment, finish the call or tell that you will call back and drive safely and let others also be safe on the road?

There are lot of things like these which irritates me, specially when I see them in the morning. That's one of the busiest time on road and I see people ignoring the importance of safe driving and their lives.

Share It- 2

2010-08-20T08:52:00.000+05:30

Here is the second reply that I got. This came from Akshay Laddhad. My ex-colleague at 3i Infotech and a very good friend of mine. He is the one with whom I zeroed in for this topic to send you the invitation for. And since the idea has not worked well, Akshay your life is in 50% danger. For the rest 50% of the reason for the failure, I take on the responsibility.

Again, before pasting his reply, I must share my memory about him when I saw him first.

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We were in the same induction batch of 3i Infotech but in different groups. So, we may have seen each other but I don't recollect anything. When we were given our project, we were made to wait a bit longer than others and meet Mr. Padhnabhan Iyer (Paddy). We were waiting for him at the reception. That is where I saw him first. He was in my friend's group and so she knew him. Both of them were talking and I was just standing there. Akshay was looking way too curious about what project we have got, some were saying that its a rural project and so we would be placed in villages (of which he seemed very worried about), some made fun that we would even have to change the bulbs, clean the stores etc (which was irritating him) and at the same time, he would also say, "its okay yaar, lets wait till we get our locations" and I thought that why is he so restless. He would go up to talk to all the people and ask what this project was about, what profile they have got, become tense and come back to his base position and try to relax himself.

And then we were made to sit in the conference room since Paddy has arrived in the office. There also, Akshay was sitting on the opposite side of the table and was talking the most. When Paddy came, we interacted. He told us few things about the project and asked few things from us. And then he asked something (don't remember exactly what) but all of us remained silent (it was not a tough question but we were probably making out a diplomatic answer in our minds) and suddenly he spoke out and that actually shocked me, because it was not at all diplomatic. That time I thought that he is really gutsy and stupid. Gutsy because he spoke out whatever was on his mind and stupid because he was talking to Paddy, who was on a real senior position.

Later, both of us met at Chennai and became real good friends over there. But that was the first memory about Akshay.

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And here goes Akshay's reply.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------okiessss.........

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When I first noticed u, u were busy talk to Manya in 3i's conference room ...... n my reaction was - "serious types ladki hai" ;-)

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baki ka nahi likh sakta warna moti apn dono se so-called dosti thod degi ;-)

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Akshay, thats what everyone notices about me in the first meeting and few only realize later that I am very much opposite to my serious image. Thanks for sharing anyways.

Share It- 1

2010-08-20T08:49:00.000+05:30

OK. Few days back I decided to invite people to write something for my blog. Discussing this with my friend, I had some topics in my mind- most embarrassing and amazing moments of life, what did you do with your first salary etc etc. But then thought that they might not encourage most of you. I mean, I am ready to reveal the most embarrassing moment of my life but most of you may not be. So thought to start on with this concept with a relatively easier topic. First memory about me. What was on your mind when you first saw/met me. So, drafted an invitation mail and sent it to all my close friends and relatives-cum-friends. But unfortunately, very unfortunately, I got ONLY TWO (2) replies. This may be because of reasons, like:

1. They didn't get my mail: but I didn't get any delivery failure message

2. They didn't check their mailbox: but I sent it on 2nd July, 1 Month and 9 days back

3. They had no memory about the first meeting: that hurts. Though one of my friends actually told me that he does not remember when and how we met for the first time. So, thats a valid reason. But none of you had any recollection??? Anyways...

4. They have no time to pen down their replies: I was not expecting a testimonial for me. Just any funny or stupid or awkward (whatever) recollection of the first memory about meeting me, 3-4 liners may be sufficient

Anyways, I thought that I will publish the replies as-it-is on my blog as soon as I get atleast 5 replies. But sadly, I got only two. So, was thinking to keep those two precious replies in my mailbox only but then, they had replied back to me and I should keep up my promise.

So, the first reply came from the most unexpected person. There have been times when I would send her mails and forwards but she would reply back only after a month or may not even reply to any of them. But this time, I got her reply within almost 10-15 minutes of sending that invitation mail. She is Divya Saini, my friend since MBA days. Before pasting her reply here, I must also share what I had on my mind when I first saw her.

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She was in my section only (Section F) and in the initial days, all of us had to introduce and re-introduce ourselves to every new lecturer. In one of those lectures, Soft Skills, we were to introduce ourselves with more details apart from regulars: name, where we belong to, educational background etc. and that too while standing in front of the class rather than from our own benches. She came and literally blurted out all her details in one breathe. And then, she paused for sometime, looking lost and I was expecting her to end her introduction but just then, she started again and again paused. Finally after some 2 such pauses, her introduction came to an end. In her intro, she mentioned that she was in South Africa (working) for 2 years before coming back to India and joining ICFAI. Instantly, I thought to keep her name as "Jhinga-la-la" (because still most of us, including me, knows South Africa as the land of tribals), even when I was not formally introduced to her by that time, but I still kept her name. Though, eventually, we turned out to become best friends and she has been honored with lot of other names but Jhinga-la-la will remain her name for the lifetime (for me atleast). That was the first memory about Divya.

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She has actually written down her initial feedback about me, rather than the first ever memory about me. But accepted and thanks Divya. Here it goes...

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Ummmm… have to go back 4 years.

Huh..so when I saw you for the first time…you were a very simple gal..bit shy but confident bit flexible but with a stand of your own.

I will be true without caring if you like this or not..

In the very beginning we were all in so many things of our own that we did not really notice each other much..but with Mxxxx …(hey forgot her name, really an example of my good memory)

Anyway, you will understand as I will talk abt her..she was your best friend in the beginning of MBA and seriously she was really dominating you..i mean was perceived as..and I used to find both of you "same to same" ;) …( don't kill me for this now)

But this was for a very short time, very soon as I started interacting with you the impression changed… I really discovered you slowly and realised what an amazing person you were

I must say you developed you self so well in all the ways…not only in your profession skill but personal as well and neva to forget, your looks ( looks were amazing earlier as well but see the transition man…uuffff..too good)

Even if there are so many changes in 4 years ..few qualities still same and probably will alz remain….i neva saw a perfect combination, of Love, care, patience and maturity till now…you are just an exception, your's and Maum's qualities match also..that is why you both make a perfect comrade probably…main bhi thodi bohut entry maar leti hoon tumhaare beech mein but you guys really gel so well.

I must say, you deserve the best in life as you are the BEST

Cheers

Divya

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Second reply, I will post in next blog... just in next 30 minutes. CHEERS !!!!!!!!

The much awaited trip…

2010-08-11T09:25:00.000+05:30

On 30^th July, we finally left our respective offices for the much awaited and long due trip to our homes- Jaipur and Delhi. It was the first one after our wedding, which made this trip even more amazing. My father was retiring from his bank service after almost 35 years. As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts (Retirement), I was again stumped by the number of years that he had spent in the same organization. My mother was waiting for me but more importantly was concerned about all the arrangements since her son-in-law was also coming home to stay for the first time. Each part of each of the days that we were to stay at Jaipur was already planned. Papa got a new Nokia mobile phone from my brother and sister-in-law and we presented him with the bar accessories. He was smiling from ear to ear after getting our gifts.

The retirement party was arranged in the hotel, which has unofficially being declared as our own hotel. As the guests started pouring in, after papa, special attention was on the kids (i.e. us), since we were meeting everyone after almost half a year. I guess papa got so many gifts second time in his life (first time can be his wedding day). My brother's and my in-laws had come down especially from Neemuch and Delhi respectively to greet my father. We ended the day with unwrapping of all the gifts.

Next day was even more jam-packed. Our in-laws were invited for the breakfast. Another reason being the sindhara (ritual for one of the festivals- Teej). I was loaded with sarees and suits and chocolates and a beautiful set. Lunch was at my sister-in-law's uncle's place, where my brother struggled to pop open the Champaign bottle. Final meal of the day was already booked at my mausi's place.

Next day, I and Nimit were legally and constitutionally declared Husband and Wife- we got our marriage registered- a mandatory rule implied since not long back. After a long time I witnessed the laziness and lousy attitude of the government employees (which, according to my father and mama, was fairly fast as per the normal government office working standards). Paper work was already done after reading all the instructions. But when the papers were handed over to the sarkari babu, he rested his specs on his nose and tried to point out something or rather anything wrong in the papers- "10^th ki mark sheet nahi lagayi kya?", only to find out that the next page was the 10^th Mark sheet; "ye type nahi karwaya kya?", only to find out that it was typed exactly what was required. Finally, he exclaimed that "Mathurs never do anything wrong" and Bingo… He found out something to crib about. As my father handed over the photographs of the wedding, he pointed out that the two girls seated behind us in the photograph are wrong. We should have got our exclusive photograph. But somehow he graced us and filed all the papers to be signed by the bade babu. Now, if you find a man working on this table with at-least 3 persons (lazy and boot-licking kind of people) sitting in front of him, you must know that he only can be the bade babu in a government office. These 3 persons think sitting in front of their boss is their only KPI. We should the file to him and he signed but one of the idle persons sitting in front of him has to say something to show importance. So he says, "you should have got bigger photograph… You know its better for the future". My father ignored him since the photo size was as per the guidelines and that's exactly the size that can be accommodated in the certificate and the forms. But after all this drama there, we got registered in record 2 hours time.

Throughout our stay there, mummy prepared her special dishes, making sure not to repeat any item and I love her food… Finally, after 3 hectic days, we started on our 2^nd phase of the vacation- Delhi. Visit to doctors and tailors were the prominent activities there. Mr. Mathur chose to attend his Gurgaon office while I actually enjoyed my vacations. There also we had two formal dinners and one instantly decided KFC treat. I saw all the old photographs of Nimit and the bachcha party. It was fun to see their childhood days. Met two of my best friends after a long time. Thank God they have shifted to Delhi. I can meet them almost every time I visit Delhi.

The days and time spent at Jaipur and Delhi seemed short to sit and talk at length with everyone but it definitely was a much needed visit.

I am a Multi Millionaire...

2010-07-20T08:50:00.000+05:30

I am not saying because of any alcoholic hangover of last weekend. I am actually a Multi Millionaire. If anyone of you need some thousands or lakhs of rupees, just drop a mail to me. Such petty amounts may not affect my bank balance.

Okay, close your mouth and bring your eyes back to their normal sizes. Here I am referring to those so-called lotteries, awards and rewards from anonymous companies and contests, which keeps on sending mails claiming that I have been awarded some $1,000,000 or GBP (Great British Pound) or Yuan or what not. And to claim my prize money, I must send a mail to some bogus mail ID stating my bank account details. So, if I add up all the prize money that I have been awarded till now, I can make Bill Clinton shy away from me and hide himself in some corner of the world. I cannot help grinning on learning the fact that I am always tagged “the luckiest winner” to win this prize money over some 2500 companies' mail ID worldwide or over all the e-mail Ids of the world. I mean, its a great achievement. Can I write this achievement in my resume? Or I can even highlight myself as the luckiest person on earth to have won so many lotteries without any effort. Which company will not hire me? I may prove lucky for them as well.

But as soon as I start dreaming about these amazing prospects, some or the other friend of mine disrupts me. My friend would have also won such a lottery. Oh My God!!! Even my friend is also termed as the “luckiest” person on this earth??!!! Thats not fair. Only one of us can be the luckiest. The reality is that there might have been over million of such “luckiest” persons who have got such mails. They, obviously, have no intention to make people like us rich. If they have that intention, they'd better donate this money to someone in dire need of it. Don't know how exactly are they going to commit the crime, but it is a fraud. I will send my bank account details and further they would hack my account or do something like that or use it in some or the other fraudulent way. I don't understand why they keep sending such mails when they know that no one is going to reply back. Actually, some of the new joinees in the Internet circuit may reply back to them and they fall in such traps.

But just an advice. Never mail your bank account details or any kind of password to anyone, even if they claim to be your bank's personnel. You never know to whom you are actually sending the mail. A bank will never ask your account or login details. If any mail from your bank asks it, better call the customer care and inform them.

Ya, my bank gave me this extra gyan, which I thought to share here. But dreaming about being a multi-millionaire is just amazing. What all I can do with just a million rupees...!!! Anyways, back to reality and back to work... Be Safe... CHEERS !!!