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Oh man, do I have a long list today or what! So if;
- You’re not in a mood to read a long list of rants
- Have a report to submit before leaving today
- Get depressed when you read depressing posts
- Have just had a heavy lunch
Kindly click the small cross sign on the top right corner of the page. This post is capable of wasting your time, making you sad (for me of course, where is the empathy eh?), or even putting you to sleep.
For the braver folks, here we go!
- So now we have power cuts. Oh, cuts makes it so sound small and short. These are more like gashes, wounds even. Big, evil ones. They used to be for an hour, stretched to two, and currently are at four. And if the papers are to believed, this is just the beginning of the reign of darkness. Not darkness really, because they happen at 8 AM, sharp. And I have to wake up. Which is good, if I had something to do till I leave for work at 11, but no, there is nothing, no power you see. All this because there isn’t enough water to run the turbines and generate electricity, which brings us to item 2
- There is no rain! The clouds refuse to burst. I cannot believe how stubborn they are. I mean, just yesterday, there was this full thunder and lightning show for an hour, and really black clouds looming low and all. But it didn’t rain a drop in the night! Rain God is angry or something (Indra no?) Or probably, he finished this year’s quota last year itself. I think I can even guess what date he must have done that, 23rd June? The wedding day?
- And of course, no water in the clouds, means no water on the ground, means no water inside the ground, means no water to pull out, means no water in the taps. Which means early morning routine of filling all possible buckets in the house (oh I don’t wake up by then, so this is told as heard).
- And then there is the fuel shortage, which leads to a cab shortage. Now, for those who have read this place before, you know how I love my cab rides home, especially since they give me a glimpse of the world I didn’t know existed. But now, they are not there. Every night we wait for two headlights to shine through the darkness, and then for the supervisor guy to shout "26!"(Which is our cab number by the way in this hypothetical situation), only that it doesn’t happen until we have waited sufficiently, sufficiently being a couple of hours. So now we know how many bricks make the cab area’s back wall, and also, that if we stare for long enough at darkness, we can in fact spot quite a few things which were initially invisible to the eye.
- And of course, the new rule at the work place. Food items are not to be brought or consumed at the work desk. Ok fine. Food items include coffee. Huh? What? And how is one supposed to get rid of the immense headaches generated through hours of staring at excel sheets again? Reason being, people might drop the food, and it might not be cleaned, and that would create an unhealthy environment. And what were we paying the maintenance guys for again? Also, this will attract rats, which might chew the network cords. Ah, you have a point there, don’t you? But I beg to differ; see, since we are dehati enough to drop all the food on the ground, which would be feast enough for the rat, why would the poor thing choose the extremely useless network cord over it? Ours is grey that too, not even bright and pretty to lure it.
Enough you say? Oh, there is a lot more, these are just off the top of the head! Aren’t you feeling sorry for me already? Anyhow, will stop now. So, while you can get back to work, I will get back to wallowing in self pity, ok? Ok.
- Location:Work
- Mood:
annoyed - Music:None
Not a regular drizzle, where the sun is half tempted to tear the clouds apart and shine once again in all its glory. Not rains accompanied by the crazy, strong wind, which bends the scrawnier trees, and satisfies itself with blowing the dry leaves off the stronger ones, makes the other wise pleasant droplets of water sting the passers by like bullets and makes them run for shelter, all the while threatening to blow the clouds away, and not let the rains last.
I want the monotonous rain. The dull ominous grey clouds in the sky, so dark, that if you look out; it feels like it’s still five in the morning. And drops that fall straight to the ground; big drops, which fall at a constant pace, steadily drenching the ground, filling the low lying areas with water. Creating puddles which cannot dry; because the sun can’t find the tiniest gap in the clouds to make its way to the earth. Because, there is absolutely no wind, not even a slight breeze. Because, even if a drop does decide to evaporate, there are a hundred others falling right into its place, even before it’s fully gone.
Rain which can be heard all the time, with no other sound to break the rhythm. Perhaps disturbed once in a while by a loud thunder, which booms, echoes, and then fades into the background, once again making way for the sound of persistent rainfall. I want that kind of rain.
Rain, which anyone would look at and say, that’s made the day so gloomy, when will it stop? Rain which mothers look at, and decide the kids should probably not go to school today, because it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop anytime soon. Rain, which makes people leaving for work feel really sorry for themselves. Rain which makes you feel like stopping everything else, getting back under the covers and sleeping the whole day. Rain which leaves damp patches on the ceiling because the water on the terrace won’t dry up. Rain which makes you switch on the lights at home even at 2 in the afternoon.
I will not go to work. I will stay in my home shorts. I will switch off all the lights. I will put all my favorite songs on the On-the-go playlist on my Ipod, and connect it to the music system, and play it on loop. I will make me a cup of hot chai, with lots of ginger. I will pick up a packet of onion crisps. I will pick up Sophie Kinsella’s Undomestic Goddess which I am yet to begin. And I will sit in the balcony, sip my tea, munch on the crisps, and read. And if anyone from work calls, I will tell them it is raining too heavily for me to come, and I am sure it’s not stopping anytime soon. And then, I will switch the cell off.
Like I said, I am hoping it rains tomorrow. Just like that.
- Location:work
- Mood:
Lost - Music:None
Anyways, it's stale news that I am addicted to blog hopping. In fact, its like my morning tea, really looked forward to, very necessary to get me started, and if missed, the day doesn’t seem the same. And of course there is a pretty decent chunk of women bloggers in this list. And at some point of time, each one of them has come up with a feminist post.
I read them, think a bit about the situations they mention, form opinions on whether they are exaggerated or appropriate, and then, well, move ahead. And once, I happened to mention them to The Dude. If I remember right, I said something in the lines of ‘Man, you need to check out those feminist blogs! They are so angst ridden. I wonder why I don’t have such strong opinions on the matter; I am not a feminist at all.’
To which he very calmly responded saying; ‘That’s not true, it’s just that you haven’t faced a situation where you were asked to be a particular way because you’re a girl’. He also added ‘There is a feminist in you wanting to get out!’ Of course, he said this in a humorous way, but it definitely got me thinking if I had any views at all on the matter.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait too long too find out. Thanks to this friend I have at work. Now this guy is well educated, well read and has pretty strong views on almost everything under the sun. Which is usually why we have elaborate arguments on the messenger. But the one topic wherein we end up arguing the most is about ‘how women are different from men’. Now just to clarify, this guy never ever says women are lesser mortals, or deserve anything lesser than men. It is a completely different ball game with him.
Try this for a sample.
‘Women should not work, because they are surrounded by male colleagues, who at the end of the day, can have nothing but lecherous intentions towards their female counter parts’
Seriously, I mean seriously? That is probably the most obnoxious generalization I have come across for any particular 'category'. And for heaven's sake, it is 'all men' we are talking about here. And which by the way include the said friend too.
Or this.
‘The girl I marry doesn’t need friends of her own. My mother, my relatives are always there, she can talk to them if she wants. Why does she need friends?’
I think this was one thing which had us argue for more than hour. Sad, we were wasting productive time, but I couldn’t help it. The girl doesn’t need friends, and this guy gets to decide that. What if she already has friends? Ah, she will apparently understand that he would rather want her to spend time with his family, and would gradually realise that this in fact, makes her happier. He has said this.
Oh there are many more gems like these. ‘Why do women have to wear skirts, or sleeveless tops, it’s so embarrassing!’ And ‘Women should know what a good time for them to go out is, what makes them think they walk on the middle of the road at 12 in the night?’ Oh, and this was just after the New Year’s Eve molestation issue that had happened in Mumbai. Of course, that meant another non-productive day at work for me, but could I help it?
Obviously, I happen to be and do every single thing which women in his opinion are not supposed to, atleast the sensible, good ones. And he never hesitates to say that, while emphasizing that it's nothing personal. That very thing should probably put me off, and make me give up. What surprised me however was the level of irritation and anger statements like these generated in me, though what he thought affected me in no way. For some reason, I kept empathising with this imaginary girl, in hypothetical situations which she would have to face in her life, because she was destined to be with a person like him. And for this reason, I continue trying to convince him. I make blunt statements about how I pity the girl he ends up with, how ancient he sounds, how extremely generic and generalized and baseless his views are, and how what he thinks is being ‘protective’ is 'oppressive' in the true sense. I even try being all positive and ask all kinds of 'what if' scenarios to do with the girl he marries, hoping that someday he would give it all a thought, and accept what I say, or atleast part of it. I seriously doubt it though. But hey, atleast I gave it a try huh?
Bottom line being, The Dude’s right; I do some views on this, and pretty strong ones at that, only I never had to bring them out, thanks to the freedom I enjoyed all my life. No, I dont derive any fun from all these arguments I keep having, but they definitely did help me. One, they brought out a set of rigid views I never knew I possessed. And two, they make me even more grateful for the life I have.
- Location:Work
- Mood: contemplative
- Music:None
Till a savior came along, in the form of I-love-Lucy. And I was tagged!
The idea is to reveal 10 of your deepest darkest secrets. Now this blog never has anything even remotely deep (which makes it shallow? OMG, that’s so not a compliment! Anyways, so we can’t change that, can we?) And dark? No-no, this is a light blog by all means.
So, I think I’ve done something similar before, rattled some random stuff about me, so I will link that, and think of 10 new things.
1. I have a time fixed for most regular things in life and I stick to these come what may. Like go for a bath exactly at 10 AM, leave for work exactly at10:55AM, go for a coffee exactly at 3 PM, book my cab for 9 exactly at 8:15 etc. I know that makes me so similar to Subodh from Dil Chahta hai, but heck, it is true.
2. About the coffee, I have one regular Barista cappuccino each day. I always pick two packets of brown caramelized sugar, but use only one. The other one goes into my bag and stays there till the monthly clearance happens. Again, wasteful I know, but true.
3. I don’t share chocolate. Or anything which is chocolatey. Ok, you want to taste it fine, go ahead, but if you do like it, kindly to pick up one of your own. Don’t even try to hijack mine!
4. If I pick up a book, I have to finish it and no amount of sleep deprivation, hunger or work can stop me. However, if I haven’t finished it for a week, chances are, I never will, and even if I do, you would never hear me recommending it to anyone.
5. I am addicted to shoes. I recently did this meme which tells you which SATC character you are (yeah, yeah, I am useless, I do silly memes, and quite enjoy them too, so sue me), and I turned out to be Carrie. The only thing I could see we have in common however, was the love for shoes. Ok fine, she has 400 pairs, and I have 20, but that’s not a bad start!
6. Oh here is one secret which can be termed as dark. Or atleast one thing I am thoroughly ashamed of. Ok, so here goes. In class 9th, I was convinced that I was a huge fan of; hold your breath, Chadrachur Singh! I even had a poster
of him (gifted please).Who Chandrachur, you ask? Please go away! In my defense he was good in Maachis, and Tere mere sapne. So.
7. I was once a regular reader of this blog, which had a pretty interesting fiction section. Then one day, I saw the blogger’s reply to a comment, which started with ‘I didn’t knew that....’; I never went back.
8. If I receive a message with a lolz, or frenz, or itz, or any sms short forms, I immediately judge the sender as an immature-college-kid. Same for those who don’t use the dictionary function in their cell.
9. I hate criticism. Constructive or otherwise. I immediately get defensive and angry and take it extremely personally.
10. I am extremely punctual and I hate people who don’t turn up on time. I hate missing the beginning of movies, and having to roam around aimlessly waiting for the other party to turn, but it has happened more than once. Luckily for me, The Dude has similar thoughts and now I never miss even the trailers before the movie.
And that’s that! Coming to tagging people, I’d say anyone who feels like it. Trust me, it’s fun!
- Location:work
- Mood:
blah - Music:Kabhi kabhi aditi - JTYJN
Tokyo is a perfect metropolis, where everything is big and grand, organized, controlled, neat and just right. The city boasts of sky scrapers and zigzagging flyovers everywhere and very much reminds you of Canary Wharf in London. The tour guide is forever showing you the ‘tallest buildings’, ‘ biggest towers’, ‘most expensive real estate’, ‘maximum number of electronic stores’, which is what defines Tokyo. Explanation enough.
Living in Shinjuku, which has the maximum skyscrapers in the city is helpful, especially when you decide to venture out on your own to explore the place. You can always spot the tip of ‘that building which looks like it has ribbons criss-crossing it all over’ and then try and make your way to it. Also, if you can’t, you can safely assume you’re lost and need help.
Japanese people are very polite. And talk non-stop. They go on and on and on, knowing very well that the person in front has no clue about what they are talking. But they will smile, and bow, and speak and all you can do is smile back. Helplessly.
And oh, they are very honest too. This one old lady came searching for us all the way in a huge mall to return change we forgot to collect. And that was one yen.
Visiting Tokyo helps if you lag in the height department. You might be wearing flats the whole time and yet always be taller than the crowd. Very good experience.
The tube stations are in no way like the ones in London, they are more like huge shopping centres, where you have trains passing by now and then. Malls are omnipresent, and all are exactly the same, but still they are there, after every quarter of a kilometer.
Sushi is not as exotic as it sounds. In fact, it has this extremely annoying flavor which will refuse to go once you have tried it, and for some reason all eating places in Japan will smell of it. Oh ya, they will put make sweet potato sushi too. Imagine fish flavored sweet potato. Ugh.
Sake is ok. I personally thought it was like vodka, only smoother. The Dude didn’t like it one bit and finds it medicinal.
It is NOT ok to have perfect weather everyday of the vacation, and then rain like crazy on the day we are supposed to visit Disneyland. And it doesn’t help when the Hotel manager apologizes for it as if it’s his fault while handing us two giant umbrellas he is sure we will need.
But it does help that the rush is much lesser, and we get to try out every attraction in the place without having to stand in queues. Also, it does help that the rain stops after a couple of hours and leaves behind a heavenly breeze.
High-speed roller-coasters make me scream. And I feel like it is all over and this is the way things were supposed to end for me. But once I am done, I have a feeling of accomplishment which lasts for quite some time and makes up for everything else.
Air India sucks, big time. The flights never take off on time, always have some ‘technical issue’ which needs to be fixed , which by the way makes it even worse for someone like me who believes that something as huge as an airplane is not meant to leave ground in the first place. The airhostesses don’t serve, they throw food at you. The chairs are old and creaky. There is no entertainment except for ‘pot-pourri’ playing on a projection screen right in the front, which by the way has songs from Raja Hindustani playing. The headphones are horrible. They don’t have the food you ask for. In short, I am never flying Air India again.
People on the flight might actually prefer watching ‘Welcome’ over ‘Enchanted’ and the movie will be very unfairly stopped, and changed. Oh, but they serve unlimited drinks, and the best brands in beer, so The Dude says it makes up for everything else.
It doesn’t help that after the awesome weather in Tokyo, I am subjected to Hyderabad, which by the way, is an oven. And I am getting roasted. You know the kind of heat when you say, ‘It’s been this way for a week now, it’s definitely raining in a couple of days’, that kind, only it has lasted for over a month and it refuses to rain.
That’s about it. That by the way is my version of a travelogue. I might try pictures, but only if LJ doesn’t act funny. For now, I will get back to my post vacation depression, and probably start planning our next trip. That always cheers me up.
- Location:Work
- Music:My Rollercoaster - Juno OST
Chat on Sametime with the Pure-veg-ex-roomie
PVER - You know that song? Ooncha Lamba kad? From Welcome?
Me - Yes, what about it?
PVER - Well, I find it very funny
Me - Funny? I kinda like it, very typical punjabi song
PVER - No, no, I mean the lyrics
Me - What's funny in the lyrics?
PVER - He calls Katrina manly
Me - Huh? No he doesn't!
PVER - Yes yes, he does, he says ooncha lamba kad, blah blah, and the he calls her mardani - manly
Me (after recapitulating the first few lines in my head)- Aiyyyo, mad you are, he says marda nai, main avai tere utte marda nai, which means, I haven't flipped for you for no reason.
PVER - Podi, he doesn't say 'nai' and all, it is 'ni', mardaaaaaani.
Me - No ya, the sentence wont make sense in Punjabi, if it was Mardani
PVER - No no, that doesn't matter, you listen properly, and it makes full sense, what is ooncha lamba kad? tall nuh? See, so he says that and then says mardani, which means tall manly girl, I am telling you, listen to it again, I am right.
Me - *Surrender*
- Location:Work
- Mood:
ROFL
I am seldom so critical about a movie. Infact, I have extremely high tolerance levels when it comes to Bollywood flicks. Hello! I refused to walk out of Neal n Nikki; even though pure-veg-roomie ditched me mid-way and I had to sit through it alone. I even watched the whole of Bombay to Bangkok without a single whine, though I knew it had got a one star rating. And no, I don’t always look for a story, or some kind of a message in a movie; I liked Race, and Dhoom 2. And that’s justification enough.
But this movie annoyed me. Something I never thought a movie could do. It annoyed me so much, that all through the movie, I kept telling The Dude I would never suggest movies to watch again, and concentrated a lot on the yummy samosas Anand Theatre has to offer. The positive thing was, I was able to discuss random, unrelated topics with the Lil sis, and never had to bother about disturbing others, because one, there were hardly any ‘others’, and two, those who were there, were probably enjoying a sound sleep.
What annoyed me? Well quite frankly, everything. There was Anil Kapoor’s Hinglish, which was supposed to be the funny bit, but somehow ended up getting on your nerves. Saif was so useless in the movie that I felt sorry for him. I somehow expected that Akshay would be the saving grace, and when his introduction in the supposedly funny Ramlila scene fell flat, I knew I was in serious trouble. Kareena looked good, but that was about what she got to do. The songs I had downloaded and listened to over and over again lost their charm when they became part of the movie. There was a point where the Lil sis was sure the movie had come to an end, but alas, we had another hour to go. And as soon as the extremely ridiculous flash-back with Gudiya and Ullu-Ram started, I knew I had attained Nirvana. I now possess the ability to sit through any junk of a movie and yet survive.
If you are reading this, consider this a warning. And a foolproof method of finding out who is out to get you; that would be anyone who suggests you watch this movie. Enough said; I rest my case.
- Location:work
- Mood: annoyed
Episode 3 - 27th April 08, 8:45 PM
SRK (to contestant)- Toh aapko Pakistan ka capital pata nahi hai?
Contestant - Abhi yaad nahi aa raha hai
SRK (to contestant's sister) - Aapko pata hai? Aapki behen ka kehna hai ki ap unse smart hai. Kya karti hain aap?
Contestant's sister - First year, Business administration
SRK - Aapki toh badi padhi likhi family hai, toh aapko pata hai Pakistan ka capital?
Contestant's sister - Haan, ofcourse, Istanbul.
Contestant - Oh yaaaaa, Istanbul, how could I forget that!
SRK (at the end of the show) - By the way, Pakistan ka capital Istanbul nahi Islamabad hai.
Contestant's sister - Oh that's what I meant, Istanbul-Islamabad, Is-Is.
Me - :O (somebody please kill me!)
Please to watch this extremely hilarious and entertaining series on television, every Friday to Sunday, 8 PM on Star Plus. Seriously, don't miss this!
Edit : I can't believe I forgot, but the dear blog turned 4 years old on Saturday. Everyone stand up, clap and wish it a happy birthday!
- Location:Work
- Mood: ROFL
- Music:Nothing
So I am making yet another attempt at ensuring that the habit doesn’t fade away altogether, and taking up what they have named the Orbit Terrarum challenge.
Here’s what needs to be done. Read 9 books, by nine different authors, from 9 different countries within a span of 9 months, ending December 20th. So effectively the challenge began on April 1st and I missed it, but I can always make up I guess! The list needs to be posted on the blog (and is subject to change) and the reader then has to write about each book he finished reading.
Sounds good? It does to me!
So after quite a lot of contemplation, here is my list of books for the challenge –
1. Then we came to an end - Joshua Ferris (America)
Here’s why – I already have the book, but have procrastinated starting it till now.
2. A thousand Splendid suns - Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)
Here’s why – I loved The Kite Runner, I thought it was beautifully done, so I am all enthusiastic to try out this book as well. And I have this too.
3. Girls of Riyadh - Rajaa Alsanea (Saudi Arabia)
Here’s why – I have this one as well, and the plot really seemed interesting
4. A spot of bother - Mark Haddon (UK)
Here’s why – Curious Incident of a Dog in the night time was good, so I am expecting a lot from this too
5. Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai (India)
Here’s why – Now this one is just a random pick which I am hoping is a good choice, if there is any must-read by an Indian author, I would love to know.
6. PS I love you - Cecelia Ahern (Ireland)
Here’s why – Ah mush. I have this book, and it seems to be a light read and I really need one which doesn’t need too much of concentration.
7. Half of a yellow sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
Here’s why – I had spotted this book at Crosswords long ago and even recommended it without reading it. No one complained. So, its time I give it a try too.
8. The witch of Portobello - Paulo Coelho (Brazil)
Here’s why – I ran out of authors from different countries. Ok, let me give some credit to the guy but I never really was a big fan of his work. Having read The alchemist, Eleven minutes and Veronika decides to Die, its only the last book which prompted me to give his work another chance.
9. The Book thief - Markus Zusak (Australia)
Here’s why – Very Random pick, and will be/might be changed anytime.
Like I said, the list is not final, and if there are any reads you highly recommend, do let me know!
So, all set? Let’s do it!
- Location:Work
- Mood: excited
- Music:Nothing
Chennai Superkings; ofcourse, I have to respect the Tam roots!
Delhi Daredevils; for the Delhi-UP connection, see, Delhi is like neighbourhood to us.
Deccan Chargers; oh, I am a Hyderabadi now, 6 years in this city, ensures you are one.
Mumbai Indians; now that I am married to a Marathi, who couldn’t care less about the team, but then, I need to have my options hedged.
Cool huh? Ofcourse, the list will be narrowed down once the first round of matches takes place. Till then, happy cricket-watching!
And oh, I thought of supporting Bangalore too, since it has Dravid, but that would be taking it a bit too far. I guess. So let it be.
- Location:Work
- Mood: excited
It started with F.R.I.E.N.D.S back at K. I have all the seasons on CDs, have watched every possible episode numerous times by now, and cannot help but mouth the dialogues while watching the re-runs. And luckily, the Dude is as hooked, and is forever game for a Friends Marathon with chilled beer and Pizza. As for the favorite character in the series– Of course it is Funny Man Bing!
Then came The OC. Not a comedy, and definitely not comparable to the above classic, but the drama revolving around the Orange County elite is capable of keeping one engrossed. Not a guy thing at all. And The Dude maintains safe distance whenever I watch this, lest I subject him to ‘extremely uninteresting’ details of the plot. I started watching Season 1 with the Pure Veg roomie, and that was good fun, we could ooh – aah at all the mush and bitch about the evil characters. I directly jumped to season 4 which is running at present, and out of pure curiosity as to how each character landed where they are, am downloading the missed portions. Favourite character(s) – Seth Cohen, and Sandy-Kirsten.
And ofcourse! Grey’s Anatomy, how can I miss thee? I have a whole post about it. Started in London, when there was nothing much to watch, and started from season 2, and got the first 3 seasons gifted by Pure veg roomie. Was downloading each episode of season 4, the day after it aired in the US, because here, we are too far behind but then the strike happened, and now we are waiting for the 24th. And depressing though the story tends to be most of the time, I am addicted. And the Dude is not too happy, because every Friday night means slow internet, thanks to the 400 MB download. Favorite character(s), Christina – Burke before Burke left, now, nobody as such, definitely not Meridith, perhaps Lexie, let’s see.
Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty started because of lack of anything to watch thanks to the strike. But the former is just 13 episodes (which I am done with) and the latter got boring. Plus Gossip Girl has the irritating similarity of characters with The OC. Each of them has a twin in the OC. So not too keen on continuing really, though favourite character would be Good Boy Danny.
Then the reality shows. However fake they might seem. However staged they are supposed to be, it is just fun to watch reality shows. All the competitive ones like Top Chef, Project Runway and Shear Genius. I just love them. Closer home, there is MTV Roadies, which inspite of being extremely kiddish, visibly fake, and full of *beeps*, I don’t miss. I even used to follow V Get Gorgeous when it was aired. And Indian Idol and Nach Baliye, much to the annoyance of The Dude. Though now he has kind of given up and concentrates on playing Hidden and Dangerous whenever I am watching any of these shows.
With the way I am going now, for all the comments I have passed on the Pure Veg roomie for setting an alarm for 2:30 AM so as to watch the re-run of ‘Kaisa Yeh Pyar hai’ I have nothing to say in my defense now. And no, I am not complaining J .
- Location:Work
- Mood: blah
- Music:Nothing
We are back. All the fancies did not really suit us. So kindly excuse the inconvinience caused.
And to avoid any further confusion we will be removing the link from below, and deleting the twin blog. So here we are, where we started, with some unnecessary drama thrown in. Anyways. Yay.
- Location:Work
- Mood: bored
So after a lot of thinking, analysing, re-analysing, googling, researching, archiving and importing, we have finally closed shop here.
And started afresh. Here.
That too just before our 4th blog anniversary. Mean thing to do I know, but we are hoping it's worth it.
See ya guys there
- Location:Work
- Mood:
anxious
So let me introduce to you, Tortuga – the tortoise star! Ok that was not very original, and I am sure he has a name, but the brother in law conveniently forgot to ask the friend who the tortoise belongs to, as to what the name of the little thing was. So I being me, had to come up with something fast, and what better than a short form of what you are! No, I take that back, it is not much fun to call your dog do, or cat ca, or rabbit rab. But Tortu sounded fine to my exhausted self at 12 in the night, and then it automatically developed into Tortuga (we just re-watched Pirates, so kindly excuse). And the wonderful tag he gets is again kinda unoriginal; he is in fact an Indian Star Tortoise. And ya, he is a he out of our choice, the main reason being, what kind of a girl tortoise would be called Tortuga? Tortugee probably, but I have not heard that word, so a he he is.
So he stays with us for two days. He is small, will fit a regular palm.s He is very pretty, thanks to the shell, without which, I am sure he would look more like his amphibian cousin frog, or even his disgusting other cousin, the lizard. But he is with a shell, and a very pretty one at that, geometrically accurate and colour coordinated.
He has a small orange tub of his own but he hates it. So much that he will turn and run away (or attempt to), if he is put in front of it. What he prefers is to be left on his own, and once he is, he will sloppily plod around the house on his ultra weird feet and search for corners. And after spending a minute there, he would proceed on his quest for a new corner.
And he eats, a lot. Bottle guard and coriander. He prefers bottle guard, and needs them sliced in tiny cubes which he can chomp on them one at a time. And the whole chomping activity is damn cute in itself; the entire head and neck move up and down making him look like an uber-cool hip-hop fan.
You pick him up; he will stick out his neck and flail his limbs as if he is swimming in this imaginary pond. You put him back and he will withdraw into the shell completely, with only his tiny nose sticking out. And he blinks in slow motion, giving you a full view of his translucent eyelids each time.
Overall, I think he is adorable. And in two days time, I will only pine more for a pet. But provided he is no trouble to handle, might use that as evidence to my amazing pet management skills. Let’s see J
- Location:Work
- Music:Nothing
Ok, here are the facts. It is pretty useful, I would say. You can actually see a few inches disappear, and your face appears much less puffed up than it did in the pictures taken last month, which in fact had prompted you to take such drastic measures. The enormous amount of water you are expected to consume, does in fact, 'wash and cleanse your system' and make you feel lighter. Though I do have a strong feeling that the intense physical work-out one undergoes, thanks to the numerous trips to the restroom you end up making, might be more than responsible for it.
The last day starts well, you have survived 6 days and this is it! The jeans seem looser, the face seems to glow more (one of the other useful effects of consuming H20) and you are all happy. You have definitely lost weight, The Dude says so, and it’s ok if he is just saying it, as long as he is. You go to the mall to hang out.
And then, you give up. There is a Baskin Robbin’s outlet right in front of you, and the guy is handing huge cones of dark chocolate ice cream, and you are like, it’s almost the end of the day, it is 4 PM. And technically, technically, I started the diet at 11PM on Sunday night last week, because that’s when I went to sleep, and did not eat anything off the diet items list since then. So, technically, 8-9 hours shouldn’t matter. And ice cream is milk after all, and chocolate is a bit of cocoa beans, which are like dry fruits. And sugar, I admit, but people are allowed coffees, so why not this. Ok fine, diet over, officially!
And you go and pick up chocolate almond fantasy, two scoops in a cone, and spend the next 20 minutes relishing every bite. Of course, confirming with The Dude every few minutes, if he thought the entire week’s effort were being wasted. To which, he would helpfully, and vehemently nod a big ‘no way!’ And you get back to the ice-cream, and being happy, and your unhealthy food habits which ensure that you get back to where you were when you started. Of course, enlightened about the merits of the GM diet, and the realization of how it is not meant for people like me.
- Location:Work
- Mood:
amused - Music:Some one's ringtone
Then there was the other option, cutting down on the junk food. Again, I thrive on junk. Chocolates and chips keep me going. All attempts to consciously cut down on the consumption of these evil temptations have been met with rebellious bouts of ‘I really don’t need to reduce and hence I will consume more of this’. Which unfortunately last only till after the calories are added, post which it is back to the ‘I need a stronger will power’ state.
In short I am just the right combination for a perfectly unhealthy individual. And a week ago I took a drastic decision. To go on the GM diet. Now for those ignorant souls who don’t know what a GM diet is, or the lucky ones who would never need to know what a diet is, here is a short summary. It is this 7 day diet, with specific food items prescribed to be on each day, which claims to detoxify the body, repair the digestive system and lose upto 6 kgs of weight in one week. The good part, there is no limit to the quantity of the food item consumed, and hence no starvation. And hence, I took it up.
Anyways, today is almost done, and I am alive, though I have absolutely nothing to look forward to for dinner, which will be soup and veggies again. I already decided that I would break the diet in 6 days instead of 7, so that I don’t kill myself during the weekend, and then decided against it. Seriously, I don’t know what I will do. Tomorrow is going to be still tougher; they have managed to prescribe two things I positively despise as the only consumable items. Bananas and milk it is, and bananas and milk it will be. Or so I think. Like I said, I succumbed to a cup of coffee today, and will probably break more rules tomorrow. Hopefully not though. Anyway, I will be done this weekend, and will never even think of anything like this again. Ever. That’s for sure. For this time however, I wish myself luck, lots of will power, and strong taste buds which survive the torture, to live through the remaining 4 days of agony!
- Location:Work
- Mood: annoyed
- Music:nothing
I believe in signs. Somewhat like those in Sleepless in Seattle, but only much weirder. I relate the most unrelated of things and somehow try to predict how a meeting would go, how the day would be, whether or not what i wished for would happen based on something extremely silly and not remotely connected.
Like how the day would be. I take the office shuttle to work, and this takes one of two routes, depending on how many people are on. When the shuttle is full at my stop or the next, he takes a shorter route which probably saves around a km or so at the most. But this route has my favourite fly over on the way. yes, I have a favorite flyover,When there are so many around, you can pick. This one is has numerous trees on either side, and when you pass over it, there is always a cool breeze, however hot the day is. The other route is, well, nothing special. Now for some reason, the days my shuttle takes route one, I believe that the day would be good in general.
Then there are the mails. When I login in each morning, the first thing I check is the number of unread mails.It takes a while for them to download into my pst so all I can see is how many, and not what. If the number is a single digit, my work day would be good with no issues whatsoever. The moment it reaches 10, I am worried. And none of the Spam mails or forwards are discounted, it's just the total, always.
Then there was the time I had my Nokia 3315. I was addicted to snake and would play it like all the time. And my score would always be related to what was going on in my mind then. Like, if I scored 1000 and above my presentation would be decent, or my exam would go well, and once, 1500 points meant I would be shortlisted by the particular company whose GD results I was waiting for. So it was always a pain, and the more I concentrated because of the connection, the more tough it was to score.
And then while returning back home from work, I give myself exactly an hour and 15 minutes from the moment I have logged out, to reach home. A minute more than that, and i have had a bad day officially. Which basically means that I would be sulking for atleast a half hour about how unfair everyone was to not let me ride my bike to work. If I reach within the time limit (even the last minute is ok), I am happy.
All these and many more, like if I get the window seat in the cab, I would reach faster, and if 5 or more people respond to the meeting request the said work would get completed, if I finish reading the next 5 pages in 5 minutes, the train would reach on time, if there is cabbage for breakfast, the day would be dull and if there is cucumber koshambir, it would be good etc. There have been so many times I have sworn that I would never believe in this nonsense just because it predicted something against me. But I am always back, everytime with new caveats and best of threes. Anyways, I guess it's time to get back to work now, so that I can send out today's report before there is any new mail in my inbox because I think that would surely increase the probability of the client approving it. Hmmm. Let's see.
- Location:Work
- Music:Nothing
This is definitely not the best mood to be in when the intent is to resurrect a part-dead blog. But again, probably it is because it is finally making me post. And this, I will make sure does get published, unlike the 30 thousand other posts which I started, and didn’t complete, because when I revisited them they didn’t make as much sense, or completed but didn’t post because by the time I logged in again, they had lost relevance because the discussed matter was way too long in the past.
Anyways, back to the post and the extremely foul mood. I am tired. No, that is an under-statement. I am exhausted. And though I always thought I was someone who would not let what others want , effect what I do or the way I do it, I realized that at the end of the day, I am allowing things to happen the way they are, despite the fact that I am hating them.
It’s high time that some basic disclaimers about the way I operate are set out. On this blog that is, because I am incapable of communicating the same to more appropriate authorities.
- I switch off at 9 PM. That is the maximum I can push myself to be aware and in control of what I am saying or doing. So if there is anything scheduled for after that, I am sorry, I am not part of it. And even so, if you push me to be, I am not responsible for the consequences
- If you want a meeting, schedule it a day in advance. Sending me an appointment, 5 minutes before I am all set to leave for home will only make me angry (and bunk the next day). Also, please check with the point above before fixing anything
- My weekends are mine. And I love them. In fact, I have realized that the only reason why I survive a whole week is the anticipation of the weekend that would finally arrive. So refrain from invading my weekend, and if you do, expect weird excuses.
- There is no word like ‘stretching’ in my dictionary. I firmly believe that stretching beyond your regular hours basically showcases your inefficiency or the fact that you take too many coffee breaks. I cannot be classified under either category, and hence I am not supposed to stretch. And I won’t.
- Don’t ever say, ‘I wish I had your job, you always leave on time’. Try surviving one day working non-stop in front of the system, and getting up only in case of life and death situations, and then talk. Yes, that is a continuation of the rant above.
Ok, that I guess would be it for now. And this list is always subject to updates, so more later. As of now, it is 9:30 PM and I am off to a meeting, which by the way violates both points 1 and 2 above. So much for the disclaimers. Farewell!
- Location:Work
- Music:Nothing
Apart from the life changing, earth shattering learnings I already mentioned, there are a few other important lessons that I learnt in the past few days. I will never be able to post a ‘we have moved here’ entry on this site, because I will never be able to move at all. This blog is destined to live its whole life on LJ, atleast till LJ decides to close down or something. I have tried everything (ok, everything being googling, and a lot I tell you) to find out how one migrates, bag and baggage, from LJ to WP. There are very simple methods, but somehow, they don’t allow the baggage to include the very precious comments received over the years. And that, dear people, is not acceptable. We did come across some helpful tips on how to tweak the settings and get this done anyways, but technologically challenged that we are, we could not make head or tail of them. So here we are, back at our 4 year old address.
We also accepted the age-old fact that there is no such thing as wind-fall gains through good luck in our dictionary. And being married to someone, who unfortunately has the same term missing from his dictionary as well, just re-emphasizes the whole truth of the matter. The Japan trip never happened, and after spending sometime de-japanising ourselves (and those we had spread this news to), we have now come to terms with it. In short, given up.
But here is the good thing (finally!). The theme of 2008 is, Be Positive. So what if the Chirala trip during Christmas didn’t happen, thanks to the chicken pox that occurred exactly a week before the vacation. And so what if it occurred in-spite of the fact that it rarely does in adults, and almost never does in adults who have suffered from it before. So what if we could not take the time off, and had to work from home because there was no one to take over the quarter close work, and had to sit there, dying to scratch our face, and wondering if we would be left with scars, all the time tallying the numbers on the numerous excel sheets. And so what if we learnt so many new things about life already, when it is just 21 days into the New Year. It is all gone, in the past, and the idea like I said, is to be positive.
So, while we are busy at putting our new theme into action, we sincerely hope this New Year brings in a lot of good stuff with it, and a lot more blog posts. And yeah, we also hope there is more cheering and less complaining in them. Hmmm. Let’s see.
P.S. Oh btw, if you do find some easy, does-not-require-html-or-any-other-weird-c
- Location:Work
- Mood:
awake - Music:Nothing
So this is a high post, and we are high not only because of Bacardi. We are high because something unusual has happened today. Something that never does. Look, point is , I am pretty happy with the way things are in general at all points in life, and I consider myself pretty lucky for that. But practically, I have never been lucky lucky. As in win a lottery lucky, or score well in a badly done test lucky, or make extra money in a month lucky, or even, get 5 bucks more than the actual change from the kirana guy lucky. Never. Seriously.
But today, we got lucky. Big Time lucky. And like I said, the funny thing is, neither I , nor the dude have ever been the lucky lucky kinds. As in things work fine at the end of the day, but we have to work at making them that way, and trust me , work real hard. But not today. Today was different.
Picture this. We are walking down the aisles on the first floor of central, trying to locate some good hand bags for me, and I was like bent upon spending the dude's coupons worth 2k, so good day for me types. But then. I get this call. from this weird 9849 number. And I am like, wtf man, credit card and personal guys, ugh, they are not letting me live. But I receive it anyways, sweet that I am. And the voice on the other end goes, " madam divya iyer? I am Nirup kumari bakshi ( name changed for confidentiality purposes) from Kundaram Bonda (name changed again). You bought a car from us in in September, and we are very happy to inform you that ( now at this moment I heard it as we are very sorry to inform you that, and assumed they were calling to colect the extra 8% cess which might have been applaied to all cars purchased post September, but thankfully I was wrong) you have won the Honda contest. And I mumbled " ya ya we particiapted" and thought, ya the dude did complete the slogan contest which had 'nature rides with Bonda...' with a VERY original 'because Bonda cares'. And he goes, yes madam, so you have won our trip for two to Japan.
Enough said. I was still nodding earnestly expecting him to understand that I understood what he was saying, but wanting to throw the phone and tell The dude the Big thing that just happened. The impossible big thing. And there he was thinking we won a gift voucher at central or something. Sigh. I mean seriously dude, Think Big.
And then I got to tell him, and there we were, all dazed, hand bag forgotten, central looking all weird and maze-like and thinking about , huh? Ok, if you say so, but us? Seriously???
It thankfully got confirmed by another salesman, our regular guy in another 5 minutes, who very enthusiastically asked me ensure that I informed SIR about it. Hmmmph. Talk about sexists.
Anyways, we are celebrating it, whether we finally do go or not, it was an awesome thing in general to happen. Guess we are luckier together than we ever were individually. Good thing huh?
So I am done, pray for us that we do make it Tokyo, and I promise you a pic filled post, if not livejournal, elsewhere. See. I am fair. Hic.
P.S. Any punctualtion, grammatic or spelling errors in this post have to be over-looked. They are merely an outcome of high-degree celebration mode. Thank you very much.
- Location:home
- Music:Tum se hi- Jab we met
