Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Oops I did it again!

Well, I feel like a total scumbag; a rotten egg; no, a bucket full of filth! I feel like pulling out all my hair, banging my head on a wall contaminated with fungus, screaming out so loud into a mirror on looking at myself that the mirror would shatter into pieces, n running around a tree in the speed of light so that I could kick my own ass. I forgot a friend’s birthday!

I am really really sorry R. I didn’t really mean to do it, rather, not do it. Wishing you I mean. No A; whatever I did to you wasn’t the same. In your case I DID remember that it was on December 14th. Only, I didn’t remember on December 14th that it was indeed, December 14th. It was on 15th that someone mentioned the date when I said “Shoot! It was 14th yesterday then?!?" n I called u immediately. But here, I totally forgot that it was R’s on 26th!! How sadder can I be??? I have totally lost it! I never usually forget B’Days of anyone! Infact it is usually me who reminds people! n D!! I shall never forgive you for having reminded everyone else except me!!!! Grrr…

Well R darling. All I can say is you have the full permission to shoot me down the next time you see me, but yes, more importantly, Belated B’Day wishes from an idiotic me, n may your year ahead be filled with wonderful celebrations n joyous moments!!! U know what i mean [;)]!!!

Friday, December 19, 2008

The Perfect Guy

Yesterday, I was stranded in the heavy traffic under the scorching sun, irritated as I was, I started looking at the people around, trying to analyze what they were doing to spend the time wasted on the roads while waiting for the damned vehicles in front to move. There was an old man sleeping on the steering wheel on each halt. Wow tats neither good for him or the people around or interesting for me, I thought. Then my eyes landed on a cute girl, who was wearing nail polish in each signal! Now that’s what people call EFFECTIVE TIME UTILIZATION! Then finally my eyes landed on someone, and couldn’t move away after! I saw this tall young handsome guy, with tanned skin tone, with a well maintained body, I must say, with… how do I put it… uh.. really manly wrists and hands with nerves being seen conspicuously on them (he was wearing a full hand shirt, so could see only till his wrists, you see); clean shaven, nice haircut- not too short, not too long, not shabby, not oiled or gelled, just perfectly casual hair, sitting in an elegant posture in the passenger seat of a cab. There was something about his eyes. They were so beautiful, so sad, staring at an infinite point thoughtfully, oblivious to the burning sun or the noisy traffic. They were so warm and attractive that I just couldn’t look away! Then the traffic moved on and so did our respective vehicles, and we again halted at the same relative positions in the next few signals. I was here, trying not to look in his direction in vain, n he was there gazing at infinity, unaware of the real world screaming and honking around him. In one of the signals, his head jerked and he came to the present, and started looking around, trying to remember where he was and why, when whose beautiful thoughtful caught mine looking at him!!! I immediately swore at myself n looked away. In the next signal, I couldn’t resist one stealthy look to check if he was still in this world or went off to his own again. Shockingly, he was still in the present one, LOOKING AT ME, with a faint smile on his lips!!! Now wait! I am not really sure if he was in the present world or not. For all I know, he might have gone into tat floating world of his, n Incidentally, I might have been tat infinite point he could have been gazing! But before I could ponder more on this, his damn driver turned left in that fateful signal and my driver, who was infact my Dad, turned right. Well, cant really blame him, now can I? But thank God my Dad didn’t know about any of this coz otherwise, I m sure he would have decided to turn right way before that signal!!! :D

Aah well, atleast I got the chance to look at the ‘perfect guy’ for a few minutes, and got the proof that such guys DO exist in the non-model non-movie non-fictious world afterall!

And Another!

And here is another from Kartz, who i believe is one of the most talented persons and one of the most creative bloggers i have had the honour to meet in the blogosphere. Thanx a lot for the award dude! :)


Normally i dont pass on the awards to anyone specific coz i believe the awards go to everyone who is there in my blogroll. :P This too, i present to everyone on my blogroll, and more specifically, to the following people:

Vimal
Varun
Harini
Vivek
Mathangi

cheers!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Butterflies flying all around

The following awards have been awarded to me by really gud friends in the blogosphere- vimal n varun, . Thanx a lot dear friends! :) I am truely honoured to receive them!


Saturday, December 6, 2008

My Message...

Yesterday, we were asked to observe a moment of silence and pray for Mumbai and its people, and for this craziness to stop. When all of it was actually going on, i used to watch the news to see the extent of damage, sympathize and feel sad. But yesterday, in those 2 minutes of silence, i suddenly remembered a small choir song which we were taught in our primary school. For some wierd reason, i thought i should post it here, as MY MESSAGE. It goes this way...

Its a world of laughter
A world of play
Its a world of joy
And a world so gay
Its a world far and wide
Though the oceans divide
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

Its a world of plenty
And world of space
Its a world of variety of human race
Its a world far and wide
Though the boundries divide
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

There is just one moon
And one golden sun
And a smile means
Friendship to everyone
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

With blacks and whites
And browns everywhere
With plenty of foods
And drinks to share
Its a world far and wide
Let love be our guide
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

It's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world...

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Uncomfortable Silence

Mia: Don't you hate that?
Vincent: What?
Mia: Uncomfortable silences.
Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bullshit order to be comfortable?
Vincent: I don't know. That's a good question.
Mia: That's when you know you've found somebody special.
When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.

-Pulp Fiction

Love this convo. It’s not something that Chandler alone has difficulty in dealing with - uncomfortable social circumstances and a weird company and probably uncanny situations. But then, our life is filled with these, in all aspects! Under these conditions, people behave very strangely to make themselves comfortable or at least to pass the time, waiting for the ordeal to end. I have realized that I talk a lot, try to make small conversations when I am ill at ease. Man! Tats really hard, mainly because sometimes you know that you don’t have anything common with the person sitting in front of you, staring at you, expecting you to be the initiator and to rack your brains for a suitable subject. But its harder when the person waiting for your response is a stranger, where you don’t even know whether you even have anything in common, or if there is any tabooed topic or how his/her response would be!
I actually love silence n blissful peace, but only when I m comfortable, with a soothing company with whom I don’t really have to ‘try’ to make small talk to relax. Their very presence would be enough to settle my heartbeat rate to the normal 72/min. No. I am not referring to a BF or a spouse here. It could be anyone. Mostly friends coz even my parents are kinda my best friends in a way. Ironically, I am not very fond the silence when I am alone (unless I am depressed about something and want to be alone with my own self :P), or with an awkward company. I prefer some sound, even jarring noises in those times. I hate to be the one talking and making stupid irrelevant jokes that the strangers don’t even understand (one could go crazy if their attempted PJ is a waste and no one understands or appreciates it. It’s an insult to the very joke, u see). But talking crap is better than the awkward silence any day! Hence, though I love that Pulp Fiction dialog, I feel that it IS necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable, and you DON’T need to have found somebody SPECIAL in order to shut the fuck up and comfortably enjoy the silence. You just need a FRIEND. Tats all.
As the song goes…

Jaane kyun dil jaanta hai…
Tu hai to I ll be all right!
I ll be all right!
I ll be all right!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

I hate my stomach

Damn my stomach for always feeling hungry! Its always the tongue being punished for no fault of its! When the stomach feels hungry, it is the tongue that has to eat off anything available, be it good or bad. The stomach doesn’t taste anything after all! The hunger at times is such a pain. I mean I know about how hunger is a way of life for may be half of Indian population, but in my case, its just a pestering MIL who keeps irritating even when I have no mood to eator rather, food to eat! But on rare occasions when I get to eat really really delicious food, when the tongue for once relishes whatever it eats, the stomach after a point gets full n ends poor tongue’s delight over delicious food! How sad is that? Whenever the stomach is ‘upset’, then too, it’s the tongue that is put under restrictions and is penalized. Let us hope that the next time when God decides to create his next species, or when evolution eats away men to leave way for a new variety, some new system would develop such that a there is no hunger. Only taste buds exist. But when someone eats and the taste buds have a nice time, the food does get digested. I mean digestive system should be optional only. Let there be an entirely different mechanism for derivation of energy (for existence purposes), in the next world at least!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Sigh

Lately i have been having conversations on similar lines with a lot of friends. A number of common if onlys had been discussed. Here are a few of them which i can post in public. :) Some of them are my own, while others are common.

  • If only our passion got us enough money…
  • If only we cud dare risk the reality n monetary requirements…
  • If only we were so stinking rich that it wouldn’t matter if we didn’t earn...
  • If only we could work where we wanted to, in the field that we were passionate about without worrying about our career or future…
  • If only we were wealthy enough to learn something just for the heck of it and just for fun…
  • If only there were people around us who could identify our talents easily and guide us in the right channel…
  • If only our loved ones recognize our true passion and are proud of what we are, and understand, respect and appreciate our individuality and our beliefs...
  • If only we were a part of something big, something special, something that would make us feel really important, something that would give us a sense of accomplishment…
  • If only everybody around us could understand whatever we say in just one go!
  • If only we get what makes us really happy or we are simply an expert in being happy with what we get…
  • If only some people who are running behind us could keep up pace with us or just not expect us to wait behind for them…
  • If only we were fast enough even overtake impertinent snobs who look back and sneer at us…
  • If only we could come in terms with our conscience, which almost always tends to blame us for every mistake...
  • If only we were in the right place at the right times to grab the right opportunities…
  • If only we were innocent and ignorant of some issues… (would save a lot of pain u c..)
  • If only the Earth spinns faster and we hav lesser than 24 hrs for a day...
  • If only we lived in the Hollywood world where pain is always followed by a remedy, where loss is always followed by gain, where darkness is always followed by dawn and where coincidences almost always turn out lucky!
  • If only there was a Batman n a Spiderman n a Superman in real life…
    If only I was a part of some great adventure and my blood was full of adrenaline all the time…
  • If only I were not just a human, may be something a little more interesting, like say a Vampire- looking beautiful, smelling good, never needing to eat or sleep, with musical voice and graceful walk and really quick reflexes…
  • If only we had magical powers like witches n wizards and we could apparate n disapparate or jus use Portus or floo network. How much time and energy and fuel would be saved!
  • If only I had an alethiometer, a subtle knife to go to other worlds n a wand to use magic… (I could use Accio, Cheering Charm, Disillusionment Charm (Helps appear invisible), Evanesco (Vanishing Spell), Lumos/Nox, Silencio (Silencing Charm), Obliviate (Memory-Modifying Charm), Reparo n all on a daily basis…) Life would be so much easier, so much better n so much livelier!!

This post is subjected to modifications... i might add in more of them, as n when i think of them.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Forgotten Arts

Many a time, we would have discussed hobbies; the options present, the use of each activity that we could think of or someone might have suggested, the presence or our absence of our interest in some of them, or even the validity or worth of each. Some might consider themselves to know all the arts or might think of having specialized in most of them. Some unfortunate ones might feel that the popular arts are too expensive to learn, and hence they couldn’t afford. Some might feel disinterested in some of the arts, but might not know about the others present at all! In the ancient Hindu mythology, there is said to have been 64 different types of arts, which were taught in the schools back then and which were practiced by the commoners on a daily basis.In Srimad Bhagavatam, it is said that Lord Krishna and his brother, Balarama learn all the 64 arts listed in the ancient Hindu mythology. The following are the 64 arts, which have been translated to English from Sanskrit, and further simplified (to make sense in the present picture). I am not sure if the order is right (if at all there is one). If there are any mistakes in the translation or the simplification, please feel free to comment, and I’ll amend the list.

1) Singing
2) Playing on musical instruments
3) Ringing water-pots/creating music with water
4) Splashing with water;
5) Dancing
6) Drama
7) Preparing auspicious designs on the floor with rice grains and flowers (kolams)
8) Flower decorations at home and temple
9 Making flower garlands & preparing wreaths
10) Knowledge of how to build carts & carriages with flowers
11) Skills of cooking, eating and drinking
12) Beverage and dessert preparation
13) Embroidery, needlework and weaving
14) Spinning with a spindle & sewing (making and mending garments)
15) Making puppets dance by manipulating thin threads
16) Painting
17) Mixing colors & mosaic tiling
18) Bedroom arrangements
19) Erotic devices and knowledge of sexual arts
20) Carpentry
21) Architecture
22) Gardening and horticulture
23) Making simple mechanical devices
24) Mineralogy & mining
25) Metallurgy & metal-working
26) Jewelry making
27) Testing silver and jewels and precious stones
28) Hairdressing
29) Head adornments
30) Decorating the earlobe and forehead
31) Applying aromatics/perfumery
32) Costume decorations
33) Artful dressing
34) Art of applying colored unguents and cosmetics on the face and body
35) The art of disguise/impersonation
36) Magic and illusions
37) Manual dexterity/sleight of hand
38) Personal grooming
39) Physical culture
40) Herbal medicine
41) Healing a person with ointments
42) Designing a literary work or a medical remedy
43) Prosody and rhetoric
44) Lexicography
45) Making and solving riddles & enigmatic verses
46) Tongue twisters and difficult recitation
47) Poetry games
48) Literary recitation/reciting books
49) Composing verses mentally
50) Enacting short plays and writing and reciting anecdotes
51) Knowledge of foreign languages and provincial dialects
52) Fabricating barbarous or foreign sophistry
53) Art of conversation
54) Coding & decoding messages
55) Art of guessing
56) Memory training
57) Art of listening (and game of reciting verses from hearing)
58) Training parrots and mynas to speak
59) Personal etiquette and animal training
60) The art of training and engaging rams, cocks and quails in fighting in games of wager
61) Knowledge of various forms of gambling, aakarsha-kreedaa - playing dice
62) Knowledge of dharmic warfare, martial arts and victory
63) The use of spells, charms and omens and amulets
64) Enforcing discipline by mystic power

Wow! Compared to ancient men n women, we are pretty incompetent, aren’t we? It is our life and we do what we choose to do, n mostly, very few of the list above. We work our asses off- for what? Money! Aah. Now there is the answer! These ancient people did not weigh everything they did with money. They didn’t calculate the worth of studies according to the money it would bring in future, or the power n position it would lead to in life. They just studied what was taught by their gurus (which was everything of the above list, or at least most of them); what was essential for a healthy life. No. Money doesn’t count!
Well, can’t really blame anyone for the importance and quality of these arts were lost long back. The teachers n elders may have been at fault for not passing it on to the future generations, or the then children may have been responsible for not having learnt their lessons dutifully. Whichever it is, the very names of some of these arts are lost in the present world where the one who earns the most is considered the most talented n best disciplined!

Well, I have heard my mom mention about this vaguely a really long time back, and I thought of researching on this a little more. So here you go! Now, you have so many options, so many things that you could learn and be proud of knowing just for the sake of knowledge and interest n not for money!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Complicated Life

The real problem with the world, with her world was that most of the people around her always tended to be good by heart. All of them loved her beyond any measure, loved her company, her presence, her smell, her talk, her actions, loved her in all different ways, physically, mentally, sexually… they all needed her to be by their side, wished her to love them all the same way they did, each one of them wanted to be the one to give her everything that she ever needed n wanted, and to get their needs fulfilled by her n her alone, craved to be given a higher priority over the other, wished that she would be theirs- each one of them did. But what was she supposed to do?

The whole problem was that they were all really good, they all loved her sincerely; n ironically, she loved each one of them as much too. But is it a sin to love more than one person at a time? Oh yes, it could have been if she were cheating them by not being open about the others! But none of them seemed to back out. They were all waiting for the others to leave her. Is it a crime to stick to each one of them simply to avoid causing them pain, much though she loved them back? But why were never satisfied? How could she select among the ones she loved equally? What would happen to the others who were not selected? Will they be able to take the rejection? Rejection? Isn’t that a hard word? A rejection would be a rejection only when she stopped being there for them, when she ceased loving them. But if it caused them so much pain, why even attempt to move away? But that wouldn’t be fair on her part, fair for any of them.

Every part of her was being torn apart with the guilt of having leaded their love to a state where now, their lives would be affected massively when she moved out of it. It caused her infinite amount of pain to know that though she had been totally unaware how and when it all happened, she wasn’t able to blame anyone for her misery, after all, they were suffering too, probably way more than her, and it was all her fault. She was the reason they were being offended this way, being hurt beyond reason. She wanted them to punish her, to curse her to swear on her and to leave her n cause her the same pain that she was causing them. But alas! They just wouldn’t do it; because they were all just too caring at heart. They all wanted her to themselves. Boy! Selfish, aren’t they? They all want her because they need her. They need her to stay, to fulfill their requirements, their needs, their dreams. They needed her to make them complete, to remain alive, a tangible part of each one of them as she had become.

But none could tell the agony her heart was in. Oh wait. But some were well aware of it, but still preferred to remain impassive since they wanted her, and knew that their lives would be in jeopardy without her in it. Now is that selfishness? Trying to live, I mean. The pain was killing them all, burning their insides, poking their hearts with a thousand knives and choking them to death. But they had to get used to the pain, because it was not going to go away, ever. They had to learn to live their lives without her. They had to move on, how much ever effort it took them to do it. But did that make her feel better? NO! She felt even more miserable for having to make them adjust, for having caused all the trouble, for having killed a part of them. But she had tried to withstand. She had tried to endure the pressure of being there for everyone, resisting her own interests to such an extent that she no more even knew what she wanted. Dil ke avaz ko ithna dabaya hai ki vo kab ka khamosh ho gaya. She had pressed her heart to be there for everyone, not to betray anyone she loved at any cost, pushed herself so hard to satisfy them all, to make everyone around happy, that now, her heart had given it up, stopped speaking out, to tell her what she truly wanted, who she was more passionate about, where she wanted to be, what she wanted to do n with whom; it had stopped beating for herself.

Now that she wanted to be happy for herself, to live her life, to run as fast as she wanted, to climb to heights she had dreamt of, suddenly she is the bitch? But somehow, she couldn’t figure out which was worse, people she loved fighting for her n hurting one another, or she hurting them by taking sides, or worse, they empathizing and giving her up for one another, trying their best to feign a brave face, yet crush inside but trying to hide it from her. She didn’t know which stung more. She wasn’t even sure of what her mistake was, n yet she was there unable to stop herself from blaming herself for it all.

She wished she were dead. Sometimes, the prospect of death seemed like a gift. May be she deserved this suffering, this despair, this life. May be enduring it was her punishment. But aah! Death! What relief it could be. She wanted to hug the fate so tight, as even the very idea gave her a sense of exhilaration. It seemed like the silver lightening in the dark clouded sky. But that was not in her hands anyways. Nevertheless it might have been the best n most painless way of taking off, painless for her as well as everyone else, for it seemed like she was such a burden to a lot of people, who in a funny way, never thought of her in that aspect. But she knew. And she was willing to accept the pain, excruciating though it was in blaming herself n no one else, because she loved them too much to blame them. But some of them wouldn’t let her take it. “You were not responsible darling; you have nothing to blame yourself for. If there is anything you have given me, it’s your heart, your love. Always more than I ever deserved”. Some others said,” No sweetheart, please don’t leave me. I need you. I adore you. I love you. You are my life. You are my only hope. Please choose me. Please don’t go!” Some others even blackmailed her emotionally. “I love you so much that you have become an integral part of my life. Life without you is unthinkable. I had rather kiss death than live as a corpse.”

Now, it was way over her head. She had to make a decision. She had to prioritize as this ‘love-all’ concept was taking her nowhere. Yes. She had to make up her mind, and find out the one with whom she was the happiest, the one without whom her life was unfathomable. Yes. She was going to end up losing a lot of other people. But if they didn’t understand her need to do this, if they couldn’t value her feelings, if they weren’t able to realize her state before and after the choice, then they weren’t worth it at all. But yes. It was painful and relieving too at the same time. She felt different, for not doing the usual of ripping her heart into a number of pieces to give one to each, but patching up the broken heart of hers to a single piece and give it to a person whom she loved, and whom she felt deserved. She hoped and prayed to God, to help her heal fast, to give strength to the others who were being torn inevitably due to her decision, and to give her long happiness n peace, a without so many complications.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Aasaikku thaan oru alave illa (Desires have no boundaries)

There is this New York Life Insurance ad. It shows a whole bunch of people belonging to the same world, full of desires for things they don’t have; though they have lots of other things which others envy them for, to which they are oblivious. There is this super-cool long-haired hunk, walking down the road looking at a bike with jealousy. That bike rider looks at another passerby’s girlfriend, wishing he had one. That girl in turn yearns for a nice family with kids, looking at a young lady walking a child in a pram. This lady-with-the-kid craves for a diamond necklace displayed in a jewel store which she sees a millionaire buy. This millionaire from his side looks at the long-haired-hunk longingly for his hair, bald though he is!

Wow! I simply loved the simple portrayal of real life scenario where people always have some or the other desire deep in their heart, irrespective of what they are or what they have. There is always something that they don’t have or rather they can’t have. Not wanting anything more is probably never possible for a normal man. Even Gandhi ‘wanted’ Indian independence and then he ‘wanted’ Pakistan separation and all. So we can’t really call him ‘free from desires’. I believe that even sages ‘wanted’ peace or silence or simplicity in their life n that’s why they chose their nonchalant form of life. They do penances to get their desires fulfilled. But coming back to the present life, there are actually some people whom I see around, who say wholeheartedly that they are contented with what they have in life and they actually want their life to freeze right there n remain that way. I could actually envy them. Now don’t get me all wrong. I am definitely not jealous of them. There is always a difference between envy n jealousy. Envy is when I say “Wow! I wish I had that too… or I wish I was there too” whereas jealousy is when I say “Damn! I wish I was the One to have that… or I was the One to be there”.

Everyday I think of the things that are there with me, yet I can’t help wanting something else, something different, and something that I probably had wanted all along, but hadn’t achieved it. What if I had reached a different place? It’s a nice one too. But well! There are loads of things that I still want there too! I am definitely not selfish or greedy. But I guess these contented people are either the ones who have reached their goal n achieved exactly what they had worked for, or they have simply learnt to live with what they have without wishing further. But yet another part of me feels that desires inspire a person more than the people around, more than words or sayings, more than even their previous achievements. Desires n dreams motivate a person to visualize a target, provides them an ambition, gives a sense of purpose to their walk through the life n the strength to reach the ultimate point and encourages them to reach further and want more and finally grants them the satisfaction of having accomplished it. There are a lot of such motivational movies like Ice Princess, October Sky n many others. Though I had said before that I could envy the contented people, the truth his that I really do envy those who have identified their passion, who have worked out their goals, who have started pursuing it with full confidence and willpower, and who have even started dreaming about their success. The contented people say “I am there. I have enough. I am happy.” The pessimists say “The journey is too difficult, the destination is too far and the aim is too vague to pursue n realize.” But the optimists say “I will be there soon. I shall have it in a short while. I will touch it one day.”

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

My first awards :)

Thank you very much vimmuuu… for the awards. Its been about 3 months only since I started blogging, since I had let the contents of my dear pensieve spill over in the blogosphere. From the time I had plunged into this new world, I had found an enormous satisfaction in sharing my thoughts n beliefs n memories with people whom I had never met before, who had understood my feelings, respected my thoughts, valued my beliefs n even sometimes channeled my ideas the right way. I cherish them all, as they are all a part of my life now- my blog-friends.



Friday, September 26, 2008

A Bad Day Today! :(

Today is one of the worst days! Murphy ’s Law was being proven again n again!
“Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way”

Got up really late today (damn the tablet I took yesterday night!). In the hurry to reach my office on time, I had to do everything hastily, and in my hurry, I forgot my mobile at home! Good God! I actually forgot my mobile at home! I realized it on the bus and went crazy! OMG! What would I do the whole day? How could I survive? My mobile is one of my Horcruxes! I was nearly delirious by the time I reached my office. I had a presentation at 9.30, but made it to the office only at 9.50, with an empty stomach making such a racket that I feared people around might hear it!

Then I saw the presentation schedule and realized that I had attended a similar one long back, so it was kinda repetition, so decidedly went to the canteen to have breakfast. I came back to find my blogspace really screwed up and couldn’t even identify the problem. So took some time, identified it n finally modified it. Next, I ran into the in-charge of the presentation, walking out after taking the attendance, and seeing me on the internet pc, gave me a disapproving look. I had to convince him that the lecture was kinda repetition for me. He just shrugged away. Not good! Then one of my colleagues, a friend, walked past my bay from the conference room, and on enquiring about the presentation, I found that it was being given by my team members, my seniors, and my TL was there too! FUCK! I didn’t know that! I asked my friend why he hadn’t called me; I was only sitting a few yards away from that room?!?! His reply was that he didn’t know I was in the office!! Lol!

It was apparently a presentation that my team was delivering. What would have my boss thought of me? How stupid was I to have not checked after coming, late though it was?! Oh God! I was so screwed! Then I tried to sneak into the conference room, as silently as possible, when suddenly, NR called out from the dais,” Hey! You where were you in the morning?”I had to smile as widely as possible to hide my embarrassment, n said,” Er… I came in late.” N another female called out,” Hey! Hardly been seeing you these days?” I thought to myself,” WTF? I didn’t come only yesterday female! I was there even the day before that!” and my boss looks on… I just smiled at her and said nothing other than “uh huh…” the presentation took a really long time, past the lunch time So my friends had lunch n ice cream without me too! :(


And now, I am sitting here, with my half-filled stomach, in a highly confused muddled up state, with some really important life-changing decisions to make, but with HP7 ebook open instead of doing anything else, reading it for the 1000th time. I need to clear my head… you see? :P

Monday, September 22, 2008

Tagged by Aparna

What do you do when..

- You see a man (or woman) making a pass (trying to woo / flirt / impress) on a woman (or man) you like?
if he does get impressed by that, then to hell with him! if he doesnt, then he has passed the test. so i guess to find out if he passes the test ornot, i wud stand aside n watch!

- Some one you like, is not attracted to you?
then it wud jus be a crush that i might have to add to the list n forget it later if he never gets attracted to me. i m simply not the kind to try to attract him by making false moves to impress him. if he doesnt like who i am, then there is no point in trying to make him like whom i am not, right?

- You are attracted to some one, but both of you are in two different cities?
personally i wudnt consider physical distance as a barrier, as long as both of us r in the same place romantically.

- You are reading a book, and your best friend wants to borrow it and can’t wait for you to finish reading, ‘coz he/she has been looking for it for all their life?
if i really looove tat book tat much, i wudnt take more than a day to complete it neways.. so i wud let him/her wait for jus a day more n then lend it. if i m not really too involved wid tat book, then i guess i wudnt mind lending it b4 i complete it.

- You help plan his / her career, and then, they go on to achieve it, leaving you behind, alone..
i wudnt feel sorry for helping him/her, after all life moves on for all of us, n mostly in different directions. so it wudnt be his/her fault to grasp the opportunity n use it well to go to heights. i wud only be sorry if he/she had refused to use the opportunity for my sake. then no point in my hardwork for his/her welfare right? but if he/she used me to climb up the heights n threw back a stone to keep me down or something of tat sort, then i might be sorry i helped him/her!!

- Insert (and add) a new question(s) / statement(s)..
i m not gonna add ne Qs... but i wud definitely like to add some statements... not my own, borrowed from some1 else, but i love them as i have realized them all too:

I have realized that …The lonelier you feel the lonelier the world makes you feel

I have realized that …Even if I deserve the reward, I need to beg in order to get it

I have realized that …Words hurt me more than the wounds that I had suffered in life

I have realized that …When you have nothing to lose, you show your true character

I have realized that …Closer I am to myself, closer I am to God…

I have realized that …Broader the smile, deeper maybe the wound inside…

I have realized that …No matter how many times I pray, I only get what I rightfully deserve

I have realized that …When I am ecstatic about something, there are never enough people to share it with…

I have realized that …A face is not as important as it is made to believe…

I have realized that …It’s not always a coward who gives up a fight, sometimes smart people too…

I have realized that …You can’t have happiness unless you are already happy…

I have realized that …If you make decisions with your heart, you are bound to regret them later in your life…

I have realized that …Kids are never at fault, they just mirror our faults…

I have realized that …One person’s misery is another person’s merriment…

I have realized that …Every relationship has an expiry date…..

I have realized that …I am better when I am silent….

I have realized that …Smiling all the time can really hurt…

I have realized that …Tears convey more than what words can ever say…

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Invisible connexons between the present and the past

Now I know that I am not a 60 year old or a frequent traveler or anybody famous or experienced or great enough to say the following. But I kind of find it amusing myself. BITS campus was a great place to have spent my vital college years. I had the greatest time of my life, n if there are any regrets, its just that I probably didn’t enjoy it more than I did, though I could have. The campus was cosmopolitan in every aspect with so many people (rather specimens) from various places in India, with different backgrounds, crazy habits, diversified cultures, weird practices, a variety of opinions, a range of tastes and mixed lifestyles. Having known so many people who were so different from each other in most facets, these days, limited though is my new circle of friends/acquaintances is in this new world, I find that I can associate every new person I come across with somebody in my memory, someone from the past! Wow! It feels a little odd at times when I find two totally unrelated people who probably have never even known or met each other, have so much in common, n I start trying to think of some plausible link in their backgrounds. Sometimes it actually feels creepy when I hear someone in the present say the same dialogue as I had heard in the past (definitely not some well-known saying or a clichéd proverb or some famous person’s quote or a movie dialogue or anything of that sort). No wonder poor Amisha Patel in Kaho Naa Pyar Hai flips when she sees/listens to the second Hrithik walk or talk! Though it does spook me, it also brings a smile to my lips and some buried memories in front of my eyes from my pensieve. :)

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Love is everywhere!!

vimmuuu has tagged me with this 'love' tag. the truth is i don't understand the a b c of love. but i have tried my level best to imagine love n me in love (rofl big time!) n answered most of the Q from my heart. some of them are not related to love, coz i see it the way i do. well, go on, read it, n get to know my perspective on some topics, n hav fun! :)
*************************************************************************************
RULE #1 : People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.
RULE #2 : Tag 6 people to do this quiz and they cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.
*************************************************************************************

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
_|_ to him n then no looking back.

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
i have too many dreams that i would wish to come true. dunno which one to mention here. i guess this is one of my greatest dreams/desires: A world full of friends. To walk on the road or travel in a train or sit in a flight or go to a temple or even go to heaven (after death), with all(ok- atleast most of the people) around coming over to say a hi or jus waving or smiling or at least nodding at you in recognition in a pleasant manner.

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?
vimmuuu's for having made me ans dees Q. (kidding!)
actually, wud like to kick a lot of butts... no preference order n all.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Shopping from malls to road-side shops, in different cities, different states n if possible, different countries, without looking at the price-tag or even bargaining, Adventurous trips to unfathomable places and..... may be get a room (not just a closet or a wardrobe) full of clothes- different types of them. lol.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
thats my idea of love itself. moving a step ahead from best friends. if one can't bcom best friends, then how can they love eachother? (but yes- this applies only if my best friend is a guy.. :P)

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
second one i guess.

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?
i am prepared to wait all my life, but i really dont think my parents would take that answer. :D

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
i dont know! i really dont think I wud get 'feelings' for a committed person. y wud i wanna hurt others n myself? that doesnt make sense to me!

9. If you like to act with someone, who will it be? Your gf/bf or an actress/actor?
yeah.. i wud faint on stage.(wud to scared to do it u c...) so doesnt matter who ever it wud be as long as they dont curse me for fainting n ruining their scene. :P

10. What takes you down the fastest?
may be lack of confidence or may be lack of patience.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?
alive?!?

12. What’s your fear?
a cage. being made to sit at home, doing things i hate, being restricted (by people who mean a lot) from doing what i want or going where i desire, being compelled to be what i am not.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
a gr8 friend of mine in blogosphere, a romantic who wud like to be loved, a teetotaler [;)], n emotional kinda guy, who wud claim to prefer to be single and rich, but i feel he wud choose married but poor, a person with real talent and the guts to pursue his dreams. :)

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
plz gimme a few years to think for this answer.

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
uh... brush?!? may be roll on the bed for a few min (after i wake up i mean), trying to remain in the trans state.(i love it u know- not fully awake, not sleeping, very confused over where i am n happy to think i dont have anything to do that day.. :))

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
if i love that person, i guess yes.(though i may not be too happy to give/give up some things, i wud still do it for i love him n i know that he loves me as much too, he wants me to do it really badly n he is helpless. i wud hate myself for doing it, but well... i wud still do it.)

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
me? yeah right. sure! even thinking of such a situation makes me rofl! but well, the one who loves me back n the one with whom i can see myself, spending my life with.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
i wud forgive. yes, coz the person means a lot to me. but i dont think i wud forget. i believe that mistakes of people u love must be forgiven, but not forgotten. (as u must be prepared for a possible next time) but mistakes of oneself must not be forgiven but forgotten.( as remembering it always cud make one's life a torture, but forgiving oneself wud only make one repeat the mistakes more confidently.)

19. What are your three most important expectations in love ( Original Question: Will you marry me?)
faith, understanding of eachother's likes, goals n preferences, being supportive n appreciative in every possible aspect.
ans for d original Q: sure darling! y wudnt i?!? ;)

20. List 6 people to tag:

anu
a.ra
data
harini
Che
viki

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Socha Hai… Haan Yeh Kabhi Kabhi

Aasma Hai Neela Kyun (Rayleigh scattering effect of the molecules of the air due to sunlight)
Paani Geela Geela Kyun (due to polarity of its molecules n a high surface tension?!)
Gol Kyun Hai Zameen (gravity+magnetism)
Silk Mein Hai Narmi Kyun (the fibres have very small n equal diameter)
Aag Mein Hai Garmi Kyun (Combustion reactions- new bonds formed=> exothermic reaction)
Do Aur Do Paanch Kyun Nahi (uh.. uh... wat?)

Pedd Ho Gaye Kum Kyun (u/i/we directly/indirectly, wantedly/ignorantly kinda support felling of trees)
Teen Hain Ye Mausam Kyun (teen nahin hai mausam- char hain- summer, autumn, winter n spring---> so wrong Q)
Chaand Do Kyun Nahi (again, technically an invalid Q; Mars n Neptune ke do do chand hain. yeah.. not for earth though(if they had meant for earth))
Duniya Mein Hai Jung Kyun ( Human spite, racism, communalism, territory, pride n yeah- the obvious- money n power of course!)
Behta Laal Rang Kyun (really? i dont think so)
Sarhaden Hain Kyun Har Kahin (Sarhaden hain nahin.. hamne(humans ne) hi baniyeen hain)
Socha Hai… Yeh Tumne Kya Kabhi
Socha Hai… Ki Hain Yeh Kya Sabhi
Socha Nahi To Socho Abhi…..

Behti Kyun Hai Har Nadi (Gravity, High pressure region to low pressure region; n mostly doesnt happen these days due to dams here n there)
Hoti Kya Hai Roshni (electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength defined by elementary particles called photons)
Barf Girti Hai Kyun (weight, gravity)
Dost Kyun Hain Roothte (huh?)
Taare Kyun Hain Toot The (taare toot the nahin hai dude, those are meteors- rocks n dust, falling into earth's atmos, again due to gravity)
Baadlon Mein Bijli Hai Kyun (static electricity?!?)
Socha Hai… Yeh Tumne Kya Kabhi
Socha Hai… Ki Hain Yeh Kya Sabhi
Socha Nahi To Socho Abhi

Sannata Sunai Nahin Deta (oh really?1?)
Aur Hawayen Dikhayi Nahin Deti (oh.. didnt know tat b4! :D)
Socha Hai Kya Kabhi, Hota Hai Yeh Kyun…………

Aasma Hai Neela Kyun, Paani Geela Geela Kyun
Gol Kyun Hai Zameen, Silk Mein Hai Narmi Kyun
Aag Mein Hai Garmi Kyun, Do Aur Do Paanch Kyun Nahi
Pedd Ho Gaye Kum Kyun, Teen Hain Ye Mausam Kyun
Chaand Do Kyun Nahi, Duniya Mein Hai Jung Kyun
Behta Laal Rang Kyun, Sarhaden Hain Kyun Har Kahin
Socha Hai… Yeh Tumne Kya Kabhi
Socha Hai… Ki Hain Yeh Kya Sabhi
Socha Nahi To Socho Abhi…..

Socha Hai… Yeh Tumne Kya Kabhi
Socha Hai… Ki Hain Yeh Kya Sabhi
Socha Nahi To Socho Abhi…..


n yet i loove dis song! (all the songs from Rock On for that matter.)

Friday, September 5, 2008

Thankyou Daddy

Long back, when I was had told my father,” Its only Rs. 20 naa daddy? Then what is the big deal?!?”, he had scolded me. He had replied, “Only 20?? Do you even know what the value of Rs. 20 is? Try earning this ‘trivial’ amount n see. Only 20 it seems!” n he was very cross with me. That day, I really didn’t understand why it mattered so much. Another day, we had gone to Globus showroom as some people had suggested that they had a good collection of formal wear. We found that the place was bloody expensive n decided not to buy anything from there as it didn’t seem all that worthy. My father was actually shocked to see that some people actually bought lots of clothes from there, and he said something that I won’t ever forget. He said,” Spending money is not wrong. After all, we earn to spend. But squandering money this way is unpardonable. Not in India, not where people die due to lack of food n money.” Even that day, I argued with him. I told him that it was their money n they could afford to pay 2500/- on a simple shirt n they were doing so. But he never approved of it. he retorted, “We can afford it too, you know? It is not a question of affording. It is a question of spending the right way.” There have been lots of times when my sis n I forget to switch the fans n lights off in some rooms. There he would be, calling out to us, n would make us go n switch them off. We used to get irritated at times.

But now I know. Now I understand. Now I can see his point. Things that never made sense before now seem right! Kudos to my dad for having taught me n my sis the right things, though we might not have heeded to them at that time, and patiently waiting for us to grow up n understand, nevertheless letting us be us till then. Now, I know the worth of Rs 2, let alone Rs 20, I don’t squander money lavishly just for the sake of style, and I always remember to switch of fans n lights when they are not in use. Though I feel really guilty sometimes thinking of the past, I also feel grateful to him in every way. Thank you daddy! :)

Monday, September 1, 2008

Beauty enhanced?? Really??

Disclaimer: The previous disclaimer holds true for this post too.
Why do most people around here (here as in Bangalore) seem to have an atrocious dressing sense? These are people, I guess, with a huge inferiority complex, or with an absurd, dying urge to imitate their role model who would mostly be a model or a movie star, or simply with a highly misplaced superiority complex, who consider themselves too superior and too modern and too rich to dress in a modest, simple, yet elegant fashion. A lot of people try to wear really expensive trendy clothes that are definitely not appropriate for their structure or for the place or the situation (though I guess I am no one to judge it entirely, it does look ludicrous from a public’s point of view when they themselves seem extremely conscious of their dress and their hair and the people’s look on them). They just kill the very beauty that they possess. Some girls wear dresses that they might have liked on TV or even on their friends, without even pausing to think of how it will look on them, or whether it’ll suit them or not, or how comfortable they would be in that dress. Comfort definitely doesn’t seem to be in the top priorities for these people! They end up being very conscious of themselves, trying their hard to look at-home, embarrassed even at the slightest stares that they end up getting bcoz of their stony rigid behavior in the dress that they choose to wear. Some people go one step further n wear all types of funky/ethnic/gold ornaments that seem all out of place most of the times, that even if you try to control the sarcasm from showing on your face, you just can’t help the smirk that would line your lips.

There is this girl I know, who has suddenly started wearing all ridiculously short tops and huge Eiffel Tower ear-rings that we all tease some of the guys here with her just to irritate n embarrass them. I know! How horrible of us! But then, why does she lead herself to such a position? The guys all fight for her Rakhi! Literally!! The irony is that she doesn’t even know that all this is going on at all! There is another female who usually leaves her long hair loose though she knows that her hair is not suited for that and it gets all shabby n tangled so often that whenever you look at her, she would be combing it with her hand or a comb! Well, I do know that it is wrong to laugh right on their faces, but I really do not think it is wrong to laugh behind such people, who tend to be so self-conscious (pulling down the tops, adjusting the skirts, combing their loose hair n fiddling with their odd set of jewels as often as possible) that they forget to be aware of the surroundings, and how people really look at them. Do these people actually think that they look more ‘beautiful’ or ‘modern’ or ‘sophisticated’ with all the comedy that they do to themselves? I really wouldn’t call these people innocent. After all, they are educated, they would definitely have been taught to look into a mirror in their childhood! I would call them ignorant as they care too much about their looks and ultimately wind up not knowing what real beauty is, and not understanding that comparing themselves with other people or blindly trying to imitate others is not sensible, and that they are just making a fool of themselves.

I personally feel that the beauty of a person can’t be measured by the amount of gold ornaments they wear or by the funky look of their dresses or even by their hair style or make up. In fact, I think a person’s real beauty is seen in the absence of any accessories or make-ups. I really don’t know what really attracts guys or what makes them give these ignorant girls a second look or whether these have any effect on the opposite sex at all, that is intended. Oh well… but then I really don’t know much about guys or their opinions in this matter. But I do feel that if they do get attracted to such an artificial beauty, then I guess they would be a ‘made for each-other’ couple after all! All the best to them! Also, a good luck to these ignorant souls with fake beauty, to get their senses back before they make a huge fool of themselves.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Thought process

Disclaimer: The incidents mentioned below do not include anyone in specific. If anyone feels that I have referred to them, then it is them alright! If people think it can’t be them, then it most definitely isn’t! I would also like to assert that a thought process is a totally uncontrolled series of thoughts jumping from one topic to another, as random as the chaotic particles in Brownian motion. It’s the time when your heart talks with your brain in the silence around you. I am stating a few of the incidents where my heart n my brain were unable to come to any conclusion, hence, the questions were left unanswered. So I am ABSOLUTELY NOT RESPONSIBLE if any of you choose to take offence in any way.
Yesterday night, I went home from work, as usual, and found that there was no power. The whole area seemed to have been engulfed in pitch darkness with the utter silence being broken now and then by passing 2 wheelers or a few people walking n talking loudly on the road. I went into the house and freshened up. Then I didn’t know what to do! So I sat on my ease chair and started rocking, looking at the ceiling. (Was doing it after a long time you see.) Though there was absolutely no source of light, the ceiling ridiculously seemed to glow! Then when I looked around, almost all the things in the room seemed to have an eerie glow! Damn the excited electrons going back to stable state (thus giving off light as fluorescence, I guess :P)! Well, it was in such times that my mind used to think of a lot of things- a lot of small pieces of conversations that wouldn’t have really mattered while speaking, but I would have put them in my pensieve to look at and muse over later; a lot of bothering incidents that I would have let go at that time, but stored in a small corner of my mind to think over later; some of my mistakes, some of my blunders n some of the lessons learnt from mine and others’ experiences. But after such a session, I would usually be left with a wide range of questions. Yesterday being one such night, I have a mind filled with a whole lot of Qs; redundant though they may be in the world’s eyes, I haven’t yet encountered with convincing answers.

1. I had recently spoken to a friend gone to the US to do MS. She told me that that it wasn’t too difficult to locate Indians in the huge crowd at all! Girls or guys! Apparently, the college girls there wore such outrageously exposing clothes, but the guys there never even turned their heads n gave a second look! Indians- girls give shocked stares, guys gape at them appreciative! There you go! That’s how you locate Indians it seems! OMG! What is wrong with us Indians?

2. Why do people in ‘love’ suddenly start questioning about ‘blue skies’ n ‘pink flowers’ n ‘flying birds’ n what not? Sky is blue due to Rayleigh’s scattering effect of molecules in the Sun’s rays, Flowers are pink due to Anthocyanins and birds fly due to their anatomical structure ans bcoz as they can’t walk all their way! These were there before they were born, and will be there after they die! Such questions are just NOT romantic!

3. Why is it that we can very comfortably see n may be even enjoy watching adult u-know-what scenes in movies or even in reality between strangers in bus stops or in malls or in movie theatres or beaches or hotels or even on roads, but can’t bear see our friends make out in front of us? Why do we get so easily embarrassed n why do the love-birds never understand others’ awkward position and remained ‘romantically involved’ even in public??
(Monica n Chandler kissing in front of Phoebe)
Phoebe: eww get a room!
Monica : we already have one.
Phoebe: then use it!!!
Making out in public doesn’t make Monica n Chandler broad minded n asking them to not do it in front of her doesn’t make Phoebe narrow minded!

4. Seriously, why do some call themselves ‘frank’ n ‘out-spoken’ n talk nonsense, criticize people unnecessarily n judge people outright based on few facts that they know about them? I HATE such people. They really do not know the meaning of Frankness.
Pidichirukku na sollanumnu avasiyam illa, aana sonna thappu illa.
Pidikalenaa sonna thappu illa, aana sollanumnu avasiyam illa.
It means-
If u like something in some1, u dont need to tell them, but its not wrong if u tell them (as it wud only make them happy! ).
If u dont like something in some1, then its not wrong if u tell them, but u dont need to tell them( as it might offend them... coz u might be 'frank' n they might not be).
This is my policy. I m not asking anyone to follow this. But I have seen a lot of bonds break bcoz of these so-called ‘frank’ people who are just too pompous n snobbish to see the reality and the true essence of one’s character.

5. Why do we get an automatic smile when we hear people talking in our mother-tongue? I am not being a linguistic bitch here. I really don’t know the reason, but when I hear anyone talking in Tamil, I tend to turn around to see who it is, though I know for sure that they are strangers talking among themselves. Funny- my reflexes!

Well, I had a hundred thoughts yesterday only I can’t tell them all. Five of them have made this long enough! But the truth is that I really do enjoy these silent sessions in the dark. Gives me a lot of time to think and learn and prioritize a lot of things. :)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

THE FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Well… this is not my own work. I got this as a mail fwd. (thanks Data!) I am posting this as I learnt a lot from this… rather, rolled with laughter for sometime! :D So I hope it makes you guys laugh too. Enjoy n Happy laughing! :)

Lesson 1

A turkey was chatting with a bull.
'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'
'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.
The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch..
Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.
Moral of the story
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Lesson 2

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.
They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'
'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'
Puff! She's gone.
'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'
Puff! He's gone.
'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'
Moral of the story
Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 3

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.
A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'
The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 4

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.
When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.
Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.'
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'
'It was Bob the next door neighbour,' she replies.
'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'
Moral of the story
If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 5

A priest offered a Nun a lift.
She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.
The priest nearly had an accident.
After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.
The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'
The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'
The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'
Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'
Moral of the story
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 6

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.
While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.
The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.
Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

THUS ENDS THE FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE. Hope you guys enjoyed and had a great laugh! :)

Monday, August 25, 2008

A toast to moms…

Yesterday, we friends met up in one of our houses, and decided to cook lunch. We had gas and stove and the required vessels, and we thought that we could manage something decent with the menial knowledge that some of us possessed in cookery, and that it could be something exciting to do together. Well, to tell the truth, it was. Very! But we learnt a very important lesson. A lesson that everybody probably knows theoretically. Every job has loads of pre-requisites and each pre-req have its own pre-reqs in turn! Hence, to do any job, we have to complete a series of these pre-reqs patiently and efficiently to even reach the actual job. Thus, anything in this world, any specific work with a definite goal, however easy the job may be, can be divided and sub-divided into a large number of smaller tasks, mostly related with ‘ANDs’ and very rarely ‘ORs’. Hence if you consider any of those tasks demeaning to your status and neglect it, you’ll end up not doing the final job effectively.

In our case, we initially decided to make some sambhar, rasam if time permits, some sabji, and buy some curd to make raita and have a nice meal. Well, now since we had none of the ingredients, we had to compile the list of things to be bought, their quantities so that they don’t go waste and the shops where we had to get the different items. Believe me! Starting from some oil to fry and rice and vegetables and different types of dal and masala powders and what not?!? Just a look at the list, which kinda looked as long as the Christmas wish list of a 10 year old, some of us had half a mind directly going to a restaurant and ordering whatever was required and happily gobbling it! Way easier now, wasn’t it? So then we decided against sambhar and rasam and all, and decided to make the simplest fried rice. The list was smaller now and we also had lesser work to do. So we all agreed on this and got all the required ingredients. Boy! We already felt all grown up to have thought of every small detail. Seriously! How did our moms manage to think so much? Especially on a daily basis?!?

Then we divided the smaller tasks like making raita, peeling n cutting vegetables, (everyone was initially scared onions :P you know why!), boiling the potatoes etc. We had lots of funny arguments regarding the smaller details in each item, like the ratio of rice-to-water to be kept in cooker, the size of onion bits for raita, the amount of salt n masala in vegetables, and so on. And after one point, we looked at each other n started laughing! A few months ago, we would have considered ourselves most unlikely to have discussions n arguments on such topics! :D It took us more than an hour and a half to do the stuff and by that time, we were all bloody hungry! We were ready to eat anything- cooked or uncooked. Gosh! How DO working women handle all this? Especially if they have to cook for themselves, their families, for lunch too, and most importantly, a variety of items each day, and early in the morning to be on the heights!!

We took all the prepared items with loads of love and care (after all the efforts! Phew!), arranged them on the floor and we had our lunch together, happily chatting away, relishing each dish, complimenting one another and enjoying the fruits of our hard work, saluting our moms for what they have been doing for us for our entire lives without the slightest grumble, and secretly reprimanding ourselves for the times when we had whined over petty things like tomatoes pieces or coriander leaves in food and the times when we had forgotten to appreciate what they had done for us.And FYI, the food was delicious. Really, it was! But we understood that one would need lots of thinking n planning and patience to do all the smaller work. In fact I would like to go one step further n say that one would definitely need a great company for cooking- to help, to share the work, to give opinions and most importantly, to appreciate the final product, however it comes out to be.

Friday, August 22, 2008

~~~ Life backwards ~~~

A lot of things that happened yesterday reminded me of the fact that I am getting older… though a part of me does want to grow old n move on, that part of me seems to be only too small. The larger part of me doesn’t really want to grow, like Peter Pan.

Yesterday, my mentor was asking me about how happy I would be on getting a job and passing out. My instant reply was “Working life doesn’t seem to be as fascinating as I had imagined. So I am not really looking fwd to it.” n that was the first time I had seen him laugh out loud!

But this happens a little too often these days. The same was the reaction when I told this to my cousins. How I envy my junior friends who are enjoying that delightful life! I hardly find gtalk chatting pleasurable these days! Its filled with either friends working busily who aren’t allowed to log in during work time, or other working friends/seniors working with status ‘dnd’, or with junior friends back in college, chatting with who would only make me more nostalgic and conscious of me growing older!

I got an sms fwd recently “Life is tough. After all the hard work in life, what’s there in the end? Death? Is that fair at all? May be it should go all backwards. You should die first and get it out of the way. Then you live an old age. Next, you get a silver watch and go to work. You work for 40 years until you are young enough to enjoy your ‘retirement’. You get doped, booze, party, and after all these, you get ready for High School then comes the Primary and you become a kid. You play and jump around, no pressure, no worries, no sadness, and no madness. Later, you become a toddler and finally you go back into the womb and spend your last 9 months floating in amniotic fluid and finally finish of as chromosomes.”

Wow! What a prospect! This is why I love fantasies n fictions. People there never seem to grow older than the right age! Well… whatever! I guess- some things are not under my control.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A Tribute to Onions

A long time ago, Potato, Tomato and Onion lived in a house. They loved each other and lived on for a long time. Tomato died of Fungus and Potato and Onion bade him a grand farewell. A few years later, Potato was killed too and Onion was a true friend and dutifully organized a complete death ceremony. Now Onion was all alone in this whole wide world. Later when his time came, Onion had no one by his side. Onion asked God, “I had been there in the last days of my friends and grieved after their times. Why do I have no one to miss me after I leave? What did I do to deserve a tearless depart from this world?” God replied, “Do not be troubled, my dear, for hereafter, the World will cry when you die!”

This is why we all get tears when we cut onions!:)

Monday, August 18, 2008

On my way…

It was a little too early, about 4 am. I woke up even before my alarm cried! A light headache followed. The morning was cold n cloudy, drizzling continuously after a heavy 8-hr downpour the previous night. My shoes were slushy and sweatshirt was cold n soggy. I kept skidding on the road now n then and my bag seemed a little heavy on my shoulder. Some 6-7 guys of different ages waiting in the bus-stop all looked at me as if I were an alien from a different planet (as I was the only female on road at that time). The bus came after a patient 10-min wait. It was a normal dabba govt. bus with water trickling down the top n sides, on my head and clothes. I reached the stopping and enquired an auto-man for directions which I guess he didn’t know but had too much of an ego to accept, so showed me an obscenely long route to walk. The train had already arrived by the time I reached and I found my compartment. The seats were all soaking wet (apparently came from the shed after a shower!! :P). It was stinking big time! Absolutely reeking with toilet smell. Unbearable! And I didn’t have any waste papers to wipe the seat. So had to use my white bed sheet to clean. Though initially empty, my bay later got filled with all grandpas n an irritating uncontrollable kid with an extremely frustrated impatient mother who poured coffee on my bed sheet. I passed my time by reading a thriller, True Evil – Greg Iles. The story was unnerving and the plots were framed well. But the kid kept disturbing all the way!
From the moment I got up, the day was filled with a lot of incidents that would have usually annoyed me and normally been horrible mood-busters; especially these days, when even the smallest of things starts me off. Surprisingly, I found that none of these even bothered me the way they would have in general. My spirits were high and I could feel a smile on my lips all along. The only thing in my mind was – that I was going HOME…

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

IRREVERSIBLE CHANGES

People change; especially after each important chapter in their lives. Some people change slowly n gradually. They analyze and modify themselves, a little here n there, to suit their present scenario. They forge their character the right way and chisel off some of their old dead ways. Yet, their basic traits remain the same.

There are some others who undergo a mutational transform in a new environment so that the new community doesn’t have to know the old them and thus, can start afresh in that new world, leaving back all the traces of their old beliefs, their old habits, likes n dislikes. These people, I believe, have a weak character. They do not really have faith in their own thoughts/beliefs/actions/habits/culture. They simply look at the crowd and just flow along. They don’t think of their past bcoz they don’t feel proud of it. They either are ashamed of it or they don’t have the guts enough to face the world with their true nature or they simply have loads n loads of inferiority complex and very less confidence on themselves. They generally try to blend with the crowd, blindly following the people they consider a role-model in the new place, not even pausing to think of the transformation that they are undergoing. They don’t keep in touch with their old friends, rather with anyone associated with previous life, especially those who were pretty close; close enough to know about them in and out, enough to know what they had been, what they had thought, what they had said and what they had done in their time together. They are either afraid that their history would come to front and cause embarrassment and shame in the new place or may be they just cant face their old friends as a new reformed person. They simply shut the door to past under some stupid pretext as not having enough time or resources to maintain drop a line. If you get to meet some of these people sometime in future, they don’t even dare look into your eyes while speaking! Duh!! How more uncomfortable could the situation be?!

Here is a simple theory: X and Y are thick childhood friends. X changes to X` after his/her college life and loses contact with Y, who is mutationally robust. Sometime later in life, when X’ and Y meet, X` obviously will not be comfortable with Y anymore bcoz Y was X ’s friend not (X`)’s. This could hurt Y but I guess that is how it has to be as far as X` is concerned. Y is a history to X`, just like X. X` doesn’t hate Y. X` is just indifferent to Y.

Changes in a person’s character are not wrong. They are not illegal. They are not sinful. Changes lead to evolution. Changes help in shaping a man’s character. But I feel that those transformations that don’t modify the existing nature instead give a whole new personality, are not healthy. A person is judged by consistency of behaviour and by the amount of progress made and number of lessons learnt and applied after each episode of life. I would personally not respect one who has an up-side-down makeover of values, beliefs, likes, ideas, conduct and character after each stage of life. That is just unacceptable. I would most definitely lose face with a person like that, and may not even regret it. I guess, a little hard though it may be to lose a friend to changing times, the most practical and most sensible deed for Y would be to let go of X.