space age...

"I don't have enough clothes" and "I don't have enough space in my cupboard" are such conflicting statements and though I might have used both of them so often, I did'nt realise the irony until today morning when I used them both one after the other...! Well it just happened that first I could'nt "find" anything to wear to work today morning and after I finally setteled on something, I could'nt manage to put back in the ones I did'nt need cos everything seemed squeezed already!! So after announcing for the nth time to Dad that I did'nt have enough nice things to wear...I proclaimed I did'nt have enough storage space either. This was invariably followed by a foxed looked on Dad's face and the query "How can you not have clothes or space? U must have one of the two....I think you have too many clothes!"...."But Dad, u see, I can't wear just anything u know..half of this pile is just t-shirts..too shabby now to wear outside, and the shirts don't work well with sweaters ...and it's too cold to wear salwar suits with which anyway I have to match a different sweater all the time...and a lot of these clothes are just old fashioned and not to mention the ones which are only good for parties..!" ...Dad's eyes were narrow by now...uh oh.."Ok, and the rest?" "Oh the rest don't match my sandles...so now I have only a handful of them which I can actually wear..!!"

And so on and so forth...I'm sure this could have taken up a lot more time but at 8am there just was'nt enough time to prove my point and get to work by 9! From now on, I will only use one of these phrases at one time I think.....and ofcourse I have to shop for the winters now! Maybe if I get a nice sweater for Dad too then he'll not be so upset at all the bags in the evening??

Whatever..

Hiee!! I would write the remaining part of the story now but my nail polish is still a bit wet u know...and the stupid light brown thing is not even looking so pretty on my hand .. :( See ya..

Blog with a bang!!

Today's my blog's lucky day cos i'm back on track after more than a month I think! And it must be a result of my friend mentioning today that she's starting a blog...and I suddenly remembered that I had a task to do as well..and also a result of having boring friends in general, boredom of reading about whether or not to invest in a ULIP or Money back plan, lack of any interesting option at home and no new scraps on orkut either, no place to go and no friends online n no one to go out with...so now u know y I blog.. :)

Well let's see what all I have been upto..there was diwali last mth which was celebrated as usual with a lot of house cleaning and lighting and decorations and some fire crackers as well! Brother was here for the week too and me n mom had this great idea that we'll make idlis for him when he comes and poor guy was just not willing to look at them after having to eat idlis down south all this time! I had even made a list of things I had wanted to do during the diwali hols but did'nt get around to actually doing most...but no fault of my brother, he was'nt even around to get in the way cos his friends kept him busy ...except for the one day we went shopping together and had a pizza n sat and watched TV in the evening..! The week just flew by before I knew it and he was gone again..

Interuption by mom...to be continued.

What I want in a man....

This was so cute, I just had to share it with u all..

What I Want in a ManOriginal List (age 22):1. Handsome2. Charming3. Financially successful4. A caring listener5. Witty6. In good shape7. Dresses with style8. Appreciates finer things9. Full of thoughtful surprises10. An imaginative, romantic lover

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 32):1. Nice looking (prefer hair on his head)2. Opens car doors, holds chairs3. Has enough money for a nice dinner4. Listens as much as talks5. Laughs at my jokes6. Carries bags of groceries with ease7. Owns at least one tie8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries10. Seeks romance at least once a week

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 42):1. Not too ugly (bald head OK)2. Doesn't drive off until I'm in the car3. Works steady - splurges on dinner out occasionally4. Nods head when I'm talking5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top lids9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down10. Shaves most weekends

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 52):1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed2. Doesn't belch or scratch in public3. Doesn't borrow money too often4. Doesn't nod off to sleep when I'm venting5. Doesn't re-tell the same joke too many times6. Is in good enough shape to get off couch onweekends7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear8. Appreciates a good TV dinner9. Remembers my name on occasion10. Shaves some weekends

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 62):1. Doesn't scare small children2. Remembers where bathroom is3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep4. Only snores lightly when asleep5. Remembers why he's laughing6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself7. Usually wears clothes8. Likes soft foods9. Remembers where he left his teeth10. Remembers that it's the weekend

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 72):1. Breathing2. Doesn't miss the toilet

Daddy Long Legs

October 05, 2006
Dear Daddy Long-Legs,

Day 3: Still suffering from the cold and sleepless nights..and today, m suffering from hunger pangs too but lunch is a good hour away..

Ofcourse there's work to do at office..will people please stop asking me if I do any work or get paid for free? U know daddy, I wanted to go shopping last evening but I guess i'll be going next week now cos I don't really feel upto it right now. M still wondering what to buy for a few close friends for diwali! Maybe I'll get some good ideas in the market but the problem is that I can't even look at the shops and show windows as I walk by cos I have to look out for the crowds and the cars n bikes on the road or the market corridor instead!

And daddy, how bout organising a lunch at home pre-diwali?

Your's truly,

VS

P.S.- This letter is a dedication to Jean Webster, the author of DADDY LONG LEGS...really cute! I dont know how she wrote an entire novel full of letters ...I could'nt write one damn para. :(

Mid-night Sojourn

I'm not usually so much of a dedicated blogger that I'd sit up at 2 am and write a blog but today m having a bit of a cold and my little Ms. Nosey would not stop pestering me & therefore here I am! I don't know whether to keep the AC on or off cos while Ms. Nosey is not so pleased with it, the rest of me will devour it's effects quite gladly. Maybe someone will some day make a detachable nose? Anyone from IIT listening? I wanted to believe that the cold is a result of the paint job being done at home but the truth is that it's an allergy I've triggered myself and quite knowingly at that..! :(
So here I am, after watching "The Mummy Returns" for the 'n'th time (it's soo cute), taking a walk in the driveway n talking to a friend, exchanging SMSes with friends, reading Seema Goswami in Brunch about why today's generation can't be caught dead in the kitchen and tossing in the bed for an hour with my red nose (and t-shirt to match incidentally) ! That reminds me, I saw some awesome silver jewellery n t-shirts on a shopping site...so I'll just shop around till I drop I guess...which is probably going to be at about 4am now...thank u e-commerce...I luv u with all my nose..:)
U know what, I just spotted a black n white dengue mosquito in this room..let me just run n get the anti-mosquito spray.....bye!

Chutti hai!

Hey I just noticed that it's my 30th anniversary...no i'm not 30 yrs old or married for 30...but I have 30 blogs so far! Never thought i'd make it this far when I began. Well it's friday today n i'm impatient to just get home now..and oh we have a loooong weekend now cos Oct. 2 & 3 is off too so i'm back at work only on wednesday now. There's white-washing going on at home so i'll be busy moving things around at home and so I already have my hands full. I had planned to bring home the beagle pup from my uncle this weekend just for a week initially to see if I could manage to keep it but I think I won't be able to do this now..plus, i'm a bit feverish too today so I'm probably going to have a bad cold by tomorrow :(

And oh ya, my friend Sinu sent me an awesome saree..a traditional keralite saree in ivory with a maroon n gold border...looks cool ! How nice of him to think of me on the ocassion of Onam na? But he's a cool guy anyhow and an awesome photographer too..check out naturemagics.com n u will know what i'm talking about!

Acha toh hum chalte hain...phir wednesday ko milengi...i suspect my net connection at home is gng to expire one of these days too...! Cheers to Gandhiji n German Re-unification!

Sunday...

Sunday's here once more and on the lazy afternoon i'm wondering what contribution to make to my poor blog today which has not seen me around much lately...Well I have'nt really been upto much anyway. Work was a bit busy lately but it's been ok for the last 2-3 days and ive even made two new friends on the net! Both punjabi boys u know..one is this energetic, talkitive guy and the other's a more sober, philosophical guy, but they've been fun to talk to and m enjoying myself...lol!
Then ive been spending a bit of time with the trainee from abroad at office too, guiding her to good stores from where she can shop and check mark her shopping list !! We've also done a bit of shopping together n we got her a saree, some silver jewellery, hair accessories, jaipuri jootis, bangles, bindis and gorged on masala dosa too! oh and in the process I got myself a silk scarf and silver jewellery too. Too bad she's leaving this month end and won't be around till diwali.
And this reminds me, I wanna get a new suit for diwali and am also thinking of picking up a gold bracelet but this time with pretty precious stones...what say?!! Ofcourse there's a lot to be done at home too in terms of preparing for diwali!! Brother's comming home for diwali too...yippee!!
My uncle's built a new house too recently and tomorrow is the greh pravesh (house-warming) party..they plan to move in around diwali. I guess that's pretty much an overview of all that's happened recently...signing out!!

War paint!!

Hey! Like I promised....here's a snap of the gate as it look now after the fresh coat of paint! It's a golden brown shade..we did'nt do the deep red or maroon intended earlier as that looked too bright and reminded me of the paint they do on the gates of some temples! Well, I did'nt really save any money by doing it myself I think...as I bought fresh brushes, two tins of paint, dusting cloth, a primer, etc which the painter would have bought with him anyway I guess..infact, I spent 3 days on it cos first it needed scrubbing a bit to take off the rust which had started to appear at some places, then we had to clean the surface and apply a coat of primer and after that dried, we used two coats of paint!! Actually, I had first bought a litre of cherry red paint but when I did a bit of that, it looked way too bright so I changed my mind and bought a more sober looking "golden brown" ! So this is how it looks now...after three whole days spread over two weekends! Oh and my old pair of jeans graduated to being a working-jeans! Coupled with an old t-shirt and a scarf on my head I was prepared for the task!

I'm proud of my handiwork and it's definatly the largest thing I ever painted too...I can give any painter a run for his money now..lol! It might have taken a lot and is probably a once in a lifetime project but it gave me so much satisfaction n i'm sure it will last much longer than the coat of paint a painter would have splashed on it in a hurry without cleaning the gate and applying primer on it!

So what do u think? Yea, I know i'm kinda crazy...but I meant what do u think of my picasso?

And now if u wanna find me, u know which gate to knock..:)

Update..

Hieeee....I know I promised u a dekho of the spanking new gate but guess what, ever since i've made up my mind to paint it myself...it has not stopped raining !! Just one more week pls...then i'm surely gonna do it...trust me, i've even bought a big tin of cherry red paint for it and new brushes n all...!

The other news is that it was a colleague's b'day at office yesterday n we had a nice little pastry party at tea time...:) He's the kind of guy who's generally liked by people and is usually a genuine person except when he's a bit diplomatic...but yeh bhi ek ada hai! But he had sure had this awesome smile on his face all day yesterday which comes from knowing that people who matter to u love u and remember u on ur special day. That brings me back to the pasteries...4 out of 6 people wanted "something with less fat" when we wanted to make a note of who wanted which pastry...so fruit tart was settled on but unfortunatly the pastry shop did'nt concur and we had to settle for fresh fruit pastries instead ! Everyone's calorie concious now u know...someone's going for regular evening walks, another one's paid a dietician, then again someone has a "fruit-day" and as for ur's truly, I also have some plans....I will soon buy a pair of addidas, track suits, matching hair bands, water bottle, wet tissues, .....n then I will surely loose something, is'nt it?

Shut 'em out!

When we were younger, .....(notice the nostalgia at such a young age..ha ha) me n my brother used to have lots of friends around the colony and we would all gather in someone's house in the evening to play cricket or go cycle racing after school..it was'nt so crowded on the streets then n neither were there so many cars parked with their drivers perched on them...now the friends are no longer there as most families have sold their houses in the interest of larger bank balances and traded them for smaller apartments. The builders around have been quick to bring up 3-storied apartment blocks in place of the nice houses and the roads are now crowded with guards, servants, drivers and all their friends who just hand around chatting and peeping into the houses around!!! Eeeeks!
Imagine being stared at everytime u go out to receive a courier or greet a visitor or just to stroll? Even new entrants to the colony are so rude that they will pass by staring at u as if I was intruding in their personal space! How very ill-mannered! Well we decided to work on the problem & add some height to our existing gate and block some view to the house and the result is the additional 2 foot height that u can now see in the picture ...this was'nt so easy u know. Each one of us instantly turned into a designer and had very different ideas about how it should be done. Mom wanted to add a plastic sheet to it and Dad n me wanted to have an iron sheet about 3 feet high and various designs were mulled over and guess what, but the end of this exercise, which lasted about 2 weeks, mom n dad were so fed up that they just gave up n said "Oh just do something with it, we dont care what!" :)

So finally, the additional two feet of gate was put in place last weekend but the painter never turned up until yesterday...and guess what, that was me !! Actually, there was a power cut last evening when I reached home so I was outside as it was cool and decide to go ahead and just paint the gate myself...! I can paint u know..fabric paint, oil paint, water colours, done it all!! Dad helped too...I poured water on it n scrubbed it clean first n then waited for it to dry n then dad started with one portion of the gate n me at the other end !! And typical of him, he quietly sneeked away after he saw that I was engrossed in the work and left me to do the rest. :)

The reason y this is looking an untidy red right now is cos so far it's only had a coating of red primer which I think is reaclly zinc oxide...u do that on iron first cos it's anti-corrosive !! Have'nt decided about which colour I should finally use on the gate though...but wanna do it over the weekend n will show u my work on monday for sure...m all charged up !! You should have seen the looks on the faces of the guards n the rest of their clan !! Haha..that was fun !! I slept like a log last night ...

Next project--the iron grill on the terrace....maybe ;)

Bull Race,Kerela

For the uninitiated, there's more to this country than the rat race we deal with everyday...and I woke up to the fact too today when I received these pictures of the bull race held at a place near Adoor in Kerela...about 175 kms. from the backwaters in Alapuzzha, from a friend Sinu, who had been there on tuesday in the rain to capture the race in his camera !! And look what a great job he's done..I sooo.. wanna be there to watch the race next year !

Just look at the sheer energy involved and imagine the rush of the adrenaline it infuses in the crowds !!


These men look like having the strength of bulls themselves ...wow !

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I did ....and that also reminds me that I must share with the pics I took on my trip to Kerela.... chao !

15Secs

The day so far in 15 seconds.....came in to work 10 minutes late, had a coffee I did'nt really want, checked emails..official and personal and replied to neither, exhausted my yahoo answers limit already, a friend cancelled an evening out today, feel like having a burger now and this blog is a result of complete booredom...and yes, I could'nt type all of this in 15 seconds !

Green Days

End of another rainy weekend and this one rained a bit of money too as I got the cheques for Rakhi already...!! Ofcourse I promptly did a bit of shopping and spent it all too. Once an uncle read my hand and said " U'll never lack money, but u won't be able to retain it too long either" Oh what the hell, as long as it keeps comming !! :)


Another thing I did was to try to landscape the lawns which seem so overgrown and messed up in this season..though I love the bright flowers around me !! I did'nt do too well there though ...I barely ever know what's growing in our lawns! It needs a neighbour to point out some pretty variety of flower growing in our lawns, like this purple flower in the pics here..it's called "Morning Glory" and for good reason too...cos when i woke up on saturday I noticed the lovely flowers but in the evening when I was on my way out, the flowers were all lying in the grass and I though 'what a pity they did'nt last too long, they looked really nice' , but Sunday morning there they were again blooming away exactly as earlier...mom then told me that they bloom in the day time only..!! So much for landscaping....but hey u remember Rans from my office? She can rattle off the names of plants easily and knows exactly when to grow which one and how to treat 'em right !! Well Happy Greens ! and Happy Friendship Day too....ah and today I reached level 3 at Yahoo! Answers...yahoooooo !!!!!!

Injurious to health..

Anyone else around here who's become addicted to any new site? I'm feeling almost addicted to Yahoo! Answers lately...m on level 2 n going on 3 already..that's 1000 points...yipee!! Anyone can guess what's my log in ID there? 10 points for the right answer are up for grabs.... ;)

Warning : Any person, living or dead, related to me in any way, specially Sinu and Sushmita, are barred from blurting out the ID ...got it?

I'm pretty sure you guys remember my ID even if you dnt remember your own IDs...it's a tendency to remember gory details about others and be tempted to reveal them rather than talk about one's own self! Oh wait a minute, what am I saying? I write a whole blog about me.. :( EEKS..



But talking about memory power, I was at a family function recently and they had made a small stage and arranged for a mike and speakers for music and people were being invited to sing ...well some sang well like my nephew, and some were horrible...but almost everyone sang old songs...strange !! Everyone suddenly suffers from short term memory loss when asked to sing ! Quick, think of a song to sing on stage surrounded by boored relatives.... ???.....???

Festive week!

Another weekend's here and it's been an interesting week ...saw 2 movies..'The killer', apparently a "copy" of Collateral...but it was a good one and both the lead actors Irfan and Imran Hashmi were very good and dialogues were strong, and 'Corporate' which I saw last night and which was a bit booring frankly. I think they failed to bring bout the element of drama and irony effectively enough. Bipasha did carry the look of a corporate girl nicely though.

It's been raining nicely here for the last 2-3 days and besides the discomfort of having to put the clothes to dry in the hallway and the staircase, the rains have been pretty much welcome !
Went to a Teej fair the day before too at Dilli Haat and everything was so nice and colourfully decorated with the row of stalls selling a variety of handicraft stuff and oh the stalls selling colourful lak bangles from rajasthan just looked divine ..! There was a food festival too with the traditional daal, bhati, churma in a rajasthani thali and the usual stuff like gol gappas, pao bhaji n all too..plus, there was a cultural program too with tradional dances being performed and the whole lot of cameramen could be seen shooting various events from different TV channels and asking people if they were enjoying themselves.....Teej was yesterday and they must have telecast that on TV yesterday though I did'nt get to see it..

Unfortunatly I was not carrying a camera and my cell too ran out of battery or I would have surely shared some colorful pics with u..but for now m only putting up pics of two things i picked up from there....one was a set of 3 men dressed in traditional outfits and paying various musical instruments like u can see here...it's actually made of clay I think, and colorfully painted ...everything about rajasthan is so colorful !! This I have kept in the front lawn of the house..perched on the wall.. Then there's this papermache key holder which has madhubani painting on it....we have madhubani paintings in the staircase and it will look cool with it. There were other very nice figures of turtles and cow, etc like this but mom did'nt let me buy any :( lack of space in the house to keep them u know...!! I guess i'll have to pick 'em up some other time! And guess wat, I also applied mehendi on my left palm and bought some nice bangles !! :) A good week in all i'd say.

MoNdAy:(

Back with a (tiny) bang on bloggermania on a booring monday evening with a barely budging internet connection ! Let's see what did i do since last week..friday ko i made a score of 24 on Yahoo answers...then saturday ko i went to the market with mom n she did'nt let me buy more shirts but we got new lamp shades..sunday ko sleep kiya and stared hard at the TV to help bring Prince out of the hell hole he'd gotten himself into...and finally pulled through the day today by sheer grit and persevearance ...and oh, took lots of snaps with my new cell phone! :) Still have to arrange of an infrared kit for my comp. too so that i can trfs the pics here for u guys...!! Have a great week ahead ..!

Retro!

Hello n welcome back!! :) I know u guys were always there..but I was the one missing from the scene...and after many days of being puzzled as to why my blog would'nt open and imagining the worst...I read in the papers that some ISPs had blocked out some blogs after the mumbai blasts recently...!! Imagine that?!! But u know it's really ok with me...I'm all for national security... :)

So ive actually not been upto much lately, still go to work as usual n back home as usual..but m enjoying the free time at home right now as my next semester classes are still a few weeks away..meanwhile ive been juggling ideas about renovating my room at the lowest possible cost ...what do u think of textured walls? I wonder how much that would cost and how long will it last...gotta do a research on that one...and oh yea, I did buy that cell phone i wanted, but instead of the really high-end models I had thought of initially, i bought the Samsung X-650..VGA cam, FM Radio and Infrared..not much but then it costs less than half of other models I was thinking of earlier but was still not convinced about .. go on, say it..I know i'm hard to please !! ;)

So the idea is now to use this one for some time, and get a new one next year and sell this one off ..waiting for the Sony Cybershot camera phone now...

Oh n I also discovered Yahoo! Answers quite by accident but have been surfing that quite a bit recently...quite interesting and amusing too ! Notice that questions relating to relationship problems get the most answers? Moral of the story...man is a social animal....and he's lost in the jungle of his own making.. I put in a hypothetical question too ofcourse, and I got 40 responses to it...wow !! Most people did a psycho-analysis on me...won't wanna tell u what they said though..but i'd like to stress that i'm sane !!!!!!!........

Hey time to eat..gotta go..aaj tiffin mein curd rice hai...yummy..i should have been a south indian! Chao !!

GoodNight!

Hi there ! Just dropped in to say hi! It's 12:14 p.m., the parents are asleep n all's well with the world.! I'm just going through the day's mail ...been out in the morning, slept all afternoon, watched TV till late night..no special events today n therefore no news from the newsdesk !! But do keep watching for the amazing commercials to follow...

Chao!

P.S.- If i sound a bit crazy right now, it's just my chocolate fudge and Fruit Punch talking.. ;)

Mera Mobile..

One week of search on the net and i'm still not sure which cell phone to buy...everyday I seem to be settling on a new model..there r just so many but none that has it all..atleast for me!! Saw this site yesterday n it has a cool looking Motorola phone...W 375.. http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/cell_phone/motorola That's the one I'm in love with today..:)

Yea, it's not even in the markets yet..this whole cell phone buying thing has me perplexed(dunno what to buy), anxious (I wish this ordeal is over soon!), appauled( most good cells r really expensive), tempted (just wanna buy a really cool one, whatever the price!), eager( and wanna get it fast) and upset (still can't decide..ugghh..!)...life was so much easier when I bought the Samsung R220 which i'm using till now...there were just about 3-4 models of Nokia and two models of Samsung available here..and I loved the elegant looking Samsung.

Been through all Nokias, Samsung, Motorola and Sony phones !

So far ive seen some booring looking Nokia; they were never my fav. brand, though 6111 was a loaded model and the 6030 is a good basic model with a bright screen and an FM radio, costs about rs. 4300, some Samsung models..I initially wanted the Samsung D500 but when I saw it in the showroom, the screen did'nt look as large as it did on the website or the ads! Plus, the slide screen made the keypad look forsaken and difficult to reach..and other models did'nt seem too attractive after owning similar looking phone for 4 years..! Then there are the Motorola models which are either very old models and look like a drag or there's the ultra-slim SLVR or V3 priced at 10k and 13k resp. but both have a VGA camera and no FM Radio ! :( I'd rather pay Vandana Luthra to make me slim..!!!

Sony is the only brand which has some phones i wanna consider now...it's walkman range of phones are good...like the W700i which is a golden colour phone and has a 2 MP camera, FM Radio, MP3 player, has 35 MB memory (i think) and comes with a 256 MB extra memory, can play music even in flight mode,ie, when the phone is switched off, Mega Bass and u can buy flash for it for taking pics in the dark...all this for about 13k! Not bad, eh?

But when I do get my new phone..the first picture I take I will surely put that up on my blog ! Promise..!! Or maybe i'll put up a picture of my phone first !

Tell tale rains!!

Happy Days are here again !! It's finally rained a bit today morning after a long, long wait and what a respite from the terrible heat !! But the met dept. says it's just cos of some disturbances and extreme heat that clouds have formed and it's rained a bit..we're still not experiencing monsoons...i think when monsoons finally come, they'll be gone before i realise they're here !! Anyway, it's the perfect weather to go out for a picnic or shopping or just go for a movie (I've heard Superman Returns would be a good choice)and for the more romantically inclined, there's the long drive..though u'd sure be brave to drive in this city in the rains!! I did that once..though it was more like being caught in the rain after i'd left home..it so happened that i had just learned to drive and had a brand new driver's licence...my friend was at my place and my folks were out so we guys just decided to go for a spin..it was a nice drive mostly..i managed to negotiate the car on the busy road and reach the market and even park at a perfectly decent angle to the next car after which we did a bit of shopping and then decided to go to the South Campus canteen for lunch..!! It was a bit of a distance and just as we were crossed the huge gates of the campus..the car jerked to a stop on the deserted road n I had no idea what happened ! And it just refused to start again! I noticed a taxi stand tucked into a corner of a by-lane and had to ask for help from them. A helpful sardarji came over to take a look at what was wrong and casually told me that there was no coolant in the car and that it was also heated up ...that was the first time i'd heard of the term coolant and was obviously at my wits end !! I think he guessed as much by the look on our faces n just poured some water into in n after a wait of bout 20 mins my car finally started but i had strict instructions not to turn in off untill i reached home or it might not start again ! The rain started pouring just as we left the place and it really seemed like a boon then cos the rain n cool weather culd keep the car from heating up too much again. It was after another few mins that the rain came with all it's fury n i could barely see the roads but still we were almost enjoying the adventures of the day. But there was more to come..on the next red light we were amongst the ones right at the stop line and as the light went green n we all began moving ahead, i realised to my horror that the guys on my left and right were closing in on me in a bid to try to talk to each other by shouting from their cars !! Well i had to hit the brake so hard n at once my car started to slide backwards (cos the road was sliding bacwards into the service-lane!)before i could stop it..we hit a pole on the road and the door with the drivers seat suffered scratches and a big bump!! But the good part was that the engine did not turn off n after we recovered from the initial shock n a survey of the damage had been done, we went off again without wasting too much time as the damage was already done n we needed to get back home before my parents got back home !! So much for adventure n running off with the car like that ! I thought my friend would never sit in the car with me at the wheels ever again but surprisingly she had so much fun that i'm her favorite driver now!

The odysey was obviously intended to be a hush hush affair but since the car was danaged, we had to tell the parents that it happened cos a big flower pot toppled over it..ofcourse they did'nt really buy the story but we did get the benefit of doubt !! ;)

Gang Bang!

Just back from a sumptuous lunch and m going to have a coffee now to keep me awake so that the office can benefit from my services for a few more hours...!! It's so damn hot n humid in the city n that makes me all the more sleepy though ofcourse i'm sitting bang under an AC in the office! India's perpetually in a state of imbalance and a case in point right now are the very heavy rains in which mumbai is drowning and in contrast the parched city i'm suffering in ...!!

(Both pics downloaded from the net)




No rains n therefore very hot weather...meaning higher electricity demand... meaning power failure of an average of 5 hrs. a day in the poshest of areas and no driniking water either cos the motor won't run so that I can pull water into the house to use and store..which means that i'd either stay at home on the weekend and suffer from heat and loss of sleep or go to a shopping mall with backup and lots of restaurants and shopping...which means spending lots of money...which means uncomfortable situations when the bank statement arrives...which means generating heated situations between mom n me...Oh! when will the rains come??!!

We're having bets in the office almost everyday..no not about football...but about when is it likely to rain..but today we also did one other interesting thing ...we gave everyone nick names...and i'm mighty pleased cos i never thought that my name was also capable of being squeezed any further...but now we're a gang of four letter words...puns intended...:) the new and improved versions at all work stations are now called Nans, Rans, Pans, Vans, Reds, ofcourse all the versions are Windows XP Professional compatible!

How less??

Got this as an email forward today....pretty cool ...HOW LESS??!!

21 century...

Our communication - Wireless

Our dress - Topless

Our telephone - Cordless

Our cooking - Fireless

Our youth - Jobless

Our food - Fatless

Our labour - Effortless

Our conduct - Worthless

Our relation - Loveless

Our attitude - Careless

Our feelings - Heartless

Our politics - Shameless

Our education - Valueless

Our follies - Countless

Our arguments - Baseless

Our boss - Brainless

Our Job - Thankless

Our Salary - Very less !! :(

Generation Me!

Hi guys! In my last post I made a comment about today's youngsters not having understood the concept of modernity...n m under attack now from some friends n cousions for it! Trust me, I did not mean to belittle the youth..but there is definatly a section of them that I feel is a little lost ! Looking modern or wearing the latest styles whether they suit you or not, having the lastest gadgets and driving cool cars, having coffee at baristas and late night parties is not all there is to being modern!! What about a modern outlook in our way of life, our social manners, personal habits and attitudes? That's where being modern and progressive really counts !

Recently, I was chatting with a neighbour and she mentioned a cousion of her's who was unmarried though she was bout 32 yrs. and was only interested in social service.."I dunno what is the matter with her..we keep telling her to get married..but she always refuses! God knows what will become of her!" I could'nt believe she said that...and for the record let me tell u that my neighbour's a smart lady of around 35 yrs, is well qualified and has a great career, is divorced and lives abroad for many years now and considers herself very progressive, and yet she is able to preach and judge her as being wrong bout her life's mission ! I wanted to tell her to leave the poor lady alone n let her decide what she wants to do rather than trying to make her conform to the pre-determined ideas you have bout how a lady should lead her life!! Why was it so difficult for my neighbour to accept her as she was ?!

It's odd to see teenage girls wearing high heels and short t-shirts and low rise jeans in malls continuously tugging at their t-shirts or pulling up their jeans when they need to sit down !! I for one, sure don't understand the need for fashion at the cost of comfort and dignity!

But today's youth is also a lot smarter than ever before, having planned their futures way early and most of them know for sure what they want out of life. They are a more adventurous lot and are willing to work very hard for it ! Many of my friends and cousions have had the course to carve their own paths in life ...hence the protests ! I just wish they'd be more vocal against the injustices in society ...and I was very happy to see the "Youth for Equality" group come up and speak against reservations being imposed on us by the politicians who now want to highlight and cement the caste divide in each person's mind at every stage in their life right from school to college to higher education to jobs ! Soon, i'll be asking for shops where a general category can shop and table reservations at restaurants for general category n God knows what else! I'll soon be asking people about their 'category' before making any friends! And here I foolishly thought that it was time that there was only one category...Indian !!

Virtues, anyone?

Howdy? I've been out in the sun during the day hunting for a new cell phone today n doing certain other chores...n it was so damn hot n humid!! Drenched in the sun screen n further getting all sweaty n sticky in the heat is not my idea of shopping at all !! And add to that all the meyhem the traffic on the roads create...it's not funny! There was so much of honking and shouting n dirty looks from an irritated lot of people even inside the markets that it is just impossible to walk a few steps without being jolted from behind by some irritated middle aged guy or a youngster in a hurry or a driver whose fundamental idea of driving is only to aim in the general direction he needs to go to, put a foot on the accelerator and just honk, honk, honk so he can get a free path !!!!

Ever read celebrity interviews? I'm sure everyone's read a few and a lot of them ask the question...wat do u think is the most over-rated virtue? I've read all kinds of replies like honesty, beauty, virginity, sense of humour n all....but y don't we talk of the most under-rated virtue? I'd say it's PUBLIC MANNERS!! Please God, let me see more of that in people of this country...air'nt we the guys who are supposed to be really cultured? How do the parents forget to teach public manners? We're all too familiar with the guy honking like crazy behind us on the red light...what's his problem? Why do people walk down the streets as if there's no one else around, hitting n pushing n jostling around? I am specially intolerant of all the fat women in crowded buses who pass you by literally crushing you and then doing a double take by their thick bags trailing behind which hit you with double the force ! And if the lady also steps on your foot with her heels and all of 70+kgs...ure dead meat !! I wish they'd start a seperate service for all over-weight people who love throwing their weight around..quite literally! (I think that's what I wanna do if I had to answer " wat will you do if you became the prime minister for a day?" )

And why do people throw out litter from the bus window? Why should'nt you stand in the line to pay your bills just like the rest of them..are the others there just cos they enjoy standing in the line? Why do men stare at women in lifts, at signals, on roads, even when i'm on my own terrace ...Why can't they be more discreet when they're talking in public on their mobile phones? Is it social service when men water the plants all around the city roads ? Do u find it cute when lovers have scribbled their names on historic monuments...if i catch someone doing that..they'd sure be history! I'm quite sure it's typically indian culture to clean your own house n dump the dirt in the neighbour's courtyard..Ugh !

I sure hope someday it will also dawn on this country's youth that being modern is not about wearing low rise jeans ...it's about having an open mind ! Until then, Mera Bharat Mahan !!

Zero Period

What an awefully booring day .....still 2 hours to go home and nothing to do ! Have'nt done much work today, partly cos there's nothing much to do anyway and partly cos i did'nt feel like hunting for any work to do ! So i've surfed websites for silver and diamond jewellery, mobile phones, gift ideas to send a gift to myself , shuffled my drawers to throw out all unnecessary stuff, roamed around in the office, read articles on food and fashion on the net..had 2 cups of coffee, one glass of juice and even tried chatting on yahoo....but m still boored...kya karen? Maybe I should call up some friends n family ...but then I do'nt really feel like that either...I think i'll just read some blogs now till it's time to go home !! Chao!

Relieved!

Finally ! Exams r over and i'm so relieved :) ..n back in the office today. If you must know, they went well...i might just manage to clear all 4 papers...the first three i did all on my own...and the last one was mostly from the little strips of paper which were floating around the room...but they were notes from the course material, so they must be right, right? Except that the figures in the numerical questions seemed to differ a bit..but the examiner is not going to read everything na? (Though i wonder whether he will laugh or be upset if he notices all 50 answer sheets will have the same answers correct n the same stupid mistakes ?!) But seriously, i was so excited about my first full-fledged cheating experience...i could'nt stop grinning all the way home ;)

But the invigilator was really kind u know. She let us finish copying till 10 mins after the exam got over as me n my neighbour got the last bits of the notes in the end n we had not yet finished writing them even after everyone else had left the class room!

I'm not very experienced with cheating in the exams but ive got a lot of experience in being cheated from...in school and in college n now in the degree program. As a result i have suffered pencils being poked into my back n shirt being tugged at from behind and even kicks under the table...directed at either my chair or my foot...in a bid to draw attention by my fellow students..i once slapped a guy during the college days for jerking out my hair-band in the middle of an exam..i got so infuriated by his behaviour ! But hey, somewhere u gotta draw the line! The poor invigilator just stood there n did'nt know what to do ..! He was a cute guy too...his most oft repeated line..atleast for me was "the vani, why are you the late today?" Someone needs to tell him that cool teenagers do'nt go to class until half of it is over. How come he did'nt even notice that the roof top canteen over-looked the boys college next door?

Some students are really innovative when it comes to cheating in class...they have strips of notes in their socks, under the watch or the belt n God knows where else, and some would scribble stuff on their hankies ..others had their friends throw some notes inside the class from the window after the exam had begun and some would come early n write on their alloted tables itself or will stick notes with a chewing gum under the tables n chairs..people have now been inspired by the Munnabhai MBBS movie to use their mobile phones to have their friends dictate their answers to them..ofcourse u need a wireless ear plug for this one....but the latest one i heard was that you can take pics of the text n diagrams in ur phone n zoom it n copy from there !!

Forgive me if i have introduced naughty thoughts into ur minds...but if u have some great experinces or ideas to share bout cheating..i'd love to hear 'em..!

Still struggling..

Gruelling days are here again...m up at 6 am(!) and still trying to convince myself to sit down and start preparing for today's exam...one Human Resourse Management comming right up!!

Yesterday's CAM was killing..! I think i might scrape through inspite of it...oh yea, i can fill some empty space with a lot of babble if i have to!

Over and out..!

Exams anyone?

Helllooooooooosssss!!

Thursday morning n I have to get up early...time to finally prepare for the exams starting tomorrow....i wonder where my books are...but i can only think of the holidays i wanna go on after my exams are over :) ...who wants to think about the exams....yuk!

Ive never had any examination fever or anything...just that by now it's become reeaalllly booring..! M starting with the CAM paper tomorrow..will keep u posted ....Wish me luck!

Water-logged!

A view of the backwaters of Alleypey, Kerela..awesome, is'nt it?

Tourists enjoying a houseboat..costs approx. 3000-4000 for a 24 hrs. tour including a night stay in the waters!

That's us...me, Sush and Sinu..from left to right, incase u did'nt guess...

A "boat-stop" along the banks..small boats and ferries are the main modes of transport for people living in the villages..

More pictures next time! Chao !

Lost in God's land..

An impromptu plan to land at Calicut (to catch up with an old friend from school days, Sushmita) n some surfing websites to see a glimpse of what I was heading for was also not enough to prepare me for what lay ahead….which mostly felt like a dream..!

Arriving from Calicut to Cochin to Aleppy after having had a ferry ride already, I thought I’d be prepared to handle another boat ride….but that was an underestimation of the day I’d spend ahead…


When we approached the backwaters, Sushmitha was looking forward to enjoying her long due holiday, I think Sinu( Sush's friend from college) just wanted to do some “bird-watching” while I was initially just worried bout getting sun burned and concerned about having a solid roof over the ferry !!


It was nice to have a small ferry to ourselves, and nicer to know that we’d get an off season discount in February…but the loose chairs on the upper deck were shaky n I decided to just settle on the floor n so did Sinu n Sushmitha (S&S) eventually.

The tour began n we settled down to the palm-fringed and tranquil backwaters which sometimes lead us to small canals and then suddenly came upon vast lake like openings only to lead us into another maze of canals…I instinctively felt like leaving behind breadcrumbs to find my way back !

It was just like the websites I had surfed through…and for a while I felt like surfing through one of them again, only this time I used a ferry instead of a mouse…n it took a while to realize that I was there for real ! Ofcourse the harsh sun woke me up soon n I went scurrying for cover cribbing about the sun burn…and the half-sleeved shirt was obviously a bad choice!

All of us had digital cameras and went berserk clicking pictures of the palms, the big, bold and beautiful houseboats, the under clad foreigners in them, the birds and the bees, the canals merging into each other and ofcourse, pictures of each other too! Sinu has the most awesome camera and it pays to sit right next to him!

The first half of the tour was spent just soaking in our environment, those awesome trees lining them, the small villages and fields we passed by and oh, I loved the ”boat-stop” on the way where villagers were waiting for a ferry to take them to their destinations. We stopped at one or two places on the way where we (read S&S) were able to admire all the birds n Sushmitha was brave enough to learn a bird’s name or two and utter it in every alternate sentence for the rest of the day!! Soon like all crusaders, we were hungry and thirsty and stopped at a field on the way to eat our bread and butter at bout noon.

Lunch made me perky and I was ready to do a Kate Winslet on the ferry but Sinu seemed energized enough to shoot me down n out if I rocked the boat! The ride continued through more canals and fields and after miserably trying to make small video clippings on my camera, I decided to let others do the hard work n just sit n admire the views and capture images in my mind. We missed having a music system at the point but I didn’t mind loosing track of time at all...though obviously we all had cell phones which occasionally buzzed and brought us back to the harsh realities of life with a thud !

The ferry driver stopped again at a small hutment where we were able to laze around again and have coconut water and delicious tender coconuts and I had this brilliant idea of growing a coconut tree in my backyard in delhi…and I met just my kind of bird too…a gorgeous red-head chick ! Sushmitha got really friendly with the hut owner’s dog and I think Sinu looked a tad jealous….even though there was the goat left for him to get introduced to…

From there we had to head back to the mainlands and the rest of the journey we all spend in being lulled into a dreamy sleep by the smooth waters and partially wished that this day would never end and partially looking forward to our next great day in this beautiful God’s own country. Thank you God for letting us in!!

Timeliness next to Godliness..

What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence? Time to get the fence repaired !!

Do you know what time is it? It's time for me to blog...actually it's time for me to study cos i have my exam for the management program comming up on friday..but did i prepare for it in good time? No ! Been there..done that several times.. and never learnt my lesson :( I wonder if we waste time, do we do a dis-service to time or to ourselves? But life itself is sooo about time now..is'nt it? Time to get up, time to leave for work, time to pick up the kids, time to take a nap, time to crib bout not having time !

Remember that time ...yea, the time when u were supposed to do something but did'nt...i remember lots of times like those...like when i should have continued to keep in touch with an old friend but did'nt, or when it was time to dump the jackass n i did'nt..! Or like I should have bought that flat when home loan rates were lower, or I should have done tax savings when i had the money.....I always know when it's time to do smthg, but somehow still don't ...lazy lazy!! My mom tells me it's time to get married now...so what time is it when one should get married....n how bout time to get married the second time round? ;) After the time when the first one is a boor...after the seven year itch?

It's been nice when i really have done things on time :) i always take timely holidays..

shucks ive spend so much time here...time to have dinner already n then to watch my favourite show..yea i know....i'll study later....

Good Morning..

Good Morning !! Back to work and time to sip some frothy coffee...i dnt really bother too much about what kind of coffee i drink, though coffee lovers have a whole lot of choices to make between their mokka, latte, instant, expresso, cappachino, etc..for me and most of my friends..coffee drinking was usually about being "different" and depended on how much money we had!! In school..when guys had tea in the school canteen, we snooty girls only had coffee! In college, it was usually cold coffee cos we were suddenly aware that tea n coffee were not so cool in such a hot open canteen ! When we went for movies, baristas and Cafe Coffee Days were beyond our budget..so it was coffee at the smaller restaurants with snacks which usually was instant coffee I think...now I feel I know my coffee slightly better since we can now afford to go to the Baristas n order the latte or the mokka with an all knowing look on our faces!!

Just a few days ago mom had looked pensively at the coffee mugs and said ...we don't really know how to make a great cup of coffee with coffee beans...we should, incase some needs to be served to guests..! With mom, a lot of things in the house are about these "guests"...new and expensive table covers are kept inside to be used when we are going to have guests at home..so are the pure white curtains, the embroidered bedsheets, and expensive cutlery and ofcourse sofa covers will need to be removed... I once asked mom how long will an unannounced guest have to wait at the door while we scurry around renovating the house inside...I guess that softened her stand a bit...now when i'm having friends over..she does'nt bother bout a thing!!

Day 2:

Day2: I'm back!! And I already feel like a confident writer today...i guess that 'cos i'm a talkative person anyway ?!! All i'm really doing is talking to this post here...? I'm less confident 'bout the reason for my blogging as yet...or for anyone blogging..but when i told my colleague today that I made a blog...she was so excited bout the concept that now she wants to make one too...says dil ki baat karne ko koi toh mile!! So people r blogging to make themselves heard, express their strong opinions or light jokes, or just cos it's a fashion fad which no self -respecting urbanite would dream of missing out on! And how can I forget all those shaayars whose shayari their siblings r not willing to listen to...hehe..

Ive been through quite a few blogs here and are from people who r doing this for fun...but some people are writing blogs very professionally...and they r very creative with it too...even keeping track of their visitors n making regular posts n all...maybe blogging fulfills a certain void in their life ? It will surely become an integral part of it think....well whatever the reason to write ....let's not forget to have fun on the way :)

Bloggermania!

The first time I heard the term "blog", I thought it was short for a log book..I almost had it right. There was an article in some newspaper (about a year ago?) about this phenomena on the net called blogging and it enlightened me to the new craze of the world...not that it succeded in making me crazy bout it. It seemed like a strange thing to do...just scribble your thoughts and lay them open for all and sundry to read you like a book? Why? I looked at my mom and thought...what if she could read my thoughts..phew!! Thereafter, I just went back to my old flame on the net..yahoo chat! Ocassionally someone sent me a link to a blog which i ignored but I could see the noose getting tighter around me..but it was not until after my holiday to kerela in feb. this year that i really took a good look at a blog ...when a friend prompted me to work on a draft blog bout the holidays. I took it up with the reluctance a non-swimmer would have for the deep end of the pool...but i managed to swim through i guess...and now here I am ...with my very own first blog, courtesy my friend's encouragement and free time sponsored by my employer! And guess what, mom's not that internet savvy yet..so i'm not scared...yet! :)





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