Pondering Perceptions

Ek Garam Chai ki Pyaali

2012-01-23T23:50:00.001+05:30

I'm not a Sallu fan, so this post is NOT about him; you may gladly move on to the next blog

This is post a cutting review of the Book Hot Tea Across India by Rishad Saam Mehta and hence the title. Published by Tranquebar Books is priced at INR 195.
The mild yellow book cover is designed with some snippets of the various chapters of the author's journeys inside and the tea rings for the obvious hero of the book.

(Picture courtesy : thehindu.com)

If you loved the countless road journey kind inspired movies or TV shows- ZNMD, Euro Trip, Road Trip, etc. or even enjoy Highway on my Plate- you get my drift, you're bound to love this book. Rishad gives a monologue of his various journeys alone or with his friends across the length and breadth of the country revolving around having a hot brew every where he goes. Each journey is enveloped well with a chai ki pyaali be it the cold of the north, the humid of south, the cutting of the west or yak like tea of the east.

Perfect for those who enjoy the spontaneous, drop-of-a-hat traveling. The author reprimands people who are all gung ho about traveling on a whim and do a U-turn; all in all the momentary bravado:

I've been in umpteen situations where I've heard people loudly declare that they're fed up of their routine and mundane existence and all I have to do is to make the call and they'd be ready for a road trip at the drop of a hat. 'What's the point of existing without excitement? I'm ready to kick routine, hit the rod and live on the wild side', are some of the things I've heard and my answer is always the condescending smile. Because when I do actually make the call, I rarely find the spontaneity that seemed to overflow at the party with the drink in hand. There is usually a 'horrible, demanding boss' not granting leave or a 'sulking spouse' throwing a tantrum'

Rishad aptly describes his journeys with graphic descriptions at certain turns, keeping the reader's sensibilities and tongue-in-cheek humor that colourfully paints his incidents and encounters.
Of all the experiences named aptly as chapters my favorites are 'The Highway Man and a Buffalo Instead of a Can', 'Jolly Jhunjhunwala and the Great Bike Chase' and 'And then there's the food of course' and ‘May we Please Kindly burn your car?’.

Fascinating book to say the least, it is must read for those who are inspired to travel sometime ever in their life for the love of the spontaneity; own a bullet and would kick start it to life just to hear that 350cc engine sing or even enjoy that odd cup of tea on a lone lamp lit street in the foggiest weather one could possibly imagine.

This one's a keeper!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

My First Book Review: The Iron Tooth

2011-12-05T23:12:00.001+05:30

When Blogadda selected me to review this book, I was super excited. Two reasons:
1. I love fiction and fantasy related stories
2. I've never reviewed a book.... EVER!

I mean there was this time during school where we had a reading period to read the books at the library and then talk about in in front of the class; which gave yours truly a shiver down the spine.
Before I start digressing, lets get down to brass tacks :

I am reviewing the book

*drumroll please*

"The Iron Tooth" authored by "Prithvin Rajendran"
First thought when I received the book through BlogAdda's program was 'Yipppeeeeee! a FREE book !' :P
Second thought: Its a signed copy from the Author himself. Another of the firsts!
And then saw the pretty cover of the book -

Very medieval, archaical feel to the whole book. A brave Knight in shining armour and a beautiful Princess...
I was elated at the thought of a perfectly weaved story of magical creatures and mysteries. Classified under children and teens category of books, its bound to be picked up and read; proof being two of my friend's nieces were intrigued and flipped through the book as it lay idle.

The beginning page of the book has inscribed symbols on it which works with the book's whole magical theme. The mystery of the symbols is revealed the latter pages of the book as the alphabets of Nivthrip a language that the Baks, elite soldiers who patrolled Faerum's castle understand and are communicated with. (While reading the book, I had an Eureka moment-If you noticed, Nivthrip is an anagram of the author's first name)

Prologue:
I felt the book's prologue captivates you right from the beginning. Starts with the girl's story of how she was thrown out of her home for being pregnant whilst unmarried. She seeks refuge from her mother's sister but not for long as an unruly mob demanded her to be dead. However, perturbed by the reactions all around, she leaves the country of Sumrak and eventually settles as the foot of the Mala mountains. She goes into labour and delivers: one baby and another a Troll !

Coming to the beginning chapters, it starts regarding the mighty King Dashtum and his Kingdom of Dashter. Dashtum marries a beautiful commoner Frisix and has a son Darum. After King Dashtum passes away, Darum falls in evil ways so much that so that he ignored the castle courtier Elinix's warnings and threw him out of the castle. Then the story talks about King Darum's daughter Princess Nova's foolishness. Too proud of her beauty, she rejects proposals for her marriage and insults and offends the powerful Emperor Faerum of Fallix for his mole. King Darum pleads to Emperor Faerum for Princess Nova's forgiveness but is unsuccessful.

Next the story dives into the land of Fallix and Emperor Faerum's "alliance" with the Vampires and the Medusas which gives Faerum complete control over them.

Emperor Faerum summons the six spell-casters who have different magical powers from different lands forged into a trust called Trust of Seven. Philipisa from Espagnax, Henroya of Francaix, Ranfus of Italax, Schujake from Germagnax, Vajarka from Portugalax and Rekakov from Hoglandava. (Not really brilliant with the name creation: Italax for Italy, Philipisa for Philip).
The whole idea behind the trust was to put a curse on the Kingdom of Dashter by seeking the help of the immortal the Custodian of the First Light. The curse keeps Princess Nova isolated in her tower surrounded by Zombies and the Kingdom of Dashter bares a sea of gloom. Darum pleads for forgiveness from the Custodian of the First Light but commits suicide in vain.

Kingdom of Greatix is described further in the book. The author has drawn maps in the end pages to help visualize the Kingdoms and their neighbours which guides the reader. Grantum rules over Greatix which has twelve towns out of which story focuses on the town named Ballos. Author now focuses on the inhabitant of Ballos' Ushix's three sons namely Lasixx, Enwixx, and the youngest of them all Princix. The three brothers set out of Ballos to seek their fortune. On their path the the brothers come face to face with magical creatures, combat them with some magic and seek their fortune and Lasixx and Enwixx leave with their fortune. Princixx ventures forth and receives powerful and magical gifts : two wooden sticks, armoued plate and rusted helmet, a mace and a glove.The tale of the brothers' journey is perhaps a resemblance to a old fable, a name I cannot recall at the moment.
Further in the story Princixx competes in a contest and completes the tasks by battling various magical creatures. I felt the description of the battle and the following are well written however it's an uncanny reminder me of Rowling's genius work in Goblet of Fire with the Trolls, Maze and the Sphinx's riddle.

The story continues with Princixx's journey with Hammil and Candelbre as the Group of Three meeting other magical creatures not mentioned till now - ogre, dwarf, owl, octopus, locust. The author also describes his real life event enveloped into the Chapter 12.

Overall Review:
The Chapters are smaller than usual to my liking but one can flip through them easily. What I found was the storytelling initially lacks smooth flow. What bound the chapters was the italicized raw poetic verses, however, some chapters were full of them which wasn't really necessary. The archaic English is used in the initial chapters for communication between the characters but suddenly disappears in the further chapters. The plot is okayish with the use of maps and abundance of characters, some unwanted.
Overall I think if the targeted readers love the whole idea of a story woven with Fantasy and Magic then they're bound to like it, albeit with some patient reading, if not give it a clear miss.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

C.I.D 101

2011-12-05T19:00:00.001+05:30

"Ab jail mein baithke chakki pisoo"
"Dayaa, darwaaza todd do"

You think I've lost my marbles? Well, not completely...only that I am talking about C.I.D, Indian Telly's home grown C.S.I for over 10 years
To introduce you to the world of Crime and Punishment.. I'll let my friend, writer Adaalat and C.I.D. superfan Ani do the talking er... blogging in this post (I hope my dear readers miss me :P)

"Television today is abuzz with reality shows like swayamvars, (Big)bossing over fellow colleagues to gain quick and cheap publicity in order to revive fading careers and daily soaps having disputes over “jaydaad” so that real beta gets control of the property while the “sautela” beta gets kicked in the backside. And yes, if you want to laugh out loud then you have comedy shows on the platter as well – comedy artistes cracking jokes on celebs or on the judges themselves – most of the time the jokes being too embarrassing to hear in front of mummy and papa. The daily soaps depict women who are at the extreme edge of being wicked and go to the maximum extent possible to be cruel to those who come in their “career” goal of being the most influential member of the clan. They just know to dress well even in their homes and are at their best even when going to bed….wow…as i wonder, is this the reality?

Now again coming back to the main issue – crime is being depicted in the most comical way in our television world. This can be to some extent funny and to some people it’s totally absurd and doesn’t impress them at all. There are TV shows that come and go like the monsoon. However, there are some shows that have come to stay – not just on the television but in the minds of the people and they have such a huge impact that you will find people who have grown up watching these kind of shows. No wonder, CID on Sony is one hell of a show I have grown up watching right since my school days.

The entire concept based on a fact that the police does not exist at all and all the criminal cases are handled by the CID – a centralized way of handling the cases. Well, the team comprises ACP Pradyuman, Sr. Insp. Abhijeet, Sr. Insp. Daya (Slapmaster Daya), Insp. Fredricks, Insp. Vivek, Insp. Kajal, Insp. Sachin and Insp. Poorvi. Not to forget the Einstein of the entire team – Dr. Salunkhe – the greatest forensic scientist on the face of the planet (jo laash se bhi sawal jawab kar sakta hai) and his assistant Dr. Tarika. These people operate from their head office which is a huge building in Mumbai just for the above people – efficient fixed asset utilization as I call it. If anyone is familiar with the location, the location is none other than the area in front of Inorbit mall Malad!!
The team is responsible for handling any emergency and they come to the rescue of the citizens when they receive a call from a person in distress or a vigilant citizen (all they have to say is “mai CID ko phone karta hoon” ) and here they come in their trusted Qualis vehicle which they have been using through these years. Their entry is a typical one with a screeching noise of the brakes (screeeeeech!!!!) and they come out of the vehicle one after the other!!

The show catches on your attention right from the beginning with ACP having his typical style of inquiring the suspects with his thumb, index finger and middle finger rotating clockwise and anticlockwise at great speed (ye khoon kiya to kiya kisne???) People are still puzzled that he is still ACP all these years…but let me tell you one thing – if you really want to enjoy the show, then switch off your conventional way of thinking and JUST WATCH!!! The case usually begins with the CID team enjoying in the CID bureau cracking jokes on Fredricks or talking about some funny incident until they receive a call from someone. The team looks out for some evidences at the crime scene and they take it all to the forensic lab where Dr. Salunkhe is all set to give all a mystical experience of his knowledge of science and technology. The computers in his lab are faster than most supercomputers IBM has made and are so efficient that they can work without an operating system. The computers can regenerate original faces from tonsured ones within seconds and the CID database is always updated with the photograph, fingerprints and criminal history of each and every “mujrim” in town who is the probable murderer.

Even the CIA or the NATO must not be having such a database. I suppose they must take a cue from CID!! Many times the death of a person occurs due to some poison (which mostly comes from snakes and spiders in Australia, Africa or Amazon basin) the names of the chemicals causing the death are also hilarious – like Venericoccium Diabasium, Tetraminta and many such authentic names that even Google does not return relevant results. Err…. sorry…did I say Google?? It’s not GOOGLE, its KOOGLE – a high tech search engine used in the CID lab to search virtually any information about any object or person on this planet. A face recognition technology machine can also match the skull with the actual photograph of the person to check if he is the same person or not – it’s a latest face detection technology which makes Nikon and Canon jealous. Oh Yes – how can I forget this? The team can zoom in to a blurred image captured by CCTV footage and obtain a clear picture of the gumnaam aadmi (ye to khooni hai!!!) So powerful is the zoom that it renders all the latest digital cameras useless.

The death can also occur due to some fishbone or “chuhe ka baal” stuck in the esophagus or due to some “zehreeli “gas whose chemical composition is not known to anyone – even Wikipedia. Only Salunkhe and his team possess the necessary competency to crack complex chemical compounds!!! I remember one case in which Salunkhe determines the brand of the nail polish found on the fingernails of a laash just by looking at it under a microscope!! According to Salunkhe, the chemical composition of the nail polish belonged to only one particular company. That’s the most hilarious way of recognizing a brand!! I also remember one case where the murder was done using an electronic “makkhi” which was nothing but a great piece of innovation which would make Steve Jobs jealous. It was a honey bee like robot which can be operated by remote control. The “zeher” was injected with the help of a sting implanted in the robot. Isse khooni darwaja band hone ke bawajood khoon karke bhaag sakta hai!!! Aur kisiko kano kaan khabar tak nahi hogi!! The CID team also possesses a special spray which sprayed on any object having traces of blood on it; it shows a characteristic color on the object indicating that “is cheez par to khoon laga hua hai!!” And if you think that you will escape the long arm of the CID then you are wrong. You better be careful because the spray works even when the blood is wiped off from the object!!! Based on all these scientific evidences, and enquiring the suspects and eye witnesses, the team narrows down their search on an individual – mostly a close relative or friend of the deceased.

The team also has the capability of zeroing down to just one paanwala or a kirana shop amongst thousands present in the city in search of the suspect!! And there is something more to this – the kirana shop owner maintains a record of his customers and provides a pucca bill for every purchase made!! This enables the CID team to track down the suspect even if they just have an invoice of the purchased merchandise they come across while looking out for clues!!! The tasks involving heavy physical work is handled effortlessly by Daya – who is an expert in breaking doors of any apartment where the resident does not open the door purposely or there is no one in the house (probably a “laash” may be found in the apartment in such circumstances). ACP orders “Daya…darwaza tod do!!” and there you have Daya breaking the strongest of the doors by a push from his shoulders and the door gives way for the entire team!! If you watch it regularly, you will observe that the one who tends to give the maximum possible “gawaahi” and who is saddened the most by the death of the victim emerges “khooni” in the end!! The khooni usually tries to run in all possible directions until all the options are exhausted when he finds himself surrounded by the CID team. The final punch is delivered by Daya who slaps the khooni as hard as he can with a sound loud enough to put a diwali cracker to shame!! The murderer denies initially but confesses his crime ASAP when a tight slap from Daya lands on his cheek. “haan!!! Maine hi uska khoon kiya hai!!!” The slap from Daya makes criminals confess automatically without the need of any narco analysis test. It directly transports the criminal from the place of getting caught to a chair in the CID bureau. I wish to recall an episode where the team went to Malaysia upon knowing the whereabouts of the murderer. The murderer was comfortably swimming in a pool of a 5 star hotel and he gets caught at the poolside. Daya slaps hard and the next scene is in CID bureau in Mumbai!!! The show ends with ACP sounding the final judgment - “ab jail me baithkar khoon ki planning karna faasi ka order aane tak”!!!

So entertaining is this journey that I can never stop laughing at the incidents shown in the show. Even though knowing that this is not possible in real life, it makes me laugh because I believe that there is a huge audience who watches such shows and get entertained. It is a huge stress buster - believe me and I see to it that I never miss a single episode. Such shows not only depict the crime and criminals in a unique way but also they change the very perspective of the people about crime. We all have a hectic work schedule and we all are in search of a break. This show gives me just that. There is no waste of time watching it because such shows are different from the rest – at least they don’t teach our children any antics which fading celebs perform on screen. Yes, the things are too funny to be true but the show takes me to a different level of imagination – as these things cannot be true in any situation. It’s not about conventional logic being used all the time. CID is all about the unconventional things that you cannot even think of. The things depicted are so absurd that it becomes a really good thing to watch!! So just sit back, relax with your tub of popcorn and enjoy one of the longest running shows in the history of Indian Television!!!"

MasterChefIndia2 IndiBlogger Meet: The Whole Scoop

2011-10-17T02:10:00.000+05:30

(I had to post this before it stops trending or before I forget; whichever's first)

I've never been on a TV Show set before. (Wait, does being in the audience of Kaun Banega Crorepati Junior some eons ago count?) Then, it's my second time on a TV Show set. And the only reason that compelled me to hit "Register" at the Indiblogger site was the pure fascination with MasterChef Australia.
Been hooked, booked and cooked (pardon the horrible pun) by the earlier seasons of MasterChef Australia, I expected the Indian version to be spicier (again, pardon!)

Alas! Akshay Kumar shattered my very hope of a TV show revolving around a culinary theme, with his constant his raving of being a chef in Bangkok (like who cares?)
Anyways, I readied myself for a chance of meeting the Chefs in person, eating free food, meeting a ton of bloggers, eating free food, visiting the famous R. K. Studios, and did I mention free food?

The day for me was long and tiring with loads of traveling for project work (If i remember correctly: Vashi-Thane-Little known place in Vasai-Vasai-Dadar-Chembur) I reached the venue. Serendipity if I could call it, met fellow blogger from the last IndiBlogger meet Viyoma (@archi_palego) of Vyo's World, right outside the sets. Trotting in, around the fancy award ceremony like tables and chairs, I sat right in the front, absorbing every drop of atmosphere on the set- I was so awestruck.

As the Bloggers congregated, my stomach churned with excitement...and hunger- I'd just remembered I'd skipped lunch. My Blog-a-ton friend @dishitd spotted me after I'd updated my facebook status via phone. Talk about IT connecting people, literally ! Anoop took the stage like the last Mumbai IndiBlogger meet

"I just can't believe I am at the actual sets of MasterChefIndia" was the first thing I blurted out when my name popped on screen for the 30 seconds of fame. I couldn't hide how awestruck I was! To think that 14 months of public speaking during my MBA would cover up my inner voice make me ready for a witty cover up. Nope. Not today.

After all the introductions, we knew what was next; the welcoming of the star chefs. Giddy with excitement, I clapped hard for chefs Kunal Kapoor and Ajay Chopra, harder for Vikas Khanna @vkhanna1. Yeah, sue me for being smitten by him! Chefs Kunal and Ajay gave their introductions and spoke on what cooking food means to them. Its not JUST a job, its a passion. Respect.

Undoubtedly, the chefs were down to earth to say the least, no airs about themselves, specially Chef Vikas Khanna. To be honest, I was expecting him to carry an american accent, but I was wrong and glad to be wronged when he spoke in flawless Punjabi while narrating his story of his childhood. Sheer Passion and right Attitude.

Then bloggers were asked to share their emotional link with food; be it a distant memory or a lasting impression; of their mums, grandmums and aunts in the kitchen, of missing their loving mum who passed, of the lingering aroma of yours truly's late grandmum's Mysorepak.....

Indeed there is a connection which we all Indians have vegetarians, non-vegetarians and jains, it's a aromatic bonding. As Chef Vikas said "Food is an emotional thing, really sacred to Indians"

After the heartening talk came the most awaited moment!
*Drumroll please*
.
.
.
.
.
The High-Tea !
...or as aptly tweeted then by a blogger 'High tea is for Brits, we are Indians so Chai- Naashtaa'

(Picture Courtesy: @rahul_ssg Rahul Singh)

Food was good, a bit cold by the time I clicked snaps with the chefs, around the sets and with Sanguine (@sanghitanandi). Highlight of my day was forever chatting with 'Viku' as he spoke of how compelled he was to return to India after more than a decade when his mom rebuked and reminded him what he needs to give back to the country that made him what he was today. The recently anointed Michelin Star Chef for Junoon was utterly humble yet so chatty with me as I listened intently and gawked at him non-stop.

(Picture Courtesy: @starplus_indya)

Post all the Chai-Coffee-Nashtaa -which might I add was FREE- were the Skill Challenges set out for innocent Bloggers, perhaps some who like yours truly will more often use knifes to eat with than to cook with.

Display of skills or lack thereof was demonstrated for the Dicing an Apple, Julienne-ing a Ginger and Chopping a potato for french fries. Those with the skills were rewarded with Shoppers Stop Gift Vouchers.
I didn't win a voucher, but surely got to learn or refine my chopping, dicing and updating fancy culinary language skill. I have now sworn to win a voucher, hook or crook, next Blogger meet. Are you listening @renieravin ?

Taste Challenge didn't take place perhaps due to time crunch but the illustrious Mystery Box Challenge was played. All we had to do was to identify all the ingredients underneath and come up with a creative recipe for a dish. Hah! I could nail this, I thought. My creativity was questioned when I drew a blank !
Its not easy, I agreed with Chef Kunal when he explained how one should discard the top of head ideas when they're too simple and keep thinking with various permutations and combinations till that one idea clicks in place. And just like that he came up with Coconut and Jaggery Mousse with hint of Lemon Grass !
True master.

Not to forget the numerous injections of encouragement I got to blog about this on what the meet was all about from the start. We left after we gathered up our things got all the freebies and goody bags (MasterChef Logo print Apron, MasterChefIndia Logo Thermal sensing Mug, An IndiBlogger Tee)

I left with a memorable and wonderful experience to say the least.

Hope against Hope

2011-08-14T13:05:00.000+05:30

What is Freedom?

Freedom is about donning the Tri-color on your sleeve for that one day…

Freedom is about buying that tri-color flag/badge/pinwheel/sticker for 15th August and chucking it unceremoniously couple of days later...

Freedom is about incorporating blue, saffron, white and green into fashionable garments…

Freedom is about heavy discounts on your favourite department store…

Freedom is about the maha-bachat discounts in a hypermarket and the “independence day discount” on buffet meals at your favourite restaurant….

Freedom is about watching soaps, comedy shows, music talent shows, award functions, repeat tele-casts of old TV shows, repeat tele-casts of repeat-telecasts of award functions…

Freedom is about singing “Meri desh ki dharti” “Ae mere watan ke logon” on 15th August…

Freedom is about realistic fighting for freedom in fictional movies…

Freedom is all about praying that 15^th August falls on a Friday or a Monday so that we may get that extended weekend from work/studies/family obligations

Freedom is about sound bites by pop music sensations on the radio, snapshots of the country’s popular filmstars on a revitalized video of national anthem….

Freedom is about the mandatory assembly in schools, colleges, at work, public institutions for the hoisting of the flag and the complimentary burfi….

Freedom is about sitting in a different country remembering the mandatory assembly in schools, colleges, at work, public institutions for the hoisting of the flag and the complimentary burfi...

Freedom is about introducing a company’s new product range or a new logo or a new ad campaign…

Freedom is about trending Independence Day tweets on Twitter, Inspirational Statuses on Facebook, posting video snippets of movies with freedom struggle storylines and sending “happy independence day” SMSes to all in your friend circle.

Freedom is about cake cutting and inauguration...

Freedom is about writing inspiring posts about our past leaders...

Freedom is about drawing competitions and poster making competitions...

Freedom is reduced to a theme….

Freedom is now commercialized, gift-wrapped, scented and couriered to your doorstep with service tax and duty as applicable....

Freedom is about reducing 15^th August to just another public holiday…

Isn’t Freedom opening up of cultures, values and ethics?

Isn’t freedom about the right to vote, right to educate and the right to information?

Isn’t freedom allowing women to work, agreement to inter-caste marriages, gradual acceptance of LGBT?

Isn’t freedom about winning an international sport once limited to some races?

Isn’t freedom about living anywhere on the surface of this earth?

Isn’t freedom about being economically independent?

Is it really okay to undervalue the spirit of independence?

Why are we taking freedom for granted? Why are we undermining the value of freedom?

Why are we still enslaved by thought that "freedom was one achieved 64 years ago and that I cannot contribute anything to it?"

Now, there is one man, who fought for the country decades ago….

And still is….

but not against the British,

nor the Chinese

or the Pakistanis

It’s about the greater evil : CORRUPTION

Can we see India FREE from corruption?

We aren’t really free when we are bound by our own evils!

This post is solely dedicated to Anna Hazare and his followers who are giving us hope against hope.

Change

2011-03-05T23:11:00.001+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton Season 2 edition 18; the eighteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

'At first I was afraid I was petrified
Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my side;
But then I spent so many nights
Thinkin' how you did me wrong
And I grew strong'

Ashley sang Gloria Gaynor aloud time and again to her heart’s content, unperturbed of the fact this song was no longer “in “. Bouncing off her bed, she rummaged through her wardrobe for an outfit that would make her look “fabulous”.
Fabulous, once again.

She took a sidewards glance at her wheelchair; her support, weakness; dependence.

Not anymore.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

The lyrics are from Gloria Gaynor's song "I will survive". Meant to write it as 55 fiction; exceeded 3 words. Italicized lyrics are not a part of the 55 Fiction.

MBA=Mind your Business Anna

2011-01-09T23:19:00.002+05:30

I'm back and unapologetic for my absence from bloggerspace.
Since life while an MBA is hectic to say the least. I guess by the end of the course I'll turn into Much Below Average instead of Master of Business Administration.

So when I'm asked the usual questions.....
Friend: Hey, long time no see!
Me: Yeah, good to see you after long. Have some time to catchup?
Friend: Sure, I've got all the time in the world! So what are you doing now-a-days?
Me: I'm studying MBA
Friend: Ooookay. So how is it?
Me: Let see (takes a deep breath)

Marketing does not mean a casual trip to the market anymore
How much ever I try to avoid, I end up using words like "motivation" for compliment, "disposable income" for pocket money.
I demand my raise in pocket money through a PowerPoint Presentation with a SWOT and PEST analysis and state my friend' pocket money variations as 'Competitor Study'

When somebody says 'Model', what pops to my head is GE or BCG
I've been unofficially banned from mega-marts like Hypercity, Food Bazaar and Big Bazaar as I keep hassling their male customers with questions like "Why haven't you tried fairness creams?" and irritate female customers with "At what distance do you hold your deodorant can from your armpit?"
Was appalled to know that one can generate a better revenue by selling cutting chai in a tapri in outside any college/ office as compared to preparing Tea at Taj
While eating Vada Pav on roadside, I end up asking the monthly turnover of their stall vis-a-vis McDonald's
I am told that a roadside vegetable vendor might make more money in a month without an MBA, than I will with my first ever salary immediately after MBA
People selling knick knacks in trains are no more sales persons but ' Budding entrepreneurs from Dharavi'
I day dream about Michael Porter, Philip Kotler and Steve Jobs
My Facebook relationship status reads 'In a Relationship with Marketing'!

Friend: (Staggers to leave) Ohhhkay... nice chatting up with you... gotta rush!
Me: I thought you said you 'had all the time in the world'!
(Sigh)

Funny graphs images courtesy branflakesforbreakfast.com and blameitonthevoices.com

Calorie Collar

2010-08-24T20:03:00.000+05:30

Do you crave that forbidden second helping of chips?

Or do you wish that yummy portion of disallowed yet sumptuous and mouthwatering paneer tikka masala did not put you off your calorie chart?

Does the WHO's warning of Heart patients in India rising phenomenally by the year 2020 resound an impending doom?

Are you just super lazy or do you simply H-A-T-E working out unless you have been coaxed, cajoled or threatened?

Now you needn't worry anymore because here is your savior:

The Calorie Collar(C)TM

The only foolproof solution to your healthy eating nightmares. (Atkins, Weight Watchers, will bow in shame.)

What is it?
It is a cylindrical device shaped like a collar containing a microchip device and is wi-fi, GPS and bluetooth enabled. Made of a lightweight metal, corrosive resistant, insulated with nylon plastic which is available in 256 vibrant or camouflaging colors to match your outfit.
Contains an inbuilt body scanner monitoring device, a tiny hard disk and processor.

How to use it?
Men wear it underneath their shirt collar. Women can sport them on their wrists like a bracelet.

OK. How does it work?

With an inbuilt body scanner it scans the wearer's body composition and instantly updates the vital statistics, blood pressure, body fat, bone weight and other crucial metabolic parameters to its database.
These parameters will be used to determine what exactly should be the wearer's normal statistics.
And keeping these parameters in mind, the Calorie Collar (C) will then monitor what you put in your mouth.
If you exceed the allowed calorie limit, Calorie Collar (C) will calculate the excess calories will proceed to regulate them.
If you are short of the optimum calorie limit, Calorie Collar (C) send signals and reminders to you make up

Eg: If your daily dietary allowance should be 2200 Kcal, and you've exceeded the limits, Calorie Collar has the ability to send signals to remind you to exercise the excess off.

What are these signals?

First Signal - Mild and gentle audio reminders by Microsoft Mary to visit the treadmill.
Second Signal - Provocative and stern reminder by Steve Austin's voice to work out immediately.
Third and final signal - Non-verbal mild yet non-threatening periodic shocks surging through your body and which will guarantee to provoke you to workout or consume the remaining allowed calories.

Consecutively, it moderates and analyzes your progress level or regress level with and sends an weekly report to your physician.

Seems annoying, can't I just manually switch it off or break it?

Your physician and the people at Calorie Collar (C) can only switch it off till you get to your healthy goal.
If you try to break it will send off an alarm to your physician to take the next stringent action.
If you are successful in breaking it you shall be slapped a very very very exorbitant fine. (Trust me, don't mess with Calorie Collar (C))
Its even water proof, shock proof and GPS enabled. (So forget about drowning it, zapping it or throwing it over a cliff)

Recommended for:
Those who are lazy and life-threateningly obese with no hope of self-control.

Calorie Collar (C) 2.0
Newer developments by our team at Calorie Collar (C) are striving to work towards an improved version of the device. Features to be included:
Facebook and Twitter updates if you violate the dietary allowance over 5 times in a month.
A Hall of Shame website for defaulters.

So think twice before sneakily popping that second (but actually fourth) helping of hot sugary gulab jamun.

This post has been published by me as a part of the IndiBlogger 'My Demand' Contest; sponsored by HP. To vote for my post and be part of the next edition, visit here.

MindReader Mane Maker

2010-08-24T17:47:00.003+05:30

To all men out there,
How many of you are scared to death of losing/ graying of your luscious mane due to aging?
Do you have a problem getting up early in the morning looking into the mirror and cribbing at the sight of that unwanted stub?
Do you think would prefer to get a clean shave/ styling from the barber than by doing it yourself?
Do you wish to get a proper Van Dyke or those excellently crafted sideburns to woo your girl?

To all women out there,

How many times in a year do you have to visit your beautician to wax/ thread your skin and have wallowed in sheer pain?
Do you think that expenses and side effects of Laser hair removal scare you beyond your wits' end?
How many of you ladies think that abandoning creams, waxes and laser treatments would lower your self esteem because of hairgrowth like an Amazon Rainforest?

Fear not. Here is the brand new technology called:

"MindReader Mane Maker" (M3 for short)

MindReader Mane Maker??!! What is this thing?
Its a small genetically engineered capsule containing microbots with an antennae signal that "reads your mind" and makes hair follicle grow according to your wish.
Our researchers have modified microbots with signal transduction capability to edit and modify the hair cycle.

What are these Microbots?
Micro organisms which have been "programmed" to act as nanobots.

So how does it work?

The capsule works on the principle of the consumer's will.
It sends a signal to the brain demanding the input for the cut/ style/ trim or epilation.
The desired signal transmitted by the brain is relayed by the microbots to the hair follicles and will modify it to suit the desired outcome.
And voila! you have that luscious crop the way you desired it!

Do those microbot thingies use batteries or need chargers?
No.

Sounds complex. How to use it?
Consume it.

What do you mean by consumption? Like an enema?
*Facepalm*
NO. Its NOT a suppository. Swallow it silly!

Can I swallow it with my freshly squeezed orange juice?
Yes. Consume it with pulp, without pulp, concentrate..... You get my point?

How long does the effect last?
Lasts for a day. So have a new haircut and style everyday!

Cool. But who all can use it?
Anyone and Everyone who can swallow.

Coming soon:

MindReader Mane Maker 2.0

Will include:

tanning protection
colored hairgels
tattoo
piercings

This post has been published by me as a part of the IndiBlogger 'My Demand' Contest; sponsored by HP. To vote for my post and be part of the next edition, visit here.

Perception

2010-08-18T15:06:00.001+05:30

I sense my senses

experience the magic;

A twinkle in the warm sunshine

when my fingertips brush the leaf tip

A glisten of the morning dew

when I hear the pitter patter of rain

A flutter in the autumn breeze

when my long hair falls on my face

An aroma of sweet smells

when I caress a rosebud

I shiver in the winter cold

feeling goosebumps on my skin

I pray a solemn prayer in His abode

To those who have the power of sight

May their life be as magical

as I 'see' it without light

I am participating in the WeBlog's Sleepy Sunday contest! You may read other participating posts HERE

Vino

2010-08-12T18:04:00.000+05:30

I may not be a Sommelier or an Oenologist but I just adore the aromas of Wines.
This photograph was taken by me at a fine dining restaurant in Mumbai, India where for the very first time in my life I saw a plethora of choices for Wine lovers. Be it Bordeaux, Pinot Noir, Chianti, Merlot or even the famous Napa Valley wine of California - They had it all.

If only I had the bank balance of a Liquor Baron, I'd sit in the very same restaurant with a stem glass full of fine Bordeaux. Ah! the finer tastes of life....

To see the others' Thursday Challenge for Theme Beverage, visit here

Goodbye

2010-08-07T00:13:00.003+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 13; the thirteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

THAT'S IT!!! I'VE HAD IT!
I'm coming clean.....
YES! I'm having an affair. So listen up.....

I cannot stay away from you. I really really need you now more than ever. You see, its the bond that we have for more than 20 years. How can you forget that? Okay, so it was me who moved away from you since I had to start a new phase in my life but then again its your fault that you entice me into your captivity all the time. I cannot help myself.

Be it the drive at Worli Sea Link, the catamaran ride near The Gateway of India, the evening frenzy at Juhu beach and the Chowpatty mania, the lush green view at Chhota Kashmir or the escapade at Essel World, I can always seem to recall all those beautiful moments with you. I still vividly reminisce the deliciously tempting Sardar Pav Bhaji, crisp goldenVada Pav, tasty Zunkha Bhakar, tangy Paanipuri, yummy Bhelpuri, or Bandra's Jays Sandwich that I so relished. The countless cutting chais, juice at Haji Ali Juice centre, Keema Pav at Stadium's, Martin's Goan fish curry or steaming Momos- I cannot tell which was most appetizing.

Damn! Why does being away from you drag me back in a BEST bus or Local Train ride to the nearest station. So what if you've changed your name?... I still see people calling with both your old and new names. Who can forget the time you suffered on 1993 blasts, the twin train blasts, 26/11 attack and 26/7 floods? I cannot. You were hurt and so was I. But, you came back strong alive and still kicking. All thanks to prayers sought at Siddhivinayak, Mahalakshmi, Haji Ali, Parsi Agiary and Mount Mary Church.

Year after year we rejoiced and celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi, colorful Holi, holy Durga Puja, joyous Mount Mary Bandra Fair, Koli Mahotsav, Nag Panchami, Gudi Padva, Id, Pateti, Onam and the splendour of Kala Ghoda Art Festival.
That doesn't mean that I adore the frequent water-cuts, roads in potholes, hawkers on foothpaths and flyovers that you have created. I still haven't come in terms to them.

Yet it is because of you that the Tatas, the Ambanis, the Jindals, the Mangeshkars are grateful and many those who aspire to become like them some day, come to you.
Be it Marine Drive, Film City or the Bandstand you have avid followers. The Khans, the Bachchans or the rest of the Bollywood are forever indebted to you and are nothing but mush without your spotlight.

I know it is not fair to love you too much. Like a million other people you have stolen my heart too.
But I'm adamant, my love affair with you will continue.
Be it Boston or Bostwana, Melbourne or Madras, Chennai or Chinchpokli....

I still love you MUMBAI. Always have and always will..... :)
I can NEVER say Goodbye.

Dear Navi Mumbai,
I love your pristine clean right-angled roads, adore your hawker free footpaths and cleaner and greener gardens. Hey I'm sorry that I'm cheating on you. It might take me more than 20 years to love you like I love Mumbai ;)

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

This post has also been published by me as a part of the Writer's Island prompt on Spellboud. Check here to participate

3WW #1

2010-07-14T22:18:00.003+05:30

"OUCH! Please be gentle John!" Janet creased her forehead in wariness of the pain that she anticipated.
"Oh, c'mon don't be such a baby! It's nothing but a scratch." John said to her condescendingly while examining the wound.
It had been no more than a few weeks since the brother sister duo had moved in with their family into the neighbourhood.
"Really? You try falling from a bike on a rough sidewalk whilst wearing a frock." Janet harrumphed in defense.
"Praise the Lord! You are safe and sound!" John said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.
"Hmph!"
"Listen Janet, We need to get back to the house now, I-"
"I won't be able to walk three blocks, dummy! I have gotten hurt real bad!" she said as if she was stating the obvious.
"Oh! alright, fine. I'll be back in five to get some more ointment. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"Yes, yes go quick! I have to go to Macy's house later."
John left towards his house, a few blocks away from the spot where Janet had had her fall. As much as he disliked his sister for the unnecessary tantrums she often threw, he still loved her very much and instinctively he fought the wariness that had crept in his mind for a fraction of a second that leaving his sister alone there, even for five minutes, was perhaps not a good idea.
Little did John know what vulgar ideas were germinating from the deep set eyes hiding behind the brick wall around the curb, a few yards away from his darling step-sister.

This post is in dedication to the grieving families of the Nehru Nagar Kurla child rape murders. Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall.

P.S. This is my 51st post! :)

Wish

2010-07-10T23:17:00.005+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 12; the twelfth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

“Send this to 50 other people or….”
Jim knew what the “repercussions” were of not forwarding chain e-mails and so mechanically he clicked the forward button and sent it to his only pal in the office – ‘Princess Forward’ Fiona. She was the go-to girl if you wanted any forward e-mails. She could bombard your inbox with forwards like pick-a-color-and-find-your-soul mate e-mails, e-mails with Goddesses and Deities and even more. She even badgered people to post their wish-lists to a birthday website so much that Jim had to eventually give in.

Cheery and vivacious as a cheerleader Jim wondered often why she was so ‘wishful’ all the time. That very aspect of her irritated him but he did not approach her and complain. He never approached her. He did not appreciate too much wishful thinking. Infact he disliked the very thought of it. Like clockwork Fiona peeped over her cubicle and gave Jim that pleasing smile as if it was the only thing she was waiting for all day.

‘At least it works for someone’ wondered Jim. So, forwarded e-mails and a warm smile were only exchanged between them on a daily basis. Somehow, Jim wished it was more....But he wouldn't.
Sub-consciously Jim felt that smile of hers was different today, or was he imagining it?….he put his thoughts to rest. Fiona is as happy as sunshine, always. The chain e-mail then found its righteous place in the folder labeled ‘Junk’.
Yet, somehow he did not have the heart to delete it. He never knew why.

Day was as boring as a snore Jim felt if the clock was punishing him by ticking ever so slowly. He needed to get out of this miserable office. He pondered countless times on why he should quit this job that was squeezing the happiness out of his life. However, he was often shocked back into reality by the burden of the mortgage of the house he was planning to buy, the impending education loan he had to pay for and most importantly saving up for retirement. This job’s salary was the reason, the ONLY reason he was working there. He couldn't care less otherwise.
Fiona’s charming smile was only enough to ignite some passion to read a drone of a expense report but perhaps not for the other problems in his life. Poring over the expense sheets and graphs he thought why he was so very miserable a week before Christmas. ‘Tis the season to be jolly?…Bah! Humbug!

Why couldn’t he be happy as a daisy? Others hid their misery so well. He often wondered. He wished so much to be like Fiona. Cheery and upbeat regardless. He sighed.

Rumble rumble.
It was his stomach grumbling.
Involuntarily Jim got up and slouched like a zombie to the kitchen and poured him some decaf. He let out yet another sigh. Tapping the mug he leaned with his back towards the kitchen counter mulling over life and its insane possibilities. He was tired, very tired. He yawned and chugged down the decaf in a swish and headed back towards his desk. Having his boss catch him asleep was the last thing he needed today. Slouching back unwillingly into his chair, he fought slumber as he stared into the excel sheet.

It read: ‘The Sales office expense report dated January ………….’

And no sooner a moment had passed, Jim shook himself up with a start; quickly looked around afraid whether or not the boss had heard him snore or had used his desk as a pillow- he didn’t even know how long he was out.

‘Guess nobody saw me’ Jim thought.

His stomach now rumbled louder to a growl. He was very hungry. Looking at his watch he remembered that he missed his breakfast today again in order to catch the subway train. He got up and went to the kitchen again and rummaged through the fridge for a fruit or condiments for a sandwich or a piece of celery at the least.
Strangely, he found a wishbone. Right in the central compartment of the fridge, nothing but a wishbone!

‘And its not even Thanksgiving!’
He thought. He mulled for a while, and putting his aversions of luck and wishfulness to rest he gave it a firm snap. It broke into two. It’s believed that if one has the larger portion of the wishbone his or her wish would come true.

‘As if my day would get any better with a wishbone’

He catapulted the pieces into the trashcan. Turning around he waited for a familiar sound but instead came a metallic crackle. Was his hearing affected? Middle age was perhaps getting to him, he thought. Surprised, Jim turned back and looked over to the trash can. The bone had hit a metal lamp of some sort. Shiny gold and with intricate designs on its surface Jim examined the lamp against the kitchen light aghast thinking what in the world was a lamp doing in a office trash can?
Examining the lamp carefully, he found an inscription on the bottom of the lamp:

‘Make a Wish’
Was written in gold.

Chuckling silently, he headed back to his desk and sitting down he decided to give it a shot.
‘Perfect! Now I await a genie. Hmm.. 7 wishes was it?’
Perfectly aware that it wasn’t any good he chuckled some more and rubbed the lamp uninterestedly once.

Nothing happened.

He rubbed it twice.

Still nothing.

Yawning, he placed it onto his desk and yawned some more.

*Beep*

An e-mail flashed into his inbox.
‘Must be from Human Resources’, he thought
Nonchalantly he clicked open his inbox and it read-

Sender: Genie@goldenlamp.com
To: Jim
Subject: Re: 3 wishes
Message:
Your wish is my command master!

Aghast Jim sat up in his seat. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was awake.
‘What’s this?! Oh wait, relax, must be a joke or something…’
Convinced it was an office joke doing the rounds, he examined the email and tried to trace back the address but to his surprise it showed it didn’t exist!

‘How is that possible?’
His heart was beating fast. In complete disbelief and he assumed he was imagining things he rummaged his desk for his spectacles and he something unusual caught his eye.

‘What the-‘

A bouquet of clover leaves held by a smiling leprechaun was placed right on his desk.
He was taken aback as to how he didn’t notice it all morning! Something didn't seem right. His heart now raced.

But what got Jim gasping was a smiling elderly lady dressed as fairy godmother tapping on his shoulder.

‘OH MY GOD!’ He yelped out and in a flash he was out of his chair, outside his office floor and into the empty elevator and frantically pressing the Basement button.

‘What the hell is happening to me!
Oh my god I’m hallucinating!
I gotta go to the hospital. What’s happening to me??!!’ he gasped aloud in the elevator.

No sooner did the elevator ding open into the basement there was a flash of light and cries of:
.
.

.
.

‘SURPRISE !!!’

'Happy Birthday'

Yelled everyone in the basement in chorus.
There was Fiona carrying a large cake and all the rest of the office mates including the fairy godmother (who turned out to be the cleaning lady) all in confetti and balloons happily smiling towards Jim. Fiona giggled as she saw Jim’s panicky yet confused expression. He looked dazed and confused as everyone pulled him out of the elevator and into a colorfully decorated basement- it never looked the same dingy basement like before- and were exchanging hugs and laughs all around. Every one named Fiona as the mastermind behind the birthday prank.

'How could I forget my own birthday!' Jim smacked himself in the head and chuckled in disbelief that he fell right into their trap. Correction: Fiona’s carefully crafted trap.

He laughed out loud as he learned of the details of her plan to freak Jim out right before him rushing to his car. He now realized, she knew him so well. At that very moment ignoring the crowd of people around him, Jim noticed her again and noticed her noticing him- her smile was different, more mischievous, more loving-and he smiled back, in kind acknowledgment.

After the party came to an end and everyone had left for the day, Jim asked Fiona as he escorted her to her car.

‘So…. You did all this for me? But why ?’

‘You know Jim; you should start believing things more. Perhaps it would come true’ she said and smiled kindly.

‘Huh?‘ That wasn’t a straight reply. ‘But-‘

Before Jim could probe more, Fiona gave him a quick but tight hug and rushed to her car.

Jim looked dazed and confused as before.

With a smiling goodbye wave she left in her car and Jim waved back, still stunned.

He then noticed something sticking in his shirt pocket-

A note, it read:

"
My dear Jim,

Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true

Loads of Love,
Fiona
'"

At that very moment, Jim smiled widely as he now knew his coming days would never be the same again.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Mumbai Blog-a-toners meet

2010-07-06T13:17:00.000+05:30

What do you get when you have 8 complete strangers meeting up having never talked, chatted or seen each other before over a hot tea in humid Mumbai? An awesome time!
4th of July Sunday was the usual lazy Sunday for me. The weather was just right, not too humid not too hot. Initially not to keen to leave the comforts of my abode, I slouched unwillingly out of my couch and left for Prithvi Theatre, Juhu. I've never been to Prithvi Theatre, so it got me wondering 'Are we gonna watch a play?'

Being a Sunday and horrible time for those who wanna travel from Navi Mumbai via the Harbour Line, all thanks to the Mega Block, it wasn't different this time either. So I had to resort to travel via buses. Luck had it in for me as I clamoured into a jam-packed bus and then waited for almost an hour for another bus to reach Juhu, my destination, a good hour later that the 4 pm time.

Unknown territory and with unknown company has its unprecedented-ness and excitement. On the contrary I was greeted as if they'd known me for years. It was a warm tete-a-tete after the typical introductory session round the quaint table at Prithvi Cafe. The Blog Marshall was remembered with PC declaring the agenda. Maverick was surprisingly dressed in formals while Dishit was the smarter one who brought his trusted digicam, one thing which I forgot. Anu, eldest of us all was the most jovial and as was PC plus her blackberry :P Our banter ranged from what got us motivated to write our blogs to traveling to the Prithvi warning bells to Parth's Irish Coffee! None of us can ever forget Parth's visibly livid expression of 'What Bachcha!' :P

BAT-Mumbai

And our rendezvous came to a rather cheeky end when we asked one rather famous theatre personality to click our group snap. Neither of us know who exactly he is yet! :P

And so as I reached home, I recalled the surreal experience that I had never met strangers today because we were bonded to each other through a medium of words and a platform called BAT. Guys, it was completely worth the tedious travel and would love to meet you all over again.
Happy Anniversary BAT!

Hidden

2010-06-05T20:10:00.002+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 11; the eleventh edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Mrs Sharma and her brigade was at the door. As usual.
“He’s so naughty Neeta. Not that I am complaining” she said as matter-of-factly while biting into the sandwich; “He needs to be- you know- taught to behave” She flashed her fake smile at me.

“Look at my children – Simple and Dimpy- So well behaved. No?”
I flashed my fake smile at her. The other day I had seen them sneaking out Mrs. Sharma’s make up and forcefully applying it on their maid’s face. It reminded me of the movie Chalbaaz. Yes the Sridevi one.

Draining her tea, Mr. Varma adjusted herself on our couch and asked “So, your Mister…. Is he not at home?” She asked speculatively. “Today is Sunday- No work No?”

“Well- er- he’s out of town on government work” I gave my well rehearsed reply. “You know the summers are about to start. He’s been asked to help with the Government Project”

“Of course of course. I understand.” She cleared her throat and made a face. She sure masked any signs of "understanding".
“ I just asked because the last time I saw him…” she pretended to mentally calculate and said “… was ten months ago” “Right after you moved in here”

Some of the ladies took a mini gasp at my statement minus the background score of a televised soap. In a town like ours, for a husband to be away from his family was the second most gossiped topic at the kitty party circles, building corridors and playground parks for unemployed wives of rich businessmen.

I sighed. “Yes, but his work is important. You know how government projects are. Er- please have more cake. I baked it” saying that I glanced at my plate to see the leftovers of my son’s birthday cake. I quickly excused myself to refill more potato chips and rushed to the kitchen.

I could still hear the chatter of the ladies and munching of crisps as I absentmindedly filled the bowl with more chips. A sideways glance and I saw my son all tired and angelically curled up in his bed still having his brand new sneakers on him clutching his brand new Iron Man figurine.

Banter in the family room ceased after the neighbours left. I started to clean up and then-
“You sure know how to make an entry” I said

“Well. Its my son’s birthday. I wouldn’t miss it for all the stars in the galaxy.” He said while climbing through the window.

“Well then you should have been there to help me field the questions. You heard them-“ And unconsciously I had started to well up. He noticed this and in a flash he was right beside me.

“I know my dear. I cannot apologise enough. It is- difficult – for me. You do understand don’t you? See, I have got something for you”

I turned to him and a shining stone gleamed out of his hand. It shone with such a gleam that I could not be angry at him for long. It was beautiful. Just like him.

I sniffed. “Ah! All the sacrifices I need to make while being married to a super human” I mocked lovingly at him.

He chuckled. “Being hidden from the eyes of world is easy. But being hidden from you….I cannot even think of it”

While his cape billowed in the cool night breeze, I forgot all my worries and the surreality of it in his sweet embrace.

~~~

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Renovation Frustration

2010-06-01T00:45:00.002+05:30

Here Ye Here Ye!

And I am back to blogging… once more.

Sabbatical. On a break. What-cha-might-call-it. And its good to be back. And will stay that way.

Although I passed out of college in July last year still the euphoria of friends around me all the time was strong. Reminiscing all the good times, scandals and the likes. Some left for gora desh and other gora desh-es.

Some even left for further prospects in apna desh.And I was still pondering at the crossroads.

Sitting at home and wondering whether I’d be fitting as a researcher or as a manager was indeed torture topped with dollops of renovation work driving me to my wits’ end aaand a persistent brother persisting me to coax my Pop to buy “us” a 2 wheeler.
That wasn’t it, since now I was home ALL the time the chores’ burden rest on my shoulders. It was as if I did not move a finger at all! Not fair, I did move to Cuba and Bangkok for indefinitely when I had to complete a job for my Mafia on Facebook :P

Thinking about those choices (Management vs. Research) and in the situation (or dump called my home) I can’t say that I didn’t explore those choices.

See, I had to search for a house to live in temporarily while my home was getting renovated not forgetting rummaging through the designs of bathroom tiles, hunt for a contemporary kitchen designer, and also learn enlightening things like what happens when wall tiles and floor tiles are switched or to know how a perfectly good kitchen bowl can be turned into a cocktail of cement puke.

That was the research part.

Management part was inbuilt:
Operations Management was the result of the workers’ research. Cutting granite into 3 inch long strips first and then joining them together into a single whole was their idea, and at the receiving end of my dad's wrath.
It was also managing the space at home i.e. Human Resource(s) management. Since my research to find a spare apartment was hopeless, my bedroom turned into a kitchen; bathroom was the dressing room and living room was out of the house. I cursed myself for having so much furniture lying around that banging my toe each time I entered any room was so routine I did it once to see if I was still conscious.
Noise was nothing. Meaning it was so goddamn much you could hear nothing but it!

I mean it was the constant drilling, cutting, hammering, breaking, welding which felt like listening to a badly recorded death metal CD. Two days of hammering later our maid was absconding and was heard to have been advised by her doctor to go to her native to treat her ears.

There was so much cement and rock bits lying around the house that I wouldn’t be surprised to have inhaled from the air or ingested some with my food like a garnish.
I think while asleep at night and dreaming; I must have dreamt to have woken up just out of the blue laughing out loud and then coughing out a cement block- which later I would have used to upgrade my chop shop in Mafia Wars. :D

Some neighbours were empathetic and some lauded our effort to stay alive in the mayhem of muddle and misery. I used to beam and receive the compliments gracefully.

Little did they know how desperate I was to just stay out of my own home. Thanks to my really good friends I was kept virtually sane by hanging out with them from time to time; out of my house obviously; else I would have shrieked with agony and crouched into a fetal position with the remotest prospect of having to hear another hammering sound.

Food was next on the management agenda. Call it (Not-visiting-the-)Hospital and Healthcare Management.
Since the kitchen was officially in the bedroom, the idea of sleeping next to the cylinder is like sleeping with a ticking time bomb.
Thus we had to order food in, so much so that the regular joint anna had my address by heart and sometimes my order too. It goes like this:

Me: Hello, VinVin Hotel??

Anna: Haan, bolo..

Me: Address likho. V for- (interrupts)

Anna: Haan. Veee for victory, Duss-a number-a?

Me: Haan haan barabar. Order hai- (interrupts again)

Anna: Duss-a Chap-pati, Ekk-a Bhindi Masala aur-a… aur-a… Ekk-a Daal Fraay??

Me: (Surprised) Haan bhej dena.. (Slams the phone)

Then I get a call. It was anna.

Me: Hello?

Anna: Haan. Madam-a aaj-a Rs. 500 ka change-a nahi chaiye?

Me: :O

A week later Anna calls me and tells me that his chapatti-wala has gone to his native and he insists that I switch to roti now.

Our daily dependence on Anna’s vegetarian fare was so much that I guess he must have recovered the costs of his daughter’s wedding.

Finally the renovation work got completed, and so did my “pondering”, a good 3 months 20 days later. The work done was great. Beautiful marble and granite flooring, larger windows, wider space, brighter walls. I didn't feel like I lived in an Adam's Family-ish home.

I was happy. My hope was beautiful, livable. It somehow paid out handsomely for bearing the so called torture and misery. Cloud called renovation had a silver lining afterall.

I was happy. So happy that I screamt my lungs out in joy and punched the air in the jubilation of not having to see another stranger lying around my house.

It was then that dad broke the news.

Dad: I think the bathroom needs to be redone….

Me: (Swoon) (Thud)

Will power- (Blog-a-ton 6)

2010-01-09T23:40:00.006+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 6; the sixth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Tick tock

Never before had time flown by so quickly.

Red oozed.

Staring at the paper, Lee closed his eyes and strained.

Everything went before in flashes.

Tick tock.

Eyes opened to stare at the paper.

He wrote: 'I, Lee, being of sound mind and…'

Door creaked. Gunshot.

Finally it read: '…NIL to my son.'
_______________

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Edit1: My Dear readers, thank you for your comments and valuable feedback. They keep me motivated to write more and better. The essence of 55 fiction, I believe, is to keep the reader guessing till the end. I am a novice at this genre of writing, and on an impromptu decision I composed this post. Looking at the feedback, I shall put up my original thought process behind the post on 11th Jan 2010. All the best to all the participants! Thanks and keep reading!

Edit 2: As promised, here is my original POV:
Lee is an aging old man and has a son. The color pink represents his rosy picture that he had in his mind about his son. But, as time progresses and his son grows up, his rosy picture turns to a blood red color because of his son's greed. In the end, Lee's son kills his father, but to former's dismay; leaves him nothing (NIL) in his will.

And the award goes to....

2009-12-31T02:41:00.002+05:30

Thank You Blogadda!

As 2009 comes to an end and the winter of ever sunny Mumbai kicks in, I reflect back into this year on all its events. Although I did not receive any awards in the real sense or on my blog, so I thought 'why not create my own set of awards'. (Its here you say: Aahhh! ) I, Gkam, now present to you:

Gkam's Award Ceremony 2009

Nominations-Shominations! These Winners are above and beyond that....

And the winners are:

*Drumroll please*

Wordsworth Award: Shashi Tharoor, Deputy Minister for External Affairs

Big Boss Award: S. M. Krishna, Minister for External Affairs

Humble (American) Pie Award: Peace Nobel Winner U. S. President Barack Obama

SEXagenarian of the Year Award: Former Andhra Governer N. D. Tiwari

Quickfire Response Award: Liberhan Report on Babri Masjib Demolition. (Yeah, the "leaked" report is 126MB)

Bharatiya Naari Award: Rakhi Sawant

Little Bo- BEEP Award : Kamal Rashid Khan fondly(!) known as KRK

Tom and Jerry Award : IIM and Prometric

Miss Congeniality: Serena Williams

The Dark Horse Award : Vindu Dara Singh on winning Big Boss 3 and coincidentally also wins Mirror Breaking Material Award!

Best Rendezvous point: Copenhagen, Denmark

Most popularly used four letter word: H1N1

Award for the Most Considerate: Kanye West American Rapper

Aquasure Award: Chandrayaan, India's maiden Moon mission

Sweet 17 Award: Sachin Tendulkar (on completing 17000 runs in ODIs in 20 years)

Best Employer of the Year Award: Air India

Atithi Devo Bhavaha Award(Guest is God): Australia

Bankrupt Award: Ramalinga Raju

Two to Tango Award: A. R. Rahman on winning both Oscars and Grammy

United we Stand Award: Now, this award will be (un-)evenly divided amongst Telangana, Harit Pradesh, Gorkhaland.

Alive and Kicking Award: BJP; This award will be received by L. K. Advani

'Baby one more time' Award: UPA; isssssskoooo receive karrrrengiiiii Mrs. Sonia Gandhi

Maid-en over Award: Shiney Ahuja

Husband of the Year: Tiger Woods

Golfer of the Year/ Golden Glove: Elin Nordegren

Last but never the least....

Best Actress of the Year: Rohit Verma in Big Boss 3

Best Actor: Terrorist Ajmal Kasab

Now, now, give the winners a big round of applause!

This is my last post for 2009. I wish all my readers a very very Happy New Year 2010!
May happiness and success be all round the year and May your troubles last as long as your resolutions :P

Signing off.
Optimistically yours,

Gkam :)

3 IDIOTS: Dont be an IDIOT!

2009-12-30T21:15:00.001+05:30

Image Copyright: Rajkumar Hirani & V V Chopra

The Aamir Khan starrer was laugh riot indeed. But let me present to you, the REAL life idiots:

Idiot number 1: One who jaywalks

Image Copyright: Cartoonstock

Idiot number 2: One who crosses railway tracks (even though knowing that there is a foot-over bridge)

Image Copyright: fineartamerica.com

Idiot number 3: One who drives after getting intoxicated and/or while talking on the mobile phone.

My humble request to those falling in the above category:

DONT be an Idiot! Because: Idiots Do Increadibly 'Orrible Things

Happy 2010.

Seasons' Greetings!

2009-12-25T08:42:00.000+05:30

Wish you all A Merry Christmas,

May the Joys of the season

Fill your heart with goodwill and cheer.

May the chimes of Christmas glory

Add up more shine and spread Smiles across the miles,

To-day & In the New Year.

-Rosie Cash

Image copyright: www. adom.de

Gkam wishes all her readers a very Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year!

Target Forty

2009-12-17T20:55:00.003+05:30

Hey! I'm baaack...

*crickets chirping*

Hello? Anybody miss me???

*crickets disappear*

Well, even if you didn't know, I've been away from blogging for more than two months, and find it as difficult as ever to put together a post. Although there are many thoughts and ideas swimming in my mind at the moment waiting to be turned into masterpieces (modest aren't I?) and grace this very Blogosphere (*rolling eyes*), but I shall post this "random" of a post anyways.

Happy Holidays in advance to all my blog buddies! My only activities in this nippy winter is that like of a mountain bear in hibernation; it seems I spend way more time sleeping than a Mr. Teddy usually does. And I had my birthday last week. There is nothing "fun" about turning a year older and stepping even closer than before to perhaps start the use of Anti-Age Wrinkle cream, but what made it special is that, somehow the people who I wanted to wish me- even though they were thousands of miles away swearing at the bitter cold of winter and cursing the very existence of the month of December- did.

I saw HIMYM last week where it had Marshall Eriksson (one of the lead characters) reading out his things to do before 30 list. And it made me wonder...

And so off late, I've been pondering (pardon the cliche) about what I would see myself fifteen or so years down the line to have accomplished. And so I decided, making no commitments in cement, to make a To-Do Wish List* before I turn forty.

So, here I go:
1. Author a book
(If Stephanie Meyer can get her bestseller storyline in her sleep, I should have been writing sagas by now)

2. Travel to atleast 5 different countries
(Home country and taking a stopover flight does not count)

3. Create a headline/ Be interviewed on TV
(The good and non-scandalous kind)

4. Be fluent in a Foreign Language
(Accented English does not count)

5. Invent something
(A word or phrase...anything, but something!)

6. TRY to enter into the Guinness book of world records
(then again, TRY)

7. Still run this blog
(..And criticize this post and the warmth of the winter that made me write this in the first place)

If I don't make any of them from this list, feel free to mock. (Be nice)

OK, wow, this merry season is getting to me. I've kept this post as raw and unedited as my thoughts (I know its gonna bite me in the a** later)

*No. No. Not THAT list is private.

Cheerio folks!
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year 2010 in Advance....

Speaking of a post

2009-10-10T17:09:00.004+05:30

Speaking of a post....
I literally have nothing to blog about. My TV is back after a 3 month hiatus. I can't seem to be reading anything, just watching. Hence "exploring" and "learning" about the current affairs. Maybe that's why I can't seem to think- from the vast expanse of the meninges folds and gray matter of my brain-of one decent blog post.

Speaking of decent....
I cannot believe that of all people Rakhi Savant was allowed to take care of a toddler! I pity the toddler who will soon grow up and wonder out loud "Oh Jhejus! Which of these outfits would show more cleavage?!!". She even dressed the boy like a girl, and with MAKEUP while his biological mother was tearing her hair apart. Why couldn't NDTV Imagine just throw the infant to ravenous hyenas? Hyenas would be less brutal. And more eye pleasing!! Wolves even! Mowgli turned out fine.

Jungle Book's beloved character: Mowgli

Speaking of Mowgli....
I don't seem to understand the unnecessary fuss and brouhaha over Bollywood actresses wearing bikinis onscreen. They do it all the time in beauty pageants, fashion shows, casting couches and the like. Hollywood actresses don't make such a fuss to be on Playboy! Grow up! If you have it, flaunt it. Big Deal! (I can sense fervent nods from the Indian male population)

Speaking of Big....
Big Boss season 3 is out. There is a season 3? Arre baba, does ANYONE care?

Speaking of Baba...
Baba Ramdev has been "gifted" a Scottish island. Newspapers say "Baba Ramdev will also teach the people of Scotland how to perform 'Yoga' to make your life better." Yoga is good. Somehow, I just can't imagine the Scotts in their quilts, armed with a pint performing the Halasana. I remember my yoga class back in school. Early morning at 6am, doing yoga....nothing like the Shavasana. Zzzzzz.

Above : Halasana (Hala= Plough), Below: Shavasana (Shava=corpse) No, the kitty is alive.

Speaking of Zzzzz.....

Actor Shiney Ahuja is out of jail after being convicted for allegedly raping his maid. Which movie was he in? Did anyone REALLY miss him? Well... apart from his wife. Media, media! Unnecessary attention, I tell you!

Speaking of unnecessary....
President Barrack Obama was honored with the Nobel for Peace. Hmm. Lets see.
Elected this year.
9 months into his presidency.
Did not decline by stating that 'there is a lot that he needs to achieve before he feels worthy of it'
Why, then that's completely justified! Hey, why don't we give Shashi Tharoor one for Literature? OK I better shut up before Mr. Tharoor hurls abuses at me in his tweets.....

Speaking of tweet...
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave you met Neil Patrick Harris (Barney Stinson of How I met your Mother fame) on Twitter? Its nice to find celebs on twitter; but I wish there were more politicians than celebs.

Laloo himself with his trademark Kulhad(r).

Imagine if Laloo Prasad Yadav was on twitter. He'd allow you to subscribe to his updates only if you'd buy a yearly supply of kulhad(r)s (earthen pot). Anyhow, I tweeted Barney and he didn't reply back. Bet he realized he's got competition at Awesomeness :D

Speaking of competition....
MLA elections are about to start. And somehow, this time my name IS on the list. My correct and legible name. Unfortunately I've shifted my residence. Full on canvassing even with SMSs being bombarded to me by a certain "English-loving" political party. Although I had no qualms to vote from my old residence but still I was being persuaded to vote from my new one by a pack of power-hungry wannabe "student union".

Speaking of hungry...
I am. I smell cookies. Gkam out.

(Disclaimer 1: The images in this post are under the sole copyright of their owners and I just google them.
Disclaimer 2: I do not intend to hurt sentiments of supporters or crazed fans of the above mentioned by being sarcastic and rude. The purpose of the post is just to tickle the readers' funny bone)

Trust me on the Sunscreen

2009-09-30T21:08:00.002+05:30

While rummaging through my music collection- among the Floyds, Metallicas, John Mayers, Didos- I've always been procrastinating to sort out the unsorted music that I posses in my laptop. Yeah, the one or two folders named "#Categorize" or "#To_be_sorted" that always meets my eye every time I pick my oft-listened-to Aqualung track (Brighter than Sunshine); and get demoted to my peripheral vision which quickly goes to neglected status.
These folders contain a diversity of music in their genres worth of an Amazon rainforest. The deleting of same songs with different versions (acoustic, orchestra, stage live, this DJ, that DJ mix) with varying megabytes is as heartbreaking as choosing which of my metaphorical/hypothetical kids are dearer to me. I had to oblige, once my trusty 180 Gig D drive started gasping out S.O.S.s constantly in the form of "Low Disk Space".

And so this lovechild of indolence and procrastination (me!) today started sorting out those unsorted and multiple copies of the same song with similar names like "Nirvana-Smell's like teen spirit" and "01 Nirvana" and "Smells lyk teem spipit" or even "Neervana" which found their ways into five various folders labeled "Nirvaana" or "Rock muzzic" or "Rocking songzzz" or even "Guitarwallah(!) Songs".

I don't know how many of you have this O.C.D like I do, but I like to arrange my files or folders into thumbnails-provided they assimilate within my vision without the need to use scrollbars-and then by type, and in alphabetical order. Also, I make it a point to remove any numerals, unless necessary and refrain from using any SMS lingo in my files. Thats the basic. I plan to innovate by sorting them into the year of their release, their album cover as folder picture, adding lyric page, and....O.K. Geek alert!! :D

That not only helps me locate my favorite Carter Burwell symphony orchestra track from Twilight or ACDC track (TNT) but also helps Rover (the Microsoft Search Dog) to fetch my files in a heartbeat. I wish I could give it treats or a nice rub sometimes. Good boy, Rover! :)

Talking of one song; which caught my attention today. I read its name, but, surprisingly I could remember how it sounded like. See, the thing with me is that I can't recognize a song unless its been taped in my head atleast seven times-Yeah! thats my magic number-till which I'm like tone/melody deaf. I pick up a couple of seconds later or till the beats start.This time my audio-sensory part of my brain caught up well.

So about this song, its called "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" by Baz Lurhmann and its unusual because its a narration of advice.
I did a bit of "research" to find out who it was written by: aaaaand it turns out that after an erroneous claim circulating in the Internet a couple of years ago that an MIT guy named Kurt Vonnegut addressed it, it was actually written by Mary Theresa Schmich, which was published in the Chicago tribune.
You might have come across it already via forwarded e-mails. Its wonderfully written. Here it is, word to word.

Image Courtesy- Discovery Education

"Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.*

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. *

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings.
They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen. "

Most points are really reassuring. The ones with the asterisks on the end are my favourites. I never knew sunscreen is that effective. :)

Let the Festivities begin....

2009-09-28T17:23:00.003+05:30

Hey All!

Firstly, Happy Dusshera/ Vijayadashami to all of you!

Image courtesy geet_kunal

The victory of Lord Rama over Ravana; Victory of Goddess Durga over Mahishasura.

I just got to know what all of the10 heads of Ravana signify:
(1) Kama vasana (Lust),
(2) Krodha (Anger),
(3) Moha (Delusion),
(4) Lobha (Greed),
(5) Mada (Over Pride),
(6) Matsara (Jealousy),
(7) Manas (Mind),
(8) Buddhi (Intellect),
(9) Chitta (will) and
(10) Ahankara (Ego).
Talk about split-personalities! What will I do without you Wiki? :D

So Time to Celebrate! Stuff yourselves with all the fafda and jalebi and cham-cham and rosogulla and sandesh and... and...and......
*mouth waters* (OK. Gkam. Focus now. No drool on the keyboard. Focus!)
*ahem*....you can lay your hands on...

So you see, THIS is my favorite time of the year... So many festivals! So much fun. So much food! Yummy!....I mean....Yipppppppeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Not to mention the shopping sales, parties, weddings, buffet.....(Oh STOP it Already!!)...and brand-new-designer-outfits-no-longer-fit....

Oh boy, I can't wait for Diwali.!!! :) :) :)
Halloween! (OK, I don't celebrate it, but I like the idea....Trick or Treat anyone?)
And Christmas and then New Year!!

Oh, the year just ended. Yikes.*Gulp*

I gotta lie down. :|

Erm, Enjoy!! :)

P.S. I got issues with "Time Flying" and "Not Studying". Yeah, I'm the love child of Procrastination and Indolence!

P.P.S. I would have posted this earlier yesterday had my internet connection not thrown a fit. Getting too cranky after 18 hours.. Ho-Hum!

Top 20 ways to kill boredom while Shopping

2009-09-11T19:16:00.004+05:30

My family and I rarely visit the friendly neighbourhood Supermarket. How much ever the adverts try, they don't entice us into shopping for their products with "Rock bottom prices" or "earth shattering discounts".
Whenever we do its just the habitual, casual first-day-of-the-month-I've-got-my-paycheck-will-"splurge"-Look!-new-offers type of shopping. It isn't walk in the park actually, when we have to go when the rush hour is at its annoying best.
Personally, I ain't a compulsive or impulsive shopper; I like to shop at my leisure albeit sticking to the list. My family, on the other hand, insists on shopping according to the "routine".

The "routine" is when the four of us are out to shop, it isn't just shopping anymore, but rather turns into more of a military operation. My mom and I would be (wo-)manning the condiments and food-grain aisles and swiftly grab each item as if the Salvation Army needed it for their next mission to Rwanda. My brother and my dad station themselves with a cart each, eyeballing queued up customers for the next empty (or least crowded) spot at the cashier. We keep ourselves updated and communicated on our status with respect to the completion of our target list cum dossier (read:half-a-shopping list) via satellite communication (read:pointing at product and nodding vigorously or yelling at top of our lungs).

That's us. But I feel shopping becomes an "enriching" experience when you have some fun at it, without getting bored. Having said that, I present to you,

The Top 20 Ways to Kill Boredom while Shopping

20. Set all the alarm clocks to go off at 10 minute intervals.

19. Jump into a shopping cart and try to race your way up to the exit screaming "I'm freeeeeeeeeeeee"

18. Make a trail of orange juice on the floor to the restrooms.

17. Challenge other customers to a duel as Darth-Vader with tubes of gift wrap.

16. Walk up to an employee and tell him/her in an official tone, "I believe we have a code 3 in housewares" and see what happens.

15. Convince you've lost your friend and insist that the announcer at the lost and found department announces: "Thoswana P Badlee, please come to the Lost and Found, immediately!"

14. When there are people behind you, walk REALLY SLOW, especially thin narrow aisles.

13. When someone asks if they can help you, you begin to cry and ask, "Why won't you people ever leave me alone?"

12. Block a lane with stray shopping carts leading to the Cashier and speak like a sage:
“Say the Magic Word. Only then shall you pass”

11. Look right into the security camera and use it as a mirror while you pick your nose.

10. Take up an entire aisle in the Toys department by setting up a full scale battlefield with Pokemon and the Barbies.

9. While handling guns in the hunting department, ask the clerk if he knows where the antidepressants are.

8. Dart around suspiciously while humming the theme from "Mission Impossible".

7. Switch signs on the Men's and Women's bathrooms.

6. When an announcement comes over the loud speaker assume the fetal position and scream "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!"

5. In the Auto department, practice your Madonna look using different size funnels.

4. Take 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they aren't looking.

3. Dart back and forth from the Cafeteria to the Restroom making retching noises. When have caught somebody's attention say: "It must be the (insert-name-of-food-they-are-eating)"

2. Hide in the clothing rack and when people browse through say "PICK ME! PICK ME!"

and the numero uno:

1. Go into the Changing Room and yell real loud...."Hey, we're out of toilet paper in here!"

P.S.: Sniped some points from an e-mail. For more click here

P.P.S. The blog and Gkam neither sponsors or advises its readers to implement/suggest/ameliorate on the above "enriching" activities nor takes the blame/guilt on the lawsuit filed against you by your friendly neighborhood supermarket.
In short: At your own risk... :P

Sweet Agony

2009-09-04T17:40:00.011+05:30

She looked at the ceiling and closed her eyes. It was the only comfort she sought.
She couldn’t take it anymore.

She grabbed the bedspread harder and tugged it. She had to stop it, but how?

She couldn’t. Not yet. It wasn’t time.
She would know when it was time.

But the pain…the agonizing pain...

She then saw his handsome sweaty face. He held her hand.
She let him.

He leaned to kiss her.
She turned her face away.

She didn’t know what to think.
Pain tortured her body. But his face brought back memories.
Sweet memories; didn’t alleviate her from suffering.

She had to be strong. No matter what.

He had given her this pain. Of the sweet agony with him that made her suffer.
Why now? She wondered.

He held her hand tighter.

Sweat beads shone over her forehead glistening in the light.

She bit her lip and turned to face him again. He was smiling. The same smile that made her fall in love with him all again.

Her body contorted with every ache. Numbness set in.

She had enough. It was time.

She let go with all the force she could muster. Her lip bled.

And then it was all over.

A sound she was longing for filled the room. It was melodious as ever. She could feel her body again.

“Here you go Mrs. Smith, It’s a boy!” said the doctor.

She held her baby in her arms and cried. She was a mother now. And nothing- not even the excruciating pain- mattered now. It was all worth it.

She looked lovingly at her bundle of joy. Her own blood, flesh and bone. Their eyes met.

He smiled. Just like his father did.

(PS: My first time in such a mode of writing. Need honest advice/suggestions/brickbats/rotten andaa-tamatar in comments section please :D )

India: not so FAQ

2009-08-13T13:48:00.011+05:30

With the schools and colleges closed and most paranoid Mumbaikars confined to their influenzaless homes- unless they brave outdoors only with a green phantom mask-I was bored and browsing through my e-mails when I came across this hilarious one I received ages ago. I ROFLed all over again! :D

The answers are the actual responses by the website officials, who obviously have an excellent sense of humour.

Q: Does it ever get windy in India? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? (UK).
A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q: Will I be able to see elephants in the street? (USA)
A: Depends how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Delhi to Goa- can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it's only three thousand kms, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in India? (Sweden)
A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in India? Can you send me a list of them in Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta and Bangalore? (UK)
A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in India? (USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. In-di-a is that big triangle in the middle of the Pacific & Indian Ocean which does not.. oh forget it. ...... Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Goa. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in India? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into India? ( UK)
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Indiana Pacers matches schedule? (France)
A: Indiana is a state in the Unites States of...oh forget it. Sure, the Indiana Pacers matches are played every Tuesday night in Goa, straight after the hippo races.

Q: Can I wear high heels in India? ( UK )
A: You're a British politician, right?

Q: Are there supermarkets in Bangalore, and is milk available all year round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Please send a list of all doctors in India who can dispense rattlesnake serum. (USA)
A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All Indian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.

Q: Do you have perfume in India? ( France)
A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in India? (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in India? (France)
A: Only at Christmas.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you'll have to learn it first.

Q: Can I see Taj Mahal anytime? (Italy)
A: As long as you are not blind, you can see it anytime.

Q: Do you have Toilet paper? (USA)
A: No, we use sand paper. (we have different grades)

Happy Independence Weekend y'all!

(PS: Trying really REALLY hard to get outta "writer's block")
(PPS: Thanks to Rach for the e-mail :) )

You know you are in Engineering....

2009-07-19T21:25:00.008+05:30

My four years at engineering took alot of hard work(puh-leez!), dedication(yeah! right!! *rolls eyes*) and commitment (AHAHAHA!).
So here goes the routine.-> Enjoy!

SUBMISSIONS/EXAMS/VIVAS/PROJECTS

1. The local xerox-wallah and Google search engine become your life savers at the last moment study routine
2. When you become a call centre executive on the eve of a major exam, answering to hassled and traumatized peers
3. When you turn into a CIA agent hunting for every note(s) visible and Xerox them all, only to end up with 5 sets of the same notes!
4. Where phrases like “dimag ka short ho gaya yaar!”, “jherroxx kar lena”, “abbey, “proxy maara kya?”, “chalta hai na”, “kuch nahi pada yaaaaarrrrr”, “array, JHOL ho gaya yaar!” are the lingo generated especially during the Preparatory leave (PL)
5. When you confess on your “haaalat” of too-much-portion-too-little-time to your confidante when you’ve already revised the syllabus ;)
6. When you work more on your final semester project than any other assignment in your 4 years of engineering

TRUSTED NUTRITIONIST:

7. Where your local SST hangout is the anna’s canteen or tapri outside college
8. Where cries of “baaatermelaaaaannnnnnnn jooooooozzzz” “vhegg cheeeeeeeejjjjjjjj tosttt” are alluring to your ears and fulfill your daily dietary requirements
9. When opening of 'dabba' at 8.05 am is having breakfast and is natural even when the first lecture/practical of the day is going on amidst professors.

ADVANCE BOOKING:

10. Where your CR is the most dependable person; who can even convince your professor to cancel/ postpone his/her lecture for weeks to come

LABORATORY MANIPULATORY

11. When night-outs in college labs are not just….er…. for completing project work ;)
12. When you realize the importance of hidden files and folders in Windows and root directory in Linux :D
13.When you rather stay up all night discussing “tactics” for the Java practical than studying for it
14.When you complete your journals whenever and wherever feasible as if your life depends on it
15. When you have backup of backup of backup plan(s) even when SOME moron gets a CD written of answers during final exam dry lab practicals
16. When the Alt+F4 combination saves you from getting your ass whipped when playing Slayers and Mob Wars on FB :P
17. When you know the college network administrator’s password better than you know your own e-mail’s
18. When you value MS Word's auto-save feature when completing an assignment /project due next day and power-cuts have no mercy

DANCE OF ATTENDANCE

19. Where even the students who have left the college clear the attendance cut-off percentage even before you do
20. When you spend more hours on traveling to college than on attending lectures
21. When you attend college ONLY to either pay fees/ attendance defaulter’s fine or get notes or claim your hall ticket

PUNCTURING PUNCTUALITY

22. When coming to college at 8.30am for an 8.00am lecture is “thoda late” but 8.35am is “kitna late yaaaaarrrrr!!!”

23. When you frantically chat up a “new admission” in the corridor, only to realize that they’ve been in your class for the past four semesters :O

GTalk + Facebook

24. When you are “busy” on GTalk/Facebook, doing nothing
25. When you are “Not at my desk” on GTalk, you are playing games on facebook
26. Your idea of 'multi-tasking' is chatting simultaneously in multiple GTalk/Facebook chat windows

LIBRARY? (What’s THAT?)

27. When you hunt for e-books and print them rather than stepping inside the library to issue the same for free
28. When “Research” to you is limited to the first 10 hits of Google search to your query
29. When you consider the Handwritten notes of professors as the Bible while research papers are sedatives in paper form.
30. The only time you step inside the library is to get Xeroxes from the xerox-wallah
31. Even if you manage to get further than the Xerox-wallah inside the depths of the library, (G-E-E-K!)you meet the librarian who acts no less than a prison guard guarding the pile of books
32. To ask the librarian to lend u a reference copy (OK, my life depends on that book now!) is equivalent to engaging in mortal combat with her, and you DEFINITELY get KO-ed!

I would like to dedicate this post ESPECIALLY to my wonderful BBI batch of 2009 pals:
Especially,
•Amu (woman, you’ve been there through my mood swings, frantic notes collection, et. Al. Thank you for being there for me all these four years!)
•My project gang… the four of us, who ALWAYS stuck as a team: Vidzy, Kanni and Monts.
•Vicco (Just chatting away at late nights; anything under the sun and transmitting loads of *ahem* information :P)
•Shaily, my sweet friend and support who’s always been a dear friend throughout the 4 years.
Last but never the least,
•Raniji who was the life saver of our class, on whom each and every BBI-ite depended on him for something or the other, and never failing on patience. Cheers man! And you \m/

Also like to give a call out to Dhruti, Sangya, Mahak, Shiny, Anindita, Saumya, Sindhu, Sneha, Rucha, Anish, Shibboo, Nutty, Anks, Manni, Shruti, Sunil who've helped me in one way or the other.

Glad i am done with engineering!
Peace out! :D

Fantastic Four

2009-07-13T22:18:00.006+05:30

Curdrice aka KarSub has tagged moi.
Without further adieu, I shall ~~torture~~ entertain thee!

Four places that I have lived in

Mumbai, Navi Mumbai (Its different from the former, Mind Ittt!), Indore, Bangalore

Four TV Shows I love to watch

House M.D. :...."Theme Music.".. from Teardrop by Massive Attack
The Little Lulu Show: "...always in and outta trouble, but mostly always in!..."
F.R.I.E.N.D.S :"....i'll be there for you oooooooooo...."
How I Met Your Mother: "..dhan dhan dhan...pa papa pa pa pa..."

Four places I have been on vacation

Goa: Is like my second home
Singapore: Although been there once, would love to visit again
Japan: Moshi moshi! Hajimemashite. Doozo yoroshiku.
My couch: I [heart] my couch, sweet slumber!

Four favorite food items

Missal pav: Give it to me anytime of the day, I'll ravish it!
Coriander Chutney Sandwich: Made by my mum ONLY!
Phanna Dalithoy(Tadka Dal): All u konkanis out there will get what I mean.... :D
Chicken Biryani: Lucky's Bandra wallah :P

(I'm salivating already....)

Four Websites I visit daily

Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro

Four places I’d rather be

Harvard University, USA
Fine dining with Brad Pitt (after unceremoniously kicking Angelina Jolie out), George Clooney and Richard Gere
Inside Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory
In a daily comic

Four things I hope to do before I die

Fly a helicopter over the Australian coast
Ride a Double-Decker bus
Eat ice cream at the Antarctic
Meet a person who's name starts with a !

Four novels I wish I was reading for the first time

Calvin and Hobbes Comics
Rage of Angels
Harry Potter series
Yes Minister

Four movies I can watch over and over again

Liar Liar: Jim-Carey-is-the-BEST!
Home Alone 1: Love it!
Beauty & The Beast: Disney's finest...
An Officer and A Gentleman: utterly romantic

Four people I want to tag

(cracking knuckles)

And behind Door number One
Door number Two
Door number Three
Door number Four

(mirthful laughter) :D

Rhythm Divine

2009-07-05T11:06:00.010+05:30

When the skies appear sullen as if after a white-wash, the sun peeps through the clouds no more, the cool icy breeze wavering the leaves on trees, pitter-patter of the raindrops against the windows...What can get better than this atmosphere, when the clouds pour down without inhibition albeit intimidating Nature to take on its course.

All one can do in this wonderful serene weather is to sit back and enjoy nature's spectacle; every cycle begins with the blessing of monsoon as mother earth quenches her thirst for many a months in the seasonal cycle.

The onset of the monsoon brings one joy-one becomes a kid again-and undiluted calmness. I reminisce, the flowing of paper boats across the overflowing water stream, wearing gumboots and flopping about in my raincoat, without a care in the world dancing away to the divine rhythm of the rain. (And also of how being scolded for turning into a muddy mess and have earthworms crawling all over the floors of my home :P)

Of corn cobs being roasted merrily while tea simmers away in an old pot. Of sitting beside a loved one chatting away interrupted only to sip hot tea and eat hot onion fritters. When one doesn't mind when umbrella is forgotten "by mistake" and get drenched to the toe on such a whim.

Such wonderful times, mesmerizing...

Reminds me a wonderful song by B. J. Thomas:

"..The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me..
..Raindrops keep fallin' on my head.."

Enjoy the monsoons folks! :)

Statutory Warning: This post may dampen/ unable to rekindle spirits of those afflicted with leaky-nose syndrome (aka common cold).

image courtesy: mlissa2121 from photobucket.

Oh so gorgeous!

2009-06-14T14:17:00.005+05:30

Amongst the uncountable number of quizzes, is one such quiz on Facebook called the 'What's Wrong With You?" quiz.
The quizzes i am *ahem* requested to take have vague and simbly stoopid :P results.
But, this one took the cake!

Check it out:

Gauri took the What's Wrong With You? quiz.
Gauri took the What's Wrong With You? quiz and the result is Too Attractive.
Your extreme level of hotness is distracting and offensive to everyone.

(That's not it.... read ahead...)

Seriously. You're so hot that it makes your friends vomit out of jealousy and strangers drool out of animal lust. Invest in some burlap sacks before everyone you know turns into drooling, vomity messes. Or maybe just invest in some mops.

And don't forget to thank your mom and dad for making you so gorgeous. They did good.

Thanks mom and dad! :P

Ohhhh S**T!

2009-06-11T16:34:00.006+05:30

Its been a long looooooong time away from blogging...

Back again!
Refreshed. Revitalized.

Anyhoo, the other day was like any other ordinary day.
Did my ever-torturous project work, came back home, had junk food, left the tap open and slept....

Next morning,
I woke up late.

Big mistake!
No, no wait.... HUMUNGOUS mistake!!!

Oh and did I mention, I live alone.

:(

Snooze Fest

2009-05-03T12:46:00.003+05:30

Sunday! The Lord blessed us with this day! 7th day of the week.
*wipes tear*

Phew! Ive been soooo tired.... TIRED??? an understate-word.. I suppose.

Stupid engineering project.
I don't think I've been so tired since... *lost in thoughts*
.
.
.
.
*still thinking*
.
.
.
*yawns* *stretches* *realizes there is no space to sleep on her laptop amongst the crumbs and dust*

Actually I haven't worked this alarmingly much even in my 4-years of undergraduate education. :P

Need..... sleep.... now....good 12-hour sleep :)

Hence, my trusty 'ol cell-phone/door-bell/alarm/microwave/whatever-rings is undergoing hibernation for the weekend.

Cheerio folks!

P.S. :I HATE you Monday!!!!! :(

Please Don’t Stop the Music

2009-04-08T22:30:00.010+05:30

No other sensible stuff to post, so here goes a game I shamelessly stole from my BB JoJo. Keep posting (stealing) such stuff and more, gal! :D

How it works:
1. Put your MP3 player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the [next] button to get your answer.
3. Write each song name down.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY", YOU SAY...?
She’s Always a Woman to Me - Billy Joel

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Brighter Than Sunshine – Aqualung (*Kisses MP3 Player*)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY?
Let Make A Night to Remember – Bryan Adams (Ohhhkay, If the guy IS Bryan Adams!)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Home – Chris Daughtry (phhhhbbbttt!)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Crash and Burn – Savage Garden (Cool!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
White Flag – Dido (Whaaaat? They giving up on me??)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
This Love – Maroon 5

WHAT IS 2+2?
Truly Madly Deeply – Savage Garden

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Umbrella – Rihanna (LOL! :D)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Words – Bee Gees

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Yellow -- Coldplay (:X)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
The Beautiful People – Marilyn Manson (Yeaaahhhhh!!!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Disco Lies -- Moby

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
My Immortal -- Evanescence (Swweeeeeett!)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Into the Night -- Chad Kroeger (Nickelback) feat. Santana (Naaaiiiiiiiice!)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Carnival of Rust -- Poets of the Fall (Hmmm)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Sleep – Poets of the Fall (HAHA awesomely true!!!! :P )

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Rehab – Rihanna (Hey, I didn’t make this up! LOL)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Kiss From a Rose – Seal (:P)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Touch My Body – Mariah Carey (:O :O :O)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
1973 – James Blunt

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
All Summer Long – Kid Rock

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
She Is – The Fray (Huh? SHE?)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
All the Words -- Kutless

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
American Pie – Don McLean (or maybe I like it… same difference!)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Apologise – One Republic

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Tear Drop -- Massive Attack

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Please Don’t Stop the Music – Rihanna (Soopah! :) )

I would wish to pass this game on to:
Rach
Mahak
Prash

Karnataka Trip 2009

2009-03-29T16:14:00.008+05:30

As my cousin noted on FB, this year, Ive been India-trotting :P alot. In a span of 3 months I've been to 6 different places, one of them twice.

Cool. I enjoy traveling.
I feel there is more excitement in the journey than in the destination.
Life is all about that. (ahhh, me getting all philosophical!) :P

So here are some of the photographs from the tour to my native state- Karnataka, India.

Murudeshwar beach overlooking the temple.

The humongous idol of Lord Shiva.

The Majestic Murudeshwar Temple.

Beautiful stretch of coconut trees at Shirali.

Stretch of farm lands at Shirali, Karnataka.

Tidal waves at Murudeshwar beach.

Age lines of a Mango Tree at Mulki.

Green and luscious fern leaf at Udupi.

Violet flowers at Udupi garden.

Hibiscus or Rosa sinensis, also known as Shoe flower at garden in Udupi.

Flying seed in my palm.

Customer Service? My A$$!

2009-03-29T15:24:00.005+05:30

Why the obnoxious title u ask? Well, I am steaming at the moment. Wanna know why? Here's the story:

My Dad and I visited the Vodafone store nearby my place. We had some tinkering to do with my mobile plan. We enter with a atmosphere we Mumbaikars are so used to- an afternoon crowd at the store.
I take my token and I am called at a particular counter within minutes of my arrival. I think to myself, this ain't gonna take long. Good. Or so I think!

A gal in her 20s greets us at her counter; all decked up with her make up and "HAPPY TO HELP" name-tag nicely pinned to her Vodafone t-shirt. Besides her sits a female Trainee, clearly not attentive and stifling a yawn every other minute.

My Dad is seated and I find no chair for me to sit. Been through that before many a times, not a problem standing for a couple of minutes, I think. After we explain our query to her, I feel the need to sit, for which I grab an empty chair from the next counter after asking for it. And the guy who's manning the counter gives me scornful looks as if I was going to steal the chair. OK, that's weird!

Nevertheless, ignoring that OCD counter-guy I ask the 20s something gal to process my request. She does, asking me to fill up and sign few documents, which I oblige. Then asks me for my ID proof. I hand over my Passport. To which she says she needs a photocopy, I nod and let her. She takes it to the photocopier-located 3 counters away and is positioned near a desk full of drawers-and returns with the photocopies and gives me back my passport.
Then she looks at the photocopies and says, my photograph in the copy has come unclear. She asks for my passport again to take fresh copies, which I oblige, again. She returns with the copies and starts explaining some stuff to my dad.

I now ask for my Passport, to which she replies "I gave it back to you naa?!".
I say "No. You didn't" And I promptly empty the contents of my bag searching for it, my dad looks for it on the counter table, underneath the keyboard, the desk... nowhere... ITS GONE!!!

5 minutes pass.

She goes back and check the photocopier. It ain't there.
She goes to the storeroom. Comes back empty handed. (OK, mini heart attack!)
Through all this, the trainee is still seated and not doing anything.

Now, I am FURIOUS!
This time in pure synchronicity, my Dad and I get up and start heading towards the photocopier- It ought to be there.
Disastrous thoughts run through my mind: 'What a fool this female is!'; 'What if someone has stolen it to make fake passports?'; 'What if they have completely LOST my passport!!!'; 'What do I do??'; 'Should I wring her neck first or call the cops?'

No sooner than we get to the copier wearing enraged expressions, than the trainee get up and asks us to be seated. We don't move. Instead we yell at both of them for being so careless. I am fuming.

15 minutes have pass.
The trainee has an expression on her face as if she has hit the jackpot- I see my passport in her hand. (She found it while rummaging through the drawers) I grab it before she offers to me. She didn't do me no favour!

Bigger shocker?
We were expecting some apologies, explanations... and NOTHING! I mean WTF!!!
No morose on their faces. B***h!

To that I reprimanded them for being so careless and irresponsible.
I mean, I was considering legal action had they lost my passport.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

That's not all. I ask for a feedback form, so I could give them a piece of my mind to which they reply:
"We don't have feedback forms, but if you want we can give you a blank form-*pause*-actually its just a blank sheet, where you could write to the concerned department...."
-I just walked off with my dad.

I know what they mean by a "blank sheet". They would it throw in the bin the minute I turn my back or make pinwheels out of it!

Jeez!
Humble request to you all, beware of these Customer Servicers!

-LOGY

2009-03-21T09:32:00.003+05:30

I stole this from my BB JoJo.

1) FOODOLOGY
What is your salad dressing of choice? Southwest Sauce (:heart Subway!)
What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Subway again
Food you could eat for weeks and not get tired of it? Missal Pav :D
What are your pizza toppings of choice? Barbeque chicken, mushrooms, crisp capsicum, jalapenos
What do you like to put on your toast? Orange marmalade or honey

2) TECHNOLOGY
How many television sets are in your house? One
What colour cell phone do you have? black with bronze

3) BIOLOGY
Are you right handed or left handed? Right
Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Nope
What is the last heavy item you lifted? 7.5 kg dumbbell
Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Nope

4) BULLCRAPOLOGY
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? NO thank you! Why would I wanna know?
If you could change your name, what would you change it to? I like my name! Will keep it that way, even after I get married.
Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? Yup, I'm Game. Provided there is a jug full of water later.

5) DUMBOLOGY
How many pairs of flip flops do you own? Two pairs.
Last time you had a run-in with the cops? Never, I usually don't drive.
Last person you talked to: My Mom
Last person you hugged? My Mom :)

6) FAVORITOLOGY
Season? Winter(of Pune, India)
Holiday? Diwali/Deepawali (5-day Indian Festival)
Day of the week? Friday
Month? December

7) CURRENTOLOGY
Missing someone? Yes, very very very much!
What are you listening to? Rehab by Rihanna
Watching? Big Bang Theory, Season 1
Worrying about? Upcoming results!

8) RANDOMOLOGY
First place you went this morning? To the Loo, to relieve myself. (C'mon! Don't ewww)
Do you smile often? Yes (btw, a really sad question!)

9) RANDOM QUESTIONOLOGY
1. Do you always answer your phone? ermmm, depends on who is calling ;)
2. It's four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it? Random Forwards from my University buddies.
3. If you could change your eye color, what would it be? I have Black eyes... so maybe Blue.
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Sonic??? I'd like Raspberry
5. Do you own a digital camera? Nope, My mobile camera does most of the work.
6. Have you ever had a pet fish? Yes, they are very much alive and kicking.. all 6 of 'em
7. Favorite Christmas song? Jingle Bells... (*reminisces Kindergarten*)
8. What's on your wish list for your birthday? Currently I need a Battery for my Dell Inspiron 1520 Laptop. Long term wish: A scooty :D
9. Can you do push ups? I can do 10 women push-ups (women push ups are like the regular ones except that you get down on your knees instead of your feet). {Ref. JoJo's Post}
10. Can you do a chin up? HAHAHAHHAHAHaa no ways!
11. Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Excited.
12. Do you have any saved texts? Yes, Many!
13. Ever been in a car wreck? Nope! (*Toucwood!*)
14. Do you have an accent? Yes, an Indian... although its not very prominent.
15. What is the last song to make you cry? Sleep by Poets of the Fall.
16. Plans tonight? Yea, to board a train to head to my native.
17. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Nope
18. Name 3 things you bought in the last week? Milk, Bread, Coffee. (That was yesterday)
19. Have you ever been given roses? A Rose.. yes
20. Current worry? It should be 'Worries'. About my ongoing project, and my MBA results!
21. Current hate right now? Going to College every day, but it turns out to be fun in the end.
22. Met someone who changed your life? Yea.
23. What song represents you? Will answer later
24. What were you doing at 12 AM this morning? Chatting away with my pal on Gtalk.
25. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I need to Pack!
26. What did you dream of last night? Don't remember.
27. What's your biggest fear? Losing my optimism/ self-confidence.
28. How do you feel right now? I feel good. but hungry.

So gotta get that breakfast!

Till then...

Ta!

*Tag is open to anyone who wishes to, and has loads of free time!* :P

Jigsaw

2009-03-04T12:34:00.003+05:30

Few random clicks got me to this fun site. Love jigsaw puzzles. Try it out!
My fastest: 3:19
Can you beat my time?

Weekend in Pune

2009-02-28T14:32:00.012+05:30

Over my short over-the-weekend trip to Pune I spotted some pretty flowers and had a few clicks. My (amateurish) hand at photography. Do check them out. Edit after Prashant suggested to classify the flowers.

The picturesque Sunset

Lone Pink flower set aglow

Pink Oleander (Nerium oleander) flower from the oleander family.

The red flower perhaps the wild Ruby Cinquefoil from the rose family.
The tiny Yellow flowers are from the dog flower family and are called Asiatic Witchweed

White flowers (Still not sure of the name)

Edit 1:
Nomenclature courtesy: Flowers of India

PS: Came across a lot of interesting names of flowers; for instance:
Kiss Me Quick
Honesty
Shaving Brush tree (incidentally the flower does look like a shaving brush!)
Thickhead (not kidding)
Lipstick Tree
Hooker's Woodrose
Farewell to Spring
Autograph Tree
Bladder Dock
Cup Saucer Plant
Devil's Backbone
Foolproof Plant
Badminton Ball Tree
Devil Tree
Bridal Veil ..... and a flower on my name!!!

PPS: Hydrangeas are absolutely breathtaking!

Not the BEST of bus rides

2009-02-25T21:07:00.006+05:30

I hate (read:H-A-T-E) traveling by bus. Period. Thank God for trains! Now I usually don't rant and whine, (S and Vintage would be synonymously shaking their heads in disapproval) but this post would say otherwise. I think reading Zee has kinda rubbed off on me :P :D And oh she's a interesting blogger I tell ya.
It was one of those days again where things didn't go as well as planned. Morning I get up as early as 8 and set out to battle against the outdoors when out of my abode's comfort. :P
Anyway as any other Mumbaikar I was to catch a bus to reach the train station within a half an hour's time. The bus came surprisingly on time and was pretty speedy. Or so I thought. The bus got moderately crowded. I scrambled inside the bus and hovered like a hawk to spot an empty seat. For two good reasons:
One: I was carrying my oh-so-heavy-it-would-break-my-limb laptop in one arm and my shoulder bag in the other. (You see, I realized my ONLY mistake after purchasing my laptop for a bargain price was NOT buying a backpack carry case for it instead of the free-of-cost-over-the-shoulder carry case)
Two: I like to sit! :P

To my dismay the reserved ladies' seats were occupied. And so after a while or so of standing and balancing my luggage like a clown on a tri-cycle I manage somehow to acquire a seat. And one with a window view! :D I was contended on that note. And so the passenger man excused himself to let me be seated, with some difficulty. These BEST buses usually have a sequence of two-seaters parallel to each other in every bus.
And I sat, and to my misery or just goddarn luck I realized that I was sitting on the seat which is over the wheel of the bus. So I am sitting in this crouched (read: very uncomfortable) position which on seeing my yoga instructor would've been so proud of me. And to add insult to injury I had my not-so-light laptop and carry bag placed precariously over my legs. And so went five minutes. I thought to myself, 'OK, this ain't that bad, I just have to sit this^ way for another 10 minutes. I'm cool'. And, being proud of myself on being so optimistic and adjusting I sat. 10 minutes. And I sat some more. 15 minutes. 25 minutes.
Right, now my male co-passenger was really uncourteous, not even throwing a look at my misery. He could've at least shifted, he had no luggage whatsoever. So even as I sighed and huffed and puffed, all he was bothered is to watch the bloody adverts on the mini-telly in the bus. and those adverts were so *beep*. The same irritating advert on Chyavanprash being played back to back. 30 minutes down and I was trying to feel my numb butt, adjusting my posture every other minute.
31 minutes down, my ray of hope arrives-the uncourteous idiot get up and leaves, but the bus is so crowded that no sooner did i try to shift, did another guy sit. Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhh! I yelled in my head; grinding my teeth, I sunk further as it was now a whole 45 minutes all thanks to the unending traffic and Metro Construction work. And then finally came a bus-stop where most people get off (bless them) and I could finally feel my legs again! 50 minutes of patience and composure. And I knew I had to blog about it ;)

BTW Mumbai locals ROCKKK!!! Mostly on time :D

^Rotate the image to the left and you'll get to know what EXACTLY I mean.

Food Tag

2009-02-16T18:12:00.013+05:30

Since I'm a self-proclaimed connoisseur of cuisines and good food ;P I thought why not made a food tag? I declare it the "IamalwaysHungry" tag or IAAH tag for short. :P
(OK, so I am now a certified jobless person)

Alright, so here's my tag ishstyled by me, ofcourse! ;P
OK, so the tag:

THE FOODIE TAG

Rules:
Participants are requested to post the above barcode image to the post when answering to the tag.
Must answer ALL the questions as an impromptu response.
Be Hungry, Stay Hungry
May God help u! :P

Questions:
1. One dish you can crave for any given time of the day/ night/ situation?

2. One dish you'd never had and would love to regardless of the expense?

3. Most expensive dish you've ever had?

4. Most bizarre dish you've ever seen or tasted? Like totally blown your socks off! Makes you gag every single time your lay your eyes on it. (Hope you've got the point by now :P)

5. Your poison?

6. One a lonely rainy day, your sitting cozily on your sofa, you'd crave for?

7. First forbidden savoury you'd crave for while you've been sick?

8. Your all time favorite TV snack:

9. On your first ever kitchen experience you prepared:

10. After a tiring day at work/ college/shopping/loitering you'd loved to come home to?

11. A cuisine your most comfortable with:

12. A snack which you loved A LOT back when you were a kid and still love it till date?

13. A dish which your mum makes/ used to which you simply adore?

14. What you're eating RIGHT NOW? or had immediately before?

Just when you thought it was all over...
BONUS! (Don't cha love em?) ;)

*15. Your friends are coming over on short notice. You have half an hour. How would save your dignity by being hospitable and feed your friends? (considering you can't take them to a restaurant or call for take out)

I tag:
*drumroll*
.
.
.
.
.
Rach, Mahak, JoJo Tiffany

My first Tag (NOT Heuer)

2009-02-16T14:04:00.008+05:30

Me first tag... cannot evade rach's tag. :P :D And since I 'm tired of reading my books, and got nothing interesting to do (read lazy). Forgive me if I'm biased towards Hollywood movies..So, here goes nothing!

1- Which was the movie that you had waited for with anticipation and turned out to be an utter dud?

Ahhh... A walk to remember. (OK, romantics don't kill me for this)

2- Which was the one most ridiculously stupid movie you watched in a theatre and then thought that you might as well have thrown that money in a well for all it was worth?

Hmmm.....OK, HAS to be a hindi fillum :P
Paheli... my mum loved it though!

3- If you had to be in a movie or a scene that you would want really really to be something that happened in real life, which would that movie or scene be and which character would you be?

Instinctively, Micheal J. Fox's character from Back to the Future. Sci-fi rocks! :P

4- Write three songs that would tell me what you lovvvvvvvvvve to do in your spare time...

Traveling: 'Yunhi Chala chal rahi' from the Movie: Swades
Gardening: 'Gunguna Rahe Hain Bhavre' from the Movie: Aradhana
Chatting: 'Yeh tumhari meri baatein' from the Movie: Rock On!

5- Name a movie you actually thought was better than the book or atleast did justice to the book...

Agreeing with Rach here.
Harry Potter 1 & 4 :)
AND
Lord of the Rings.

6- You are on a desert island... you found the island genie who granted you on wish that he would bring one person to join you on your exile... You have told the genie who you want that to be... apparently the genie isn't all that magical... he went to get that person and you are waiting for the procrastinating genie to get back with that person... What song do you sing while you wait?

Un-magical genie huh?? (There goes my wish list!)
Bob Sinclair remix- 'World Hold On'
or
Dido-'I've got sand in my shoes' (Ain't I on an Island?)

7- One song on your IPOD/mobile that was a huge hit a few months/years ago and the radio stations used to play every hour and seem to have forgotten all about now that you tend to listen to often enough

'Forever and For Always' by Shania Twain.

Bonus: Dil Chahta Hai: Title Track

8- One song that reminds you of somebody or a group of people... Do inform why it causes you to reminisce...

'Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan' from Dil Se... because I danced with my group on that number. (yep! believe ittt!)

9- The one movie you saw most recently and which lived upto all your expectations if not more...

'SAW' .... Wowwie!

10- The one song you have heard atleast twice today... either on the radio or the cell or on TV...

'Haule Haule' from Rab ne Bana di jodi
and 'Massakali' from Delhi 6 :D

Bonus Question: In view of today being Valentine's day... Well it was when I started thinking of this tag, type down song which is meant to be romantic, but the lyrics make you think otherwise (There are a lot of Govinda songs I know, but try to think of a song not many people would know or think of)

Anu Mallick with his impromptu and imprudent stuck-in-your-head-like-a-migraine-song: 'Unchiiiiiiiiii hai building' :P :P

*Phew!* Glad that's over! :P

I tag: Hope Catcher, Siby and Tiffany.

Kitchen Klutz

2009-02-12T16:57:00.004+05:30

The other day 2 of my friends and I went to Mont's home to "work". It was my first time to his place, even though my place is pretty close to his, I've never been to his abode. So there we were sitting in front of his PC and chatting away, and "working". It was well past lunch time i believe and his elder sister who was at home was very kind to serve us some home-made chaat. (mouths' watering?) Now you must understand, when we are hungry we act like a pack of starved hyenas out to get every piece of meat in sight.
And it wasn't any different this time. After the Tang drink was downed in almost no time, the batata-puri chaat was relished in record time that would've given 100m Olympic Champ Usain Bolt a run for his money!
*chuckling* I remember now, my mom used the tell me and -to my sheer embarrassment -to a bunch of unknown relatives of how once when i was about 4, got up early morning, ran off from home (without even brushing my teeth!) to a biscuit-eating competition (parle-G if in case you've been wondering) in my neighbourhood. That too in my petticoat!!! (And I won first place, ofcourse!) :P *reminisces* And so history proves that I've always been a hungry kid and till date a experimental gourmet.
Coming back to our yummy chaat; was sooooo gastronomically and orgasmically delightful that even after a second round we secretly kept wanting more!
Ahhhh....! Better than the street chaat-Yes! I'll proudly say that!

Anywhoo, it was then I'd decided 'I need to replicate this gastronomic wonder!' and so after many weeks it was today that I decided of preparing it. Purchased the ingredients in advance the previous night and was all set.
I woke up this morning early around 7 (ya, that's early for me) to a gushing sound. I went downstairs to check it out and saw the kitchen sink was overflowing with water!!! Arrggggghhhhh... disaster!!! And it was my own doing since I'd left the tap open. Full 2 hours of water! Big deal you say? Not quite. The place I live at gets limited water supply, that too at wee hours in the morning and late evenings. Now since I don't get up early mornings, the evenings take up my time to do the household stuff (washing, dishes, cooking..the works). And so, I see my entire kitchen under water. I worried not, and started to get to work. Since I am an optimist topped with a dollop of opportunist, I started to clean my kitchen with a broom in one hand and detergent in the other. I can proudly say my kitchen is spotless now! :)

Ah.. no water can dampen my culinary spirits! Chaat I will maketh! :P
Now, I am not a novice at cooking. No no no no no NO!(in Russell Peters' lingo) I can cook pretty well, and can boast about certain items of Indian cuisine (mainly). Ask my neighbours if you don't believe me. (YES! They are still very much alive Thankyou! and NO! I did into bribe/plead/torture them in eating/praising food cooked by me). And so I begin with the process.
First potatoes need to be boiled and mashed. No problemo. I place 4 potatoes water in a bowl and turn on the flame to high. Quicker the better.
Few moments later I get a call and then another, so go to my room to talk. A good HALF an hour later, I'm in my room, smell something burning and think 'When will my neighbours cook SOMETHING unburnt?!' to which the light bulb in my brain finally set aglow and i shrieked "F**K!! my POTATOES!!!" I sped downstairs only to find the charcoaled remains of the potatoes stuck to the dish and the latter had turned as synonymous as charcoal. I tried to console myself of the torture i meted upon the multi-eyed vegetable by assuming I was distracted or maybe fainted even.
Hah! now the opportunist in me in action, peeled all the potatoes and mashed them. I didn't notice a difference in taste either!

All set put the rest of the ingredients together and voila! Potato sev chaat ready! Yummmmmmm!

*Wiping a tear* Mom would've been so proud!
:P

Date with a Woman

2009-02-10T22:47:00.004+05:30

I just got this in my mail. You must have already read this or such stories like this. Very heart-warming read!

DATE WITH A WOMAN

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said I love you but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.
'What's wrong, are you well ?', she asked. My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.
'I thought that it would be pleasant to be with you,' I responded. 'Just the two of us.' She thought about it for a moment, and then said, 'I would like that very much.'

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous.
When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary.
She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.

'I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, 'she said, as she got into the car. 'They can't wait to hear about our meeting'. We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.

After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

'It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,' she said.
'Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor,' I responded.

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation - nothing extraordinary, but catching up on recent events of each others life. We talked so much that we missed the movie.
As we arrived at her house later, she said, 'I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.' I agreed.
'How was your dinner date?' asked my wife when I got home. 'Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,' I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have time to do anything for her.

Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined.
An attached note said: 'I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me.

I love you, son.'

:)

ta-daahh!

2009-02-09T15:13:00.003+05:30

Finally after hours and I mean HOURS of patient and persevering search, I finally find the template I adore!
simple, cute and blue! :D
Tell me what you think of it...!

Just for fun

2009-01-22T20:47:00.008+05:30

Since I am totally jobless, here's something to entertain you :P "Inspired" from rach's blog

Would I get away with Murder?


	Minimal: You would most likely not get caught, but if you did, it would be due to technological developments arising after the case had gone cold.

what more can I say? *devilish laugh* :P

What would my epitaph say?

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

What would my obituary say?

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

What should have been your name?

You are fun and unique.

Your parents should have named you...

Zaria

How will you be defined in the dictionary?

Gauri --

[adjective]:

Tastes like fried chicken

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

What is your rejected horoscope?

Gauri's Rejected Horoscope:

You will find that you have a sixth toe on your right
foot and try to hack it off with a meat cleaver
with deadly results

'What is your rejected horoscope?' at QuizGalaxy.com

What would your wanted poster say?

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

How will you be remembered in history books?


	Gauri cured cancer.
	... afterward, Gauri tried to get on the price is right and failed.
	'How will you be remembered in history books?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Lazy days

2009-01-22T13:10:00.004+05:30

Do u ever have those lazy days? Ones in which u just hope to sleep for hours n hours at a stretch doing nothing productive nor conclusive. Not Saturdays, nor sleepy Sundays, JUST another day in the week where u lie in to your heart's content. No friends, no phone calls, no family obligations, nor stepping outside the house.

Aaahhhh....bliss! I long for such days where we are at the midst of heap loads of work meeting deadlines, those "ultra-busy" times.
And do what u ask? Nothing at all of course! Stare at the ceiling, yawn, play with a bug, watch TV, yawn some more, fiddle with your phone/i-pod...and sleep :P

I wish someone could pay me to just be lazy like that...i would've done a great job... :D
Alas!

Serendipity!

2009-01-21T22:35:00.005+05:30

Today was one helluva day!
Got up snoozing the alarm so many times that it would've gone into protest!
Before leaving home, I couldn't find the pre-decided attire... rummaging my already messed up closet didn't help, and had to wear the same old re-washed attire. Left home late (no surprises there!).
Started out with the regular hurry-burry to catch the train. I became frustrated. And as I was hurrying, there was a constant pandemonium in my head. I was jotting a mental to- do list of things that-must-be-done-today! Needless to say, the list seemed endless and so had to jot it down on paper; with shaky handwriting while in the transport.
Then already hopelessly late for an 11am seminar at college, i wondered if the delay of the trains would also add insult to injury... trains proved me right...and there was a 15-minute delay! :X
Mounting frustration was now evident on my face now. I now saw the train at a far-away distance and what seemed to me like endless wait.
A pat on my shoulder which would’ve soured my frustration even more, instead shattered it into a million pieces. And my face broke into an awkward smile as I saw my Best friend from school standing beside me. Clichéd as it may sound, but I was so happy to meet her after so long!
Although those brief moments constituted a ‘Hi! What are you doing here? How have u been? Take care! I’ll call you soon’ exchange amongst us, it was the highlight of my day! Now I sincerely hoped the train would be as late as it wants to be or better not show up at all!
Next what? The train came, the peak hour rush engulfed me, separating us. I boarded the train, she missed it…. After that the day was as usual around me- the cacophony of the people in the train, reaching college embarrassingly late, delaying of the seminar even more, the seminar turning out to be an utterly non-descript dud, meeting of unpleasant people- yet I was in a pleasant and contended mood throughout without the little worries troubling me too much.

I carried that awkward smile throughout the day! :)

Party Story: Three's a Crowd!

2008-12-05T07:34:00.002+05:30

I'd like to tell this story, but I can't divulge the characters or their identities.

Let's call it The Party Story! :P
There are three 'parties' here. Party One(P1) is and Party Two(P2) are great friends, have a great rapport for the last few years. P2, have, say fifty members. P1 and P2 have a great time with each other almost every time. P1, a single member, does favors for P2's members quite often than not.

Enter Party Three(P3).
Recently, P3 met P1 and they became best of friends-rather inseparable "friends"!
P2 were feeling slightly neglected due to P1's change of 'heart'; but nevertheless accepted it.
Now, comes the fun part:
This time around P1 has asked a favor, rather major favor, from the members of P2. This favor would be to benefit only P3 and in turn jeopardize P2's comfort.
P2 has to figure out... Yes or No?

What do u think P2 should do???

Find out the rest of the story later when I post it. Till then post in suggestions.

:D

Mind's a Mystery!

2008-12-04T01:28:00.001+05:30

Its about 1.30 am. Its one of those hours of those times when you ought to have been sleeping like a log but are sitting and are alert as a fox.

I am studying....of course! For an exam which is in a matter of 12 hours.

Even though I am fairly tensed regarding my level of preparation, I can still enjoy typing this post, which gets me figuring. Ain't it weird what one's mind can do even in the strangest of situations, like laughing of madness when you're in such a pressure-cooker-like situation!

Well, I figure one's mind is a mystery of sorts.

And hope to figure out the solutions, only, after my exams.

.......'cause the tension is mounting over me NOW!!! :(

ta!

Ab initio: my first post

2008-12-03T17:35:00.001+05:30

Thought-provoking?

Actually not quite....I am sitting at my desk; having random thoughts and decided that its high time in need to put them on a blog.

Random thoughts? the daily-quibbling-non-personal-my-perspective... thoughts.

I'll keep it as non-political, non-anti-religious, non-serious as possible!

:)