Second Thoughts

Zippy

2011-05-23T17:47:00.003+05:30

I thought driving was fun. People are always eager to go on long drives, take the car out for a spin and even just drive around when they have nothing to do. Well, in my case, I don't really have a choice. The public transport system in this part of the country is not that great.

The subway has limited connectivity and the bus can take forever. To top it all, cabs are just too expensive. How I miss hopping into an auto rickshaw!

So we buy a car and the next logical step is to get a license. Weekdays are reserved for driving around for errands such as shopping and weekends are for more extensive drives. I am perfectly fine with driving around for errands. It is the long drives that really get boring.

My first time on the interstate highway was full of nervous energy. Cars zipping past you at 60-70 miles per hour (that is almost 100 km/hr!) can really cause some serious panic attacks especially when you are a novice like me! I have hardly driven around in Mumbai. There was never a need to!

So we go to the Indian store and the plan is for me to drive back. I start off easy. Well its a small road, Cars are moving slow and I think "well, this is easy!" Thats when reality strikes me and I enter the interstate. There is a minimum speed that I have to adhere to and a maximum limit that I cannot afford to cross! I enter the highway and my first thought is to stop at the side of the road and pass on the drivers seat to the mister. But he would have none of it and you are not allowed to even stop on the highway.. Bummer!

So I steer left and right, manage to be in one lane throughout the drive, switch lanes when nearing the exit, drift a couple of times, but I eventually made it. I even wanted to do a little dance and throw my hands up in the air when I reached home!

The second time around I was much more confident! But the drive itself is very boring. Stay in one lane, drive like a robot, no cows on the road, no honking, no traffic jams, nothing to look at, no scenery - except for a Wendys, Taco bell or a McDonalds.

I was told by a friend that driving from one state to the other is much more fun. Well here is hoping that I clear the test and hopefully enjoy driving as I will have to do that everyday to work (hopefully soon!)

Resume

2011-05-11T04:47:00.002+05:30

Well the title of the post has nothing to do with "continue"...it is simply another term for a CV. But I am also going to "resume" working (hopefully soon!). I am currently in the process of applying for a job and let me tell you that it is not fun! I was complaining a few weeks ago about not receiving my work permit and was taking it easy online - the usual mails, Facebook, watch a few matches etc.

Then suddenly to my surprise a received i notification saying that my work permit had been mailed and even more surprised when i received it in 3 days instead of the usual 30.

Now all my time goes in applying for jobs online, contacting recruiters and setting up meetings for the same. Only yesterday I went out and bought some formal wear.

Hope everything clicks soon and I get at least one call from the hundreds of jobs that I have applied for..!

Any tips and references are welcome!!!

Guardian Angels

2011-04-27T16:52:00.003+05:30

Today is the anniversary of my grandparents. we all fondly called them "Anna and Pati".

I practically grew up with them as my parents were both working. They were just 4 buildings away and my brother and I would promptly be dropped off at 8 am before my parents left to work. After school, we would be back at my grandparents home and would promptly be welcomed with bournvita and kaju barfi. Occasionally we would be treated to soan papdi. I say occasionally as my grandfather loved it and half the box would be empty the day it was bought!

I used to rush to my grandparents home during summer vacations as they had cable connection and I did not want to miss the 2 pm hindi movie. My grandmom and I used to sit down with tea and watch the movie however lame the movie was!

My grandfather on the other hand would love to clean and would spend most of his time cleaning the windows and the grills of the home (something that my brother seems to have picked up now!) The last anniversary that they were together, my grandmom made Gulab Jamun. That was her specialty and my favourite. In fact i picked up a packet of gulab jamun mix to make.

Well, too many fond memories to pen down. This anniversary they are together, albeit not with us. I miss them both terribly.

Wonder

2011-04-23T05:59:00.004+05:30

It is funny how you miss little things in life. Someone posted a photo on facebook posing in a local train when I suddenly realized how much I missed it! People will probably cringe at this statement and wonder what I can miss about a claustrophobic, sweaty and "armpit in your face" compartment. But I do! I miss buying earrings for a mere 5 rupees in the train. I miss getting asked if I am getting down at Chembur. I miss listening to middle aged working women play antakshari in the local train. It is probably silly but you do!

After leaving home to come to the USA, people warned me that I would miss the food, appreciate mom's cooking more, learn to value people like maids at home etc. Yes, it is only natural to miss thee things but there are certain other things like I mentioned above that I never thought I would miss.

I travel in the luxury of a 4-wheeler now. But it is not the same! (and not for the obvious reasons)

Then the other day I got all nostalgic when I saw some old Doordarshan ads. Life was much simpler back then. All special programs were reserved to be telecast on the weekends. You will struggle to wake up in the morning to g to school. But on Sunday you are promptly up to watch Rangoli and Chandrkanta!

Its probably the effect of staying away or I am just getting older as everything is slowly becoming a blur

The proof in the pudding

2011-04-15T21:56:00.002+05:30

Cooking is more like my chemistry lab. heat, filter, maintain temperature, correct proportion, stir, boil and in the end (just like chemistry practicals) your product is tested for color, clarity and taste. Only instead of my Chemistry professor, it is the mister who is the critic.

But I have passed with flying colours as someone said "your cooking is almost like your mom's"

When the bar is set so high, being almost there is an achievement !

Having fun!

2011-03-28T23:13:00.002+05:30

I am now:

part of a book club
a regular fitness center goer
a cook (only till i get my work permit)
otherwise unemployed
a movie buff...can watch almost any movie
not bored at all
someone who can run at least 2 miles without a break
having fun!!!

You can learn a thing or two

2011-03-04T07:06:00.002+05:30

Some things should just not be done on Facebook

Sick : If your sick...get off the computer and go to sleep...posting updates like "Down with fever :(" or "terrible headache" is not going to cure you. Get off facebook and go to the doctor for heaven's sake!
Thank you: Saying thank you to each and everyone who "likes" you status is not going to give you any brownie points. For eg:

X likes your status (4 minutes ago)

Your comment: Thank you X :) (few seconds ago(

Y likes your status (1 minute ago)

Your comment: Thanks :) Muah

Relationships: Your most recent update "In a relationship" or "It's complicated" will surely draw some questions. If your response to any of these questions is the following, then you are surely trying to suck up all the attention you can

"Will tell you later", "Thanks, Will tell you when I meet you" Why declare it when you don't want to talk about it?

Insults: The "some people" tag is just too boring. "Some people need to learn manners." "Some people can be so irritating." This is a social networking site for heaven's sake. You can reserve your personal vendetta for some place else.

<+3 = an organ in your body. Stop using the "heart" smiley for everything

Upload: Not every photo you have clicked in the world needs to be uploaded on facebook. No one in their sane mind wants to know how a restroom looks like.

Paparazzi: Are the cameras in your home functioning 24X7?? Do they follow you everywhere and capture every moment of your life? Stop being a "poser"

Birthday Bumps

2011-02-24T05:19:00.001+05:30

Typical conversation on your birthday when you are away

"Hello"

"Hi..!!!! Happy birthday!!!"

"Thank you! how are you???"

"I am good...So....what plans for your birthday??"

"Nothing much yaar....may be go out for dinner or something...."

"Cool...So how are you liking it there? All settled and all??"

"Ya ya...all settled and all...things are good"

"Ok then...you have a good day"

Hang up

Firangi

2011-01-25T18:00:00.002+05:30

Now that I have moved to phoren land, I see myself more in the kitchen than anywhere else. After landing in Atlanta, I was in for a surprise as I took a train from arrival to baggage claim (yes you read that correctly - TRAIN!) Then I took another train home. But that was not as much fun as inter-terminal train.
On reaching home, I slept on an air mattress, was super excited that I had a walk in closet that was the size of a room you would probably enter in the name of a 2BHK in Mumbai. The kitchen is not my favorite area as I do not like cooking except for the occasional tea and Maggi.
After staying awake the whole night on the air mattress due to jet lag and the discomfort of the bed, I got up to an extremely chilly morning and static electricity that caused my hair to stand in all weird directions. Even my nose had static!
Went to an Indian store and it comes as no surprise to me that the store was called PATEL BROTHERS. We strippd the store and bought so much stuff that even I was surprised and the shopping done. This only means that I actually have to cook everyday. Well since Ashok is not that fussy, I can get away with things.
Went to an amazing Americanized Indian restaurant the other night and had great Aloo Gobi, as I thought about Bend it like Beckham.
Jet lag makes me want to sleep on those huge trolleys at all the stores that I have been going to, to buy stuff. I sleep like a log during the day and I am wide awake through the night. I feel hungry at odd times but I am too lazy to even cook.
That reminds me, its 7 am, time for bed!

Cleaning out my closet

2010-12-28T11:35:00.002+05:30

It is almost time for me to leave and fly (Finally!) and this means that I have to wrap up everyting here and move. I was just going through all my stuff amidst the shifting process and found a lot of things that I did not want to let go. I seem to have hoarded heaps of stuff right from my school days and I do not feel like getting rid of any of these prized possessions. Some of the things that I found were:

A note book in which I had penned down a few poems. My puerility is clearly seen in these poems! Titles of these poems include: Shahid Afridi, Christmas and Pepsi!
I found my collection of cricket cards. We used to get one cricket card for every boomer bought and I would keep buying boomers in order to collect "Shahid Afridi" cards.
A pine cone that I had picked up from Ooty one winter.
Old photographs of my grand mom, mom and her sisters and many more.
My coin and stamp collection.
Stickers
Lots of greeting cards

There is no doubt that this list is only going to increase. My latest addition to the list is a pair of illuminated devil horns that I bought at the signal with a lot of bargaining!

Chor Police

2010-10-21T09:16:00.001+05:30

We had been on a trek to Lohgad a few months ago.
Me and Ashok reached the top of the fort just when they were about to close the fort and it was pretty lonely up there.
There was a lot of fog as well and visibility was limited. Just when we were returning to the gate of the fort to make our way down, we came across a small tank with a frog floating in it and the tank was filled with the most colorful fishes you can imagine. We forgot all about going back and started to look into the tank and tried to observe all the fishes. Suddenly we saw 4 men walking towards us. The whole scene looked like it was straight out of a movie.
The 4 men approach us.
Man 1: What are you guys doing here? isn't it late?
Ashok: Oh no. We were just making our way down.
Man 1: It is dangerous to be here at this time

Ashok flips out the camera asks Man 1 to take a snap of us. We happily pose and he happily obliges.

Ashok: So are you tourists? From Pune?
Man 1: WE ARE THE COPS (and then walks away)

I am trying to control my laughter. Ashok is not trying to do anything.

Man 2: The SP of Pune just took your snap (and then walks away)

Man 3: Where are u from?
We: Mumbai
Man 3: Oh that guy who just went was at the Taj for 26/11
Ashok: Oh ok
Man 3: Man4 is lagging far behind. If you see him, just tell him to come here (and then walks away)

Ashok and Kiran : We then walk away, meet Man 4 and are amused by this whole incident!

En Vazhi Thani Vazhi

2010-10-03T12:05:00.002+05:30

I loved Endhiran. It is a must watch and it does not matter if you are a Rajnikant fan or not. The movie can be seen for multiple reasons.
I was lucky enough to get really great seats in a theater that was packed to its full capacity. i was excited from the previous day itself to catch the movie and was telling everyone proudly how I managed to get tickets and that too right at the back and at a reasonable price. I tried my best not to read reviews of the movie. But my curiosity got the better of me. After reading reasonably good reviews, I was all the more excited to watch the movie.
Finally it was time. I went to the theater well in advance and was just impatient waiting in the hallway. The movie started 10 minutes late and I was not the only on getting restless. There were groups of mamas, mamis, tathas, paatis and youngsters all abuzz with impatience.
Finally we enter the hall, immediatley take our seats an hope that we don't have to see any other trailers and our prayers are answered!!!
The movie starts and I sit through an amazing 3 hours without even realizing it!
here is what it is. Rajnikant is the show stealer without a doubt. What assists him is amazing visual effects. I am not talking only of the massive robot formations that you see towards the end, but I am also referring to stunningly shot song sequences. This movie is such a relief after the dismally disappointing Sivaji.
Aishwarya looks like a dream and dances like one! She looks great in all the scenes and has much more to do in this movie that what Shreya had in Sivaji. Sadly the 2 comedians are wasted in the movie. Vivek was a standout in the earlier movie outing. But in Endhiran, Rajni takes hold of the realms of comedy too. As a villain his jokes and style is something to watch out for. As a scientist, his role is small but significant. After all the movie is called Robot/Endhiran!
One thing that was probably missing in this movie was the typical entry by Rajni. We have seen some amazing entries in his previous movies. That was not to be here. Also there was no punch line or a trademark rajni style to witness.
But the absence of these factors does not take away credit from he fact that every scene in the movie is well though of. I wont go into the intricate details of the story as I do not ant to kill the suspense and thrill for the others.
But there is this one scene that stood out for me in the movie and I must mention it here. There is this scene when the robot rajni uses his magnetic powers to draw weapons from a gang of goons who are chasing him. As soon as he draws all he weapons from them, he transforms into the goddess Kali in an amazingly shot scene. That was the stand out scene for me in the movie. Do not take your eyes of the screen even for one minute. The robot formations in the end are just part of an entire adventure waiting for you. Watching 1000+ Rajnikants together is indeed a visual treat. The formations are what make you salute the director for his imagination and vision.
The music is great and the way the songs have been shot make you appreciate the music even more. The robot is extremely lovable even in its villainous form.
Go and revel and soak up the legend known as Rajnikanth. It is hard to imagine anyone else paying this role. When Rajnikant says "En Vazhi, Thani Vazhi", you better believe it.!

The Palace of Illusions

2010-09-25T10:24:00.002+05:30

I finally moved on from crappy movies to literary masterpieces.

I just read an amazing book called "The Palace of Illusions". The book was recommended to me by my aunt and a dear friend of mine. Ordinarily I would not book up this book. The reason being the book portrays the Mahabharata from Draupadi's point of view. Mahabharata itself was too long to sustain, let alone a book based on it. I do like mythology though. It is fascinating to read about Indian mythology provided its in an abridged form for me. I do know of the events of the Mahabharata but not intricately.
I knew of the main events of the Mahabharatha - the swayamwar, the dice game where DRaupadi is insulted and that there were 100 Kauravas and 5 Pandavas, how Draupadi was shared amongst the 5 brothers, Bheem who is supposed to be extremely strong etc.

This book tells all these events but from the point of view of Draupadi. The language is brilliant. there were some analogies that I simply loved for their simplicity. The writing was lucid and the book itslef is a page turner.

My sympathies changed after this book. I now have switched sides to the Kauravas and have the utmost regard for the most tragic hero of them all - Karna

The book beautifully weaves all the events and is a must read for all. We watch Troy on TV and go all gaga about it when some of the most fascinating stories lie in our roots. The way the battles are descibed are nothing short of Hector vs Achilles.

I cannot describe each event of the book. There were some incidents where you find yourself questioning the characters of the 5 brothers. Do pick up his book when you can. It is a must read and cannot be missed.

Of Cliches

2010-09-02T16:15:00.002+05:30

I am pretty much doing nothing at home. So other than watching movies, anything on television, reading, writing stuff, playing games and working out, I am pretty jobless!

You will understand how bored I truly am when you now read what I just saw the other day on television. There was nothing much to see.I usually switch between the travel and living channel star world, HBO and star movies. But now I was bored of that too.So I decided to see some Hindi movie. The first channel that I came across was the local cable channel and there was some move with Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol in it. I decided to stick to this movie as I knew it would be a typical masala movie. What followed was masala indeed!

The movie was called Ram Avtaar. Ya you guessed it, The names of our heroes. The heroine was Sridevi. Unfortunately (or is it) it was the ending of the movie. Apparently Sunny Deol and Sridevi were this couple and AK and Sd were thick friends. But Ak marries Sridevi ( i dont know why). Then AK realises that ny best friend and sridevi were this hot couple and i cam in like a fool in between. So i mus reunite the lovers and il be the hero in the end.

Now the 3 of them are standing in the room. AK says he is sorry for coming in between and blah blah.SD just stands there like a statue while AK goes on and on about friendship adn love. All this with some dramatic music in the background. Finally sridevi says that all this is rubbish. Friendship comes and goes and so does love. and she rants about how she was tossed between the 2 of them and that she was tired now (obviously with all that tossing) and that this marriage will b broken only if one of them dies.

Now AK has a bulb moment and he goes to the cabinet and opens it to find an amber bottle appropriately named "POISON" What follows will drive you crazy.

He consumes thw hole bottle in one go. SD and Sri jus watch. Suddenly they decide to help him. He is taken to the hospital. The sad sympathetic doctor si there, the operation theater with the red light is there and so is the clichéd IV drip. Doc comes to SD and says that all the blood in AK's body has to be replaced. Yes you heard me ALL THE BLOOD. AK is Rh -ve (kaunsa blood group, he does not say)

as you guessed it SD has the same blood group, he volunteers, they are connected by the IV drip. After a wile doc says enuf, SD will also die if he gives more blood (if AK needs ALL the blood then obviously)

doc goes to call blood banks in the hope of getting blood. SD sees that doc is awy. He increses the speed of transfusion. AK survives. Sd is unconscious now

After all the hulla gulla, both survive. Sridevi is lying in the temple. herprayers are answered, Both survive. Phew

between all this there were the typical dialogues

"Unki jaan Khatre mein hai"

"Mere pati ko bachao"

and etc

there was also this song playing...i cant remember the wordings but i only know it was as cheesy as the movie.

i think il look it up on the net...after all i have nothing to do!

Its the last time.......

2010-05-31T08:22:00.005+05:30

....I run for the bus
I run for the auto
I try to grab my seat
I pretend to sleep
I curse 8-5 timings
I try to punch my card before hot point
I punch in the access code to the lab
I go for a 10 am cutting chai
I use a facebook proxy
I use a gmail proxy
I read e-books as an excuse to shirk work
I curse the canteen food
I bless the owner of food zone
I eat nutties secretly after lunch
I run for the 5pm bus
I play TT after missing the 5pm bus
I have bread butter jam cheese toast
I hog on cheese sandwich at nirlon
I look at the watch and say "wot its only been 2 hours since we came to work??"
I comment on how bad the guys look in the company
I open my Lotus notes for the nth time

However happy I am to go, there is still a small part of me that is left behind

Observation

2010-05-28T09:13:00.002+05:30

Every morning, I take the company bus to work..
I try to sleep but I am unable to do so as the bus ride is like a ride in the amusement park. I have to hold on to the front seat and the ride takes me ahead like a roller coaster. I cant even read a book for the very same reasons.
SO I have no choice bbut to stare at the world outside during my 45 minute bus ride from Chembur to Goregaon.
Right from the time I step out of my house to catch the bus, till the time I get out of it, I see the same people, doing the same things everyday, but what fascinates me is that it has been 2 years since I have been following this routine and all these people do too..
They probably have been doing the very same things for god knows how long.
Some of these observations are:
1. When I step out of the building I see this old man walking back to a building near my home. I do not know his name but I only know that he stays there because I also see him on my way back playing in the building with his grand daughter. We have this tendency to refer to these people not by their name but by their flat numbers or building numbers. For instance, I do not know the names of the tathas and paatis in my building. I only know them as 5 number mama, 10 number mami! This old man waves out to me every single day!
2. I see this leper at a junction ahead everyday and begging for money all the time. He refers to me as sister...There are times I have given him some cash to which he has replied "thank you sister and have a nice day"
3. There are these 2 sweepers at my bus stop. They work really hard to gather all the waste and keep the junction clean. They are always angry as we are in the way of their cleaning "path". The other day I brought a couple of face masks and gloves (one advantage of working in a pharma company!!!) and asked them to use it. The happiness on their face was worth everyting
4. At everard nagar, I see a bunch of people laughing away to glory everyday. Laughter club!
5. At T-junction, there is an eating joint called "khao-piyo bindaas" I laughed a lot when I first saw the name board! There is this guy sitting with 2 huge baskets. He picks up onions from basket and then slices them at lightning fast speed into the other basket!! I see him do this every single day for the past 5 months at least!

These are just few of the observations I have shared. I just realized that Monday is probably the last time I am going to see these people.
I had a fun ride in the bus - first traveling alone - then traveling with great company - and then traveling alone again

How much ever I hate Monday mornings and crib about work, there is staill a part of me that is going to miss work.

Never thought I am gonna say this!

Rise an Shine!

2010-05-14T08:11:00.002+05:30

Recently the only thing that seems to be making news is cricket. While the whole country is ranting about our dismal performance at the T20 World cup, little thought is being given to the other champions in the country

Vishwanathan Anand: World Champion for the fourth time - the grandest of all grandmasters!

Sunil Chhetri: First ever Indian footballer to sign up for a Major League Soccer!

Somdev Devarrman and Rohan Boppana: Doin great in tennis and are advancing in the ATP masters in Croatia

Indian Wrestlers: Winning gold medals in the Asian Wrestling Championships

There are so many other sportsmen like Saina Nehwal etc

While all this is happening, the media is only throwing light on IPL nites, how it caused fatigue causing them to under perform, how 3 players are overweight etc etc

The people blame the media for highlighting petty issues. The media vindicates its stand by saying that half the country does not even know who Sunil Chhetri is and that it is therefore not necessary to give him front page attention.

Both are to be blamed to a certain extent
Its high time we woke up and realize the values of such achievers in our country. A civilian award is going to do no good. Sponsorships, Infrastructre, access to facilities is what is going to take them forward and give them their due.
Hope we learn!

P.S: What did we learn from India's performance at the T20 WC?
Ans: Participation is more important than winning!

Summer time!!!

2010-05-04T10:00:00.002+05:30

Summer used the be THE season to look forward to when I was not working...After all it was either vacation time or term break!!

Summer vacations were the best vacations! Firstly, no homework to do unlike Diwali vacations. Secondly they were loooooooong unlike Christmas vacations!

Most often, summer vacations would be spent with cousins. Either they would come to Mumbai or we would go to their place. I remember this one vacation when we cousins used to be left alone at home as my mom and dad would be away at work. My elder cousin sister would be kind of like the chaperon and watch over us, give us lunch etc. We used to be given 10 bucks to go buy a "video cassette" and watch a movie of our choice on the VCR...used to be so much fun.
Some times we would head over to their place in Nasik or another cousins place in Deonar and do all the fun things like playing cricket, picnics, scrabble, carrom etc

There was a time when i had tripped over a cooler and the cooler came crashing down. All this only because I ran to see the Kwality Walls ice cream ad on TV. Well I will leave that for another post

And who can forget all those hobby classes etc we would join in summer vacations.

This summer has many changes in store for me...a big change in my life

But I still watch movies on the DVD, I still chat with cousins over Skype...SO at least I am virtually connected. I still hog on ice cream and play!

And the next person who says "It's not the heat, it's the humidity", will learn that it's not my fist but the impact

PS: Have a great Summer!

Estranged

2010-04-06T08:11:00.002+05:30

Yea...everyone around is moving away and I feel lost!!!
Partner has gone to the US for 3 months...
2 best friends at work left for further studies
A great friend from school is gonna leave in 4 days.
These are all the people I saw daily and I feel kinda lost wothout them...
I had a routine and its all changed now...
Trying to break the monotony by doing different things - one such thing I an "attempting" to do is dance :)
I can't even say I have 2 left feet...I stink at dance but I enjoy it sop much that I dont really care!!!!. I am one among 20 at the dance class....Cant say that I wont be noticed...the black sheep will always stand out!
Joined a fitness camp too...needed that badly...my stamina had gone for a toss...but now I feel wonderful!
Dont know what I am going to do next...guitar classes on my mind...

Right now I feel like an incomplete jigsaw...some pieces are missing

Step Up

2010-02-16T10:51:00.002+05:30

I cannot stand people who take their own sweet time and who cannot walk fast in a public place.
When you are walking in Chembur station - please remember that it is not a park where you can come for a stroll and walk hand in hand with your partner
When you are walking on an overhead bridge - keep in mind that it is not a ramp for you to strut - We all have trains to catch
When you are standing at the door in a train - allow everyone to get down even thugh all you are doing is hogging the footboard space
When somebody asks you "CHEMBUR???" in the train - Just say yes evn though you dont actually plan to get down or else you are in for a lecture
And somebody please give me a T-shirt that says - "Yes i am getting down at Chembur"

Reliving the past

2010-01-22T12:28:00.002+05:30

I seem to be doing all those things I would do earlier as a kid. Its not an attempt to feel younger. ( I will be 26 next month)It is just that these things are really fun things to do!
First I bought myself a cycle and I am enjoying every bit of it! Losing weight is only adding to my enjoyment
Secondly I derived immense pleasure from WWF trump cards. I found a pack at home and ended up playing for almost an hour in the company bus with a friend!
Thirdly I am a huge fan of POGO and watch everything right from Mr. Bean to Takeshi's castle to M.A.D on a regular basis
Fourthly I ended up downloading He-man the other day.
I do not know whats next on the list.
The important thing here is to be childlike and not childish right?

Life-Cycle

2009-12-18T11:31:00.004+05:30

I am the proud owner of a brand new HERO cycle...Yes I am 25 years old and I bought a cycle when most other people may think of buying a car, bike etc.
I have no particular reason for buying a cycle except that I wanted to break away from the routine and my partner was as enthusiastic about it.

As I rode my brand new black cycle home from the shop, my mind went back to all the cycles i rode as a kid and the memories of the incidents associated with them.

My first cycle was a red tricycle gifted to me by a relative. I had it for a long long time...close to 8-9 years I think. It was then passed on to my younger brother. I remember a particular incident associated with this cycle. One afternoon, my brother and I decided to go down and play as we were really bored. We took the tricycle along with us. He sat on the tricycle and I was pushing the cycle from the back...I pushed it so hard that he went skidding and injured himself really badly.

My next cycle was a BSA Champ that my father got for me. I came back from school one day and saw the cycle in the balcony! I was so excited!
The incident associated with this cycle is also related to someone getting injured and this time it is me! We were having a cycle race of sorts on the road and the road is actually a slope (not anymore if you see the state of 11th road!!!!) So typically one does not need to pedal a lot. But this was a race! And I hate to lose! So in full speed I started riding my cycle to the finish line which was the end of the road. There was a big pothole which I conveniently failed to see and the next moment, my cycle rammed into the pothole and I was flung forward and I landed straight on my chin! Not wanting to be the one to lose, I hastily gathered myself, picked up my bike and resumed the race. Not surprisingly I lost. Then I went home and to my mothers shock and (to mine as well) I had a wound that required stitches!

And not to forget the laziness I felt every time I would have to take the cycle to fix the puncture at Munna Brothers or Poly cycles.

This bike was also passed on to my brother and being sick of handing downs he demanded his own bike - which was a Hercules bicycle. This bike was stolen a couple of days later inspite of chaining it!

And now after all these years I have another bike.

Life comes a full circle or in this case, the life-CYCLE is just repeating itself!

So go ahead, buy yourself a cycle!

Routine

2009-12-03T13:50:00.000+05:30

I have slipped into a routine and i hate it....I like the unpredictability that dawns on me everyday. I had a smashing weekend in Hyderabad. Now I find myself sticking to a timetable automatically, wake up, go to work, come back, do work at home, eat sleep.
Weekends are no different. Only sleep quota increases. I want to play some sport..
Have tried my hand at many but football and TT remain my all time favorites.
Trying to find some places to play but my search is yielding no desirable results.
Help!!!!!!

Irony

2009-11-18T10:55:00.002+05:30

Over the years, you only learn to grow as an individual.
Looking back over the years, we cringe at some of the moments in our life and we take pride in others.
We regret many of our actions as soon as we do it but our ego stands in our way of verbally saying a sorry.
Sometimes a sorry has no value because we say it so many times
We learn to forgive and forget but we do not ask for forgiveness on our own because we feel only the weak do it
In my life, there have been times where I felt really horrible for doing something I should not have but did not apologize as I felt I was too strong to surrender.
There have been times I have felt like a fool for thinking the way I did and have apologized immediately
We fight with our loved ones, we make up, fight again and the cycle continues. But never once do we think of the damage we cause when we are in ACTION mode.
We are rude to our parents as youngsters, but find ourselves totally dependent on them.
We fight with our partner for petty issues but find that you cannot live without them
Life is indeed ironical.
The moment you think you have understood it all, life throws a new set of questions at you to ponder about

You know you grew up in India in the 90s if...

2009-11-13T08:11:00.000+05:30

My friend sent me this!!!!! and I am sure everyone can totally relate to this!!!!

1) Cricket is almost a religion for you, and you idolize at least one of Kapil Dev/Rahul Dravid/Sachin Tendulkar/Saurav Ganguly
2) You have read at least some Chacha Chaudhary or Tinkle comics
3) You’ve watched Shaktimaan on TV at least once in your life. And you can immediately recognize the character when you see him.
4) You have some ‘NRI’ relatives.
5) You couldn’t wait for someone to get Toblerone chocolates from a trip abroad.
6) You watched Cartoon Network, and then the late night movies on TNT that came after Cartoon Network ended.
7) You watched corny dubbed versions of Small Wonder, Silver Spoon, and I Dream of Jeanie
8) A visit to Pizza Hut used to mean a special treat
9) You still remember the theme song to Hum Paanch.
10) You have played hours upon hour of Pukdam-pakdai, , kho-kho, ‘Lock and key’
11) Dog ‘in’ the bone was your favorite co-ed game.
12) Much of your free time in school was spent playing UNO.
13) You collected trump cards of wrestlers, cricketers, and airplanes, and did not quite understand why your younger siblings were obsessed with Pokemon and the other Japanese trends that followed.
14) Your summer vacations were often synonymous with visiting your grandparents
15) Bole mere lips, I love uncle Chips!
16) You know the song ‘Made in India’ by Alisha Chinoi
17) You have seen many many many episodes of ‘Antakshri’ on Zee TV and know the only thing constant in the show is Anu Kapoor.
18) Fri evenings have been spent watching little kids gyrate vulgarly on Boogie Woogie on Sony.
19) You were the coolest thing in class if you had a computer in your house while it was still the 90s.
20) You learnt LOGO in school!
21) You couldn’t wait to start 4th/6th standard so you could start writing with PENS instead of with pencils!
22) You often use terms and phrases like ‘kutti’, ‘abba’, ‘same to you, back to you, with no returns’, and ‘shame shame, puppy shame, all the donkeys know your name.’
23) You most probably saw Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge at the cinema at least once.
24) You have seen David Dhawan and Govinda movies and laughed at them.
25) You have seen Titanic at least 12 times.
26) You remember the Orissa cyclone
27) You remember the Gujarat earthquake very clearly and could possibly tell everyone EXACTLY what you were doing when the earthquake occurred
28) At some point or other, cool was your favourite, and therefore, most overused word.
29) Captain Planet was your first introduction to environmental consciousness.
30) You have tried to convince people around you to not burst crackers on Diwali, and then gone straight back home and burst them yourself.
31) You have had endless packets of Parle Gluco G biscuits, and of Brittania Little Hearts biscuits.
32) You loved licking off the cream from the centre of Bourbon biscuits.
33) There were no Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma- Bata and Liberty was the way to go for your sports shoes.
34) You have probably consumed more Frooti in your lifetime than there is oil in Iraq.
35) You watched Baywatch on Star World
36) You bought packets of potato chips for the specific purpose of collecting Tazoa.
37)) You used to chew Fuzen gum. You also chewed Big (big) Babool and/or Boom Boom Boomer chewing gum.
38) Seemingly senseless acronyms like SRK, DDLJ, KKHH actually make sense to you.
39) You have at some point debated who was more beautiful- Aishwarya or Sushmita.
40) Baskin Robbins ice-cream was THE thing to have!
41) When you would watch WWF keenly every evening/afternoon and really think that Undertaker had 7 lives and he made an "actual" appearance in the Akshay Kumar- starrer Khiladiyon ka Khiladi.
42) You remember the Nirma tikia jingle.
43) You remember the Nirma girl.
44) You remember the 'doodh doodh' ad and also the 'roz khao andey' ads.
45) You grew up reading, if you read at all, some or all of Nancy Drews, Enid Blyton books, Hardy Boys, Goosebumps, Sweet Valley series, and Tintin, or Archie comics.
46) Towards the late 90s (1998-99) at least some of us started our Harry Potter obsessions!
47) You absolutely HAD to go to Essel World if you wnet to Mumbai! "Essel World mein rahoonga main, ghar nahin nahin jaaonga main!"
48) You watched the Bournvita Quiz contest on TV
49) "Jungle jungle baat chali hai, pata chala hai. Chaddi pehen ke phool khila hai, phool khila!"
50) Maggi 2 Minute Noodles = ultimate snack (and tiffin, lunch, dinner)!

KRK

2009-11-10T08:11:00.001+05:30

The title of the post says it all!I had blogged about Deshdrohi just as soon as I saw it..I saw it again with a friend of mine and could not help laughing at the inanely foolish KRK.
Those who saw Bigg(yes its spelt with a double G) Boss will vouch for the foolishness.
The guy claimed that he gets his water from Holland and milk from France...or was it the other way round? Never mind...it still sounds as foolish!!!!
He roams around in "dejiner" (as he claims...for the less informed I meant designer!) jeans...that looks nothing less than a patchwork quilt in my opinion!
And here comes the cherry on the cake....he wears a chain that has a GUN for a pendant...!!!!

He also claimed on the show that he is a multimillionaire, he hit on that firang chick, refused to have dinner till she told him an I love you....and was then later caught sneaking in a bite when everyone was asleep...
Some people do not need to make an effort...they just make fools of themselves

Accomplishments or excuses

2009-11-02T08:28:00.000+05:30

I really did not understand what Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor were doing at a leadership summit. I don't get it!!!!
It was funny as their session was sandwiched between former U.S president - George Bush and 3 Indian leaders - Sukbhir Singh Badal, Sitaram Yechury and Sushma Swaraj.
Questions thrown at George Bush included the fight against terror, the nuclear deal etc. while the 3 Indian leaders spoke about the role of opposition in democracy. Numbers were quoted, names thrown in....totally justified.
What questions were Saifeena asked?
·Size zero?
·How did they get into a relationship?
·Did you always want to be an actor?
·Why did Kareena do Kambakht Ishq?
·Role models
Numbers were quoted in regard to Kareena's weight. Names were thrown in regard to directors and film makers. But thats about it..it ends there.

Now do you get the point? What is the connection of such frivolous discussion in a leadership summit that boasted of the presence of great leaders?

Leaders always look for accomplishments. May be Saifeena were just looking for an excuse

I rest my case

Cynical?

2009-10-09T09:45:00.000+05:30

I am not cynical. But when I read the news these days I feel we simply gloat about something that someone has achieved and then wipe it out from our memory the very next day. Take for instance Abhinav Bindra. India went ga-ga over this gold medal prodigy. But when was the last time you heard about him? I am not a great fan of cricket. But in India sports equivalent to cricket only. P.T Usha made news recently. She broke down as she was provided sub-standard accommodation. News channels organized a debate, the government was left red-faced, but tomorrow there is nothing that is going to be different.
Last heard, Shilpa Shetty was planning to buy a football team. It may sound stupid for a bollywood actress to buy a foot ball team. But I really appreciate the fact that she sees beyond bats and balls. She may be clueless when it comes to football, but she at least broadened her vision to include other sports.
What happened to our medal winning boxers. I saw Vijender Singh last in a talk show with Farah Khan. I don't really blame him for using this route to gain popularity and promote the sports because in our empty heads, this is the only way to force your way through.
I am not anti-cricket, nor am I for it. Sports in India is in a sorry state. We are not even confident of putting up a great show for the Commonwealth games next year, but we are able to shift and entire IPL event to South Africa in a matter of few days.
Its time to wake up!!!!!

Funny!

2009-09-30T09:23:00.000+05:30

My friend sent me this! its so funny!

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not.

I thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's
empty and so is your head.

Of loving beauty you float with grace'
If only you could hide your face.

I want to feel your sweet embrace,
But don't take that paper bag off of your face.

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes.
Damn, I'm good at telling you lies!

My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life

I see your face when I am dreaming;
That's why I always wake up screaming.

My love, you take my breath away;
What have you stepped in to smell this way?

My feelings for you no words can tell--
Except for maybe "Go to hell!"

What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime.

Exorcised

2009-09-18T11:07:00.000+05:30

I read somewhere that the Onida is looking for a new campaign to promote their products and that they are going to break away from the traditional "Devil" who was their mascot. The devil has been exorcised now and I must add that I really loved him. He scared me initially as a kid (then Vikram and betaal came along and gave me the creeps!!!)
Whether this strategy will work or no, I cannot say. But Onida was almost synonymous with the guy with horns.
It's like, when you think of Tide, a picture of the Tide packet swooshing past you comes to your mind.
So I guess we just have to wait and watch if this new strategy works. It is not always good to break away from tradition and go for a change

P.S: Speaking of tradition, I am going to try and keep golu!!!
For the ones who do not know what golu is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golu

Memories and more!

2009-09-03T14:16:00.000+05:30

We are driving down to nashik this weekend and the place brings back a lot of memories for me. Earlier as kids, Nashik was THE PLACE to go during our vacations....whether summer or diwali My aunt, uncle and cousins stay there. Though my sister has now moved to the UK, the rest still stay in nashik and now my grandpa stays with them. It used to be great fun going to nashik.
Sometimes we would catch those volvo buses or sometimes we would take the train. And now we are taking our own car.
My aunts place is sprawling. The have a great lawn and a wonderfully kept garden. Earlier they had 2 dogs too. You can imagine the fun then! There were days we would pack lunch in those carrier tiffins, drive down to some place in nasik, sit under the tree and have food. We would play cards as well. One day was generally reserved for shiridi, triambakeswar etc. My cousins and I would play cricket.
I am sure my cousins remember the garden nearby where we would all go in the evenings.
My uncle would always take us out to these wonderful places to eat. It could be something like a really fancy restaurant where we could order beer or some place like a dhaba where we would taste awesome wada pav and misal pav.
In addition to taht, we would spend time playing carrom, scrabble (which my sister always won!)
My grandfather would also play chinese checkers with all of us!
The last time I went to nashik, we all had a good game of UNO! I am sure we will have it this time as well

The place also holds special significance for me as this is where I lost my beloved grandmother. It was the last and only time I detested going to nashik. But it is of significance to me as I spent many lovely moments with her there.

I love this place for what it is and for what it has given me. Some wonderful times spent with family and with those who are near to us. I know for sure that my family has more to add to the fun things done at nashik!

I am looking forward to this weekend!!!!

Of OCD and quirks!

2009-08-28T11:45:00.000+05:30

Someone told me that I have OCD...that is so not true! I prefer referring to them as quirks rather than OCD.

To enumerate a few:

- I have to start studying only when the time is a whole number. For instance 4:00 p.m, 5:00 p.m etc. If the time is a minute past 4:00 for example, I wont study till it is 5:00. So this does not qualify as OCD
- Nothing should lie on the sofa or the bed. Even if a pillow lies on the bed, my hand itches to remove it and put it in the shelf.
- When I am reading a book, I should put it down only when I finish a chapter....in my defence, I am only seeking completeness, how can you put a book down right in the middle of a chapter!!!!
- I prefer walking pn the right side of the road....again I think this is only good traffic sense
- I prefer sleeping on my left side.....I am scared that I will fall off the bed if I sleep on the right!
- Shoes have to be neatly stacked. My friend once caught stacking shoes at a wedding
- There should not be a drop of food on the kitchen gas or a drop of water on the kitchen platform. If there is any such thing, I will immediately take a cloth and wipe it off....so what? anything wrong in being clean???
- I have eat my food in a certain way...I will have pickle only with curd rice or curd...not with anything else.....I have to finish off all the vegetables in the first helping...say when I eat it with roti or rasam rice....but not leave anything for curd rice...thats where the pickle comes in
- wen a guy wears a full sleeve shirt, it has to be folded no matter wot...i cnt stand it being buttoned up and nor can i see it folded just once or twice...it must be folded at least 2 inches below the elbow!

These are a few I can think about from the top of my head....All of us have idiosyncratic behaviors. I am no different...but I do not have OCD!!!!!!!!

P.S: @harish - good luck for ur new beginning!

Into the past and into a haze

2009-08-25T08:22:00.001+05:30

Only recently I spotted someone exactly like my grand mom. I was taken aback for a minute as she is no more.
Seeing her, I slipped back into the past and was recounting all my experiences with my grandma, my best friend.
I can't seem to remember the sound of her voice. The memories of her are slowly becoming a blur and it is killing me

Home is where the heart is!

2009-08-18T10:02:00.000+05:30

After staying in "this side" of Chembur for around 25 years, I had to move lock, stock and barrel to the "other side". It was not easy adapting to Cheddanagar considering that earlier everything I needed, right from hotels, the doctor, any kind of shop etc was within a 1 km radius. Now after moving to Cheddanagar, I find myself becoming more and more lazy and find it a compelling task to come over to the "other side" for anything whatsoever.

But off late, I am becoming inured to the place. It is not that bad as I am making it sound. I enjoy a jog every evening in the lush green ground outside my home. Something that i did not do earlier owing to lack of a proper place to jog. Every evening as I run, I find myself amongst really adorable tathas and paatis (tamil words for grandpa and grandmom respectively). There are these distinct groups that I notice everyday.

All the paatis will be busy in some family talks and all the tathas will be talking about AGMs, children studying abroad etc etc.

Another thing that I have noticed is how most tathas wear a t-shirt bearing logos of either US universities or some MNC....no points for guessing why!

Even though my home is a stones throw away from the highway, the only sounds that I hear are of the birds, parrots esp. and the nadaswaram from the temple.

Tomorrow I will have to move somewhere else. But thats the fun part. Finding new ways to keep yourself busy, the unpredictability that a new place offers is thrilling!!!

Home is indeed where the heart is!

A hot cuppa tea

2009-08-13T18:15:00.000+05:30

I have become a tea addict. Don't know if it is a good thing as I was a coffee addict before this and switched to tea (after countless arguments) much to the insistence of my better half.
Now I have tea at least 5 times a day and this includes large mugs of tea to the cutting chais at work
There is something about tea that rejuvenates you. Mind you I am not switching loyalties. I do sneak in a cup of coffee at my mom's place! But tea has been a greater chunk of my life...technically
When I was a kid, tea was a luxury to me. All I would get was the regular bournvita. During school vacations, my grand mom would make awesome tea and we both would promptly sit down at 2 pm and have tea in front if the television watching "afternoon transmission" on doordarshan. I would excitedly watch he-man kick skeletor's ass whilst sipping tea.
Then as the years passed, tea became a sunday morning ritual, At 10 a.m my parents, brother and I sat down together in the hall and would have tea, munching on bhakarwadis and khakras.
College saw me having cutting chais in the canteen. The size of the glass was immaterial. One sip amidst the tiring task journal completion was enough to eat the stress away. Now as a working professional, tea seems to be the excuse for getting out of the lab, beating the stress (even though I am not under any)

Now I have to make my own tea, my grandmom is no more with me to give me great company, I do not have journals to write and I don't live with my parents anymore.
As i write this I am sipping on a cup of tea. Something that has remained and that will never go away.

P.S A hot cup of tea after a jog is brilliant!

The complete man!

2009-07-13T09:06:00.000+05:30

Do not think too much on the title of the post. It is to do with the recent Raymond posters I see on my way to work.
Firstly, the men in the ads do not, I repeat DO NOT look like "complete men".
Secondly the tag lines accompanying these "men" are just too funny!!!
A few samples:

"The center of attention need not be far away"

and the tag line is accompanied by a snapshot of a guy whose haircut lies somewhere between salman khans tere naam hairstyle and sanjay dutts hairstyle. Oh and not to forget a snapshot of the guys chest (with the suit of course). That is probably the "center" of attention!!!!

"A masterpiece that catches the eye and stirs the soul"
haha...if you see the model on this one, he will surely catch your eye and will will stir your soul so much that you would want to puke!!!

P.S Will blog about my trip soon!!!!!

"Modi"-fied

2009-05-24T10:06:00.000+05:30

Not talking about narendra modi or the elctions here
Its something that probably beat the viewership of the elcetion results.......IPL

I enjoy the "shortest" version of cricket.....IPL seems to be much more than that
Everyone seems to be talking about how the whole thing is probably rigged and its only a way of raking in the moolah...

I am with Deccan Chargers....prime reason being Afridi was on the team last year.......and this year its Gilchrist for me!

Coming back to the point....someone brought to my notice how Bangalore Royal Challengers are the ones who are probably going to walk away with the trophy...When the tournament started I would have brushed this idea aside...RCB? Impossible.
Then again Deccan is in the finals....The bottom 2 teams or last year are the top 2 teams this year. Secondly I was told how it was really easy for the IPL to be shifted to SA in just 3 weeks,, someone had to have had the money to do this and how that Kingfisher has sponsered almost everything in this tournament....and the only way to return these favours is to hand Bangalore the trophy...

Seems logical..
Speculations?
I dont know........its sometimes difficult to believe that everything can fall into place oh so perfectly without anybody realising that it is fixed

lets wait and watch!!!!

P.S fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com
worth a read justt for the nicknames.hilarious!

Confessions of a non-shopaholic

2009-05-17T09:34:00.000+05:30

I HATE shopping....I fail to understand the pleasure that most gals get from shopping.
Very recently, I had to shop for a lot of things and ended up calling my mother about 20 times every time I walked into a new shop. I was clueless about most of the things I had to purchase and thse included items like bangles, chappals etc.....
The only good thing that came out of all this was the half day I took from work and the fact that I got everything I wanted except the chappals
This means I have to go out again for those..........damn it.
But I must admit that I was pretty quick at selecting what I wanted and did not sit and brood over every thing that was being shown to me by the sales guy.
That is why, u take a friend!!!!

P.S Someone please buy those chappals for me!

Framed!!!!

2009-05-04T21:47:00.000+05:30

After a lot of arguments, discussions, emailing, replying to those emails, googling(which was totally ineffective), we managed to come up with the right words for our wedding invitation.
Did not realise that it would be so difficult!!!!
It was our 5th draft that did the trick!!!
The 1st draft was rejected by me
The 2nd draft was rejected by him
The 3rd draft was rejected by would-be brother-in-law
The 4th draft was rejected by my parents
The 5th draft pleased everybody!!!!

So expect a wedding invite soon!!! (i know for most of you that only means free food!)

P.S: Welcome back Vasu!

Wedlock and not deadlock

2009-04-12T14:00:00.000+05:30

June is 2 months away....For those who know, I am expecting you to be there and for those who don't, I am getting married!

I still don't feel all grown up and all "marriageable"
2 years ago when i was completing my graduation, I would detest going to other peoples weddings and other family functions for the simple reason that there was every chance that mine would get fixed. I was of "marriageable" age then and like any good girl i should be married by then. Even if i would say "I want to study" (which I honestly did want to!!!) I would get a quick reply saying that "You can do it after marriage, many other people do it and blah blah"

People (read as nosey mami's who had no work in life) would call and say and there is a guy whose parents are looking etc. It would not matter what the guy's name was. His degree, college, job and place of stay in US was important
For example,

Mami: "There is this IIM grad whis is currently working as XXX(some top position) in YYY(some awesome company). What do you think"

Me : "No" (even before she can come to XXX and YYY)

Another thing i have noticed is how people as questions like "can u sing, can u dance"

I cannot dance.
I joined music class and left after 2 days to join karate (which i loved!)
I cannot cook
I can make maggi though

Well, I still argue with my mom, that it is nobody's business to question anything. Of course, my parents have the right to do so and thats it.

And now even before I know it, June will be here. But I am glad I did not need some mami's help to find someone for me. (A common friend was enough!!!!)

Many people cannot believe that it is me who is goin to get married. I can't cook, don't know how to run a home, i go to play in the evenings.

But I am still getting married!!

The bottom line is therefore that, you dont need to be "old enough" to get married.
You don't need to know everything and be a perfect girl who can cook, dance, sing carnatic music.
You just need to find that person and "be in that place"
Everything else just falls into place

It did for me!!!!

P.S Can't I wear shorts for my wedding?? 5 sarees is too much!!!!!!

Three's Company, Four is a crowd

2009-03-18T20:28:00.000+05:30

I am talking about the dreaded fourth seat in local trains
I work at goregaon and sometimes when I am unable to catch the company bus, I come to andheri and try to catch the Andheri-Panvel direct (and there is like one train every hour) Most of the times, the trains are late at goregaon and I mange to catch the train at Andheri just in time. So obviously I get the fourth seat
I actually have no problems sitting on the fourth seat. It's actually better than standing at the sides or at the door and then have women scream at you. I always get one taunt at least
Today I managed to catch the train right on time. After scanning the whole compartment, I found a seat and I requested the ladies to move in a little so that i could at least sit partly (this means only half my butt occupies the seat!!!)Unfortunately for me...two really fat ladies were sitting and I should have understood why nobody was occupying that seat!!! And to add to my miseries, I think the ladies had a huge fight at home or tey probably did not get their work done. This I can say for sure, because when I requested them to move in a bit, the ladies just stared at me and then murmured something. I am pretty sure i heard a few abuses.
Not that they moved. To add to my woes, ladies kept getting in. Nobody seemed to want to get down at any station. People kept selling all wierd things in the train. The latest I have seen is "saree cover". I don't know what that is. In addition to accessories like earrings and clips, people have started selling cut vegetables, some chocloate that looks jus like Munch but is called Manch, dress materials, chappals, crabs (which were once all over the place!!!)

But inspite of all this, I would choose a local train over a BEST bus. A train is convenient, does not break down, does not get stuck in traffic!!!

I must narrate this one incident. I was in the train returning to Chembur and was standing at the door. There were these fisherwomen who were sitting near the door. I never understand why many women prefer sitting there when the train is practically empty. I can understand why fisherwomen sit there, After all you dont want to go home smelling like a pomfret. Women will just sit at the door, then they get kicked when ladies get into the train and then they complain!!!
I mean COME ON!!!
Coming back to the incident, The train stopped at tilak nagar station and exactly at the same time there was a train going in the opposite direction that came to a halt. The trains were aligned such that, the mens compartment (or rather the GENERAL compartment - which is a term we gals like to use if are travelling in the gents compartment) came exactly in front of the ladies compartment
There were these group of men whos were standing at the door and they started passing comments and whistling. Now most women would ignore them as hey know the train is going to move in less than a minute. But that was not to be! To everyone's surprise, one of the fisherwomen picked up this long fat fish from her basket and threw it on the guys!!! It hit him right on the face and the train moved just then!
It was so cool!
The throwing of the fish was then followed by some marathi gaalis!
It was incident I just cannot forget!!

Looks like this blog has become way too long. So I shall end it right here!!!!

P.S : June is only 3 months away!!!!!

Final take!

2009-02-28T10:44:00.000+05:30

This is my last take on Slumdog Millionaire....even though I did not really love the movie, I can't seem to stop blogging about it.

Dear politicians,
I know the elections are round the corner.
Firstly, Slumdog is not an Indian movie. Period
Stop calling it your own and cashing in on the success of the movie
Giving the child actors of the movie MHADA homes is not going to ensure you many votes in your account. There are millions of others who could do with the same and probably much more (read as basic human resources)

Secondly to the others,
We do not need the west to tell us our problems. But if we dont wake up, we probably need a british guy to make a film

And another thing that i was thinking about was if the credit shud go to Vikas Swaroop, the author of Q and A or the script writer??
We tend to get excessively euphoric about international recognotion. Even to the extent that I heard someone say that the movie won because it potrayed the human spirit and in the time of recession, it was all the jury could think about.

P.S: Gandhiji was nominated 14 times for the nobel peace prize and never won, but that does not make him less of a hero ....does it???

Second glimpse!

2009-02-24T09:03:00.000+05:30

Well firstly everyone is going gaga over Slumdog millionaire. I could not care less if it had not won best picture, director and all those technical awards.
I am happy that A. R Rehman (read as genius) won not one, but 2 awards though!

Coming back to the actual intention of the post....I saw caught a "second glimpse" of JOHN ABRAHAM..
I saw him at Carter road in a white gypsy...
Earlier i had seen him at the Mumbai Marathon....He was at the start line cheering on everyone and it dint really help coz we all stopped in our tracks on seeing him.....he was more of a distraction!!!

But all in all the mumbai marathon was a great experience
I ran the dream run wich is 6km and i felt so good on completing it..it was a sense of achievment and satisfaction
People kept toking abt the "spirit of mumbai" wen the marathon was on
Well the energy level was definitely high but i have reasons to beileve it was more of the human spirit. A marathon anywhr else wud have also garnered the same response

and coming back to my sports, well i am not playing anything as of now and its only work, work and work :(

P.S: Thank you for making my birthday special :)

Wishful thinking

2009-02-01T20:47:00.000+05:30

I wish some things in life could be changed.

I wish some things in life never change.

Speaking of wishes, i just had my sports day in the company
People anyway have begun to think that I am in a sports based company (if there is something like that) rather than a pharmaceutical company. I just had the most amazing last few months and i now wish that I could play more.
It was great to go to work and then stay back and play matches, discuss matches and performances. They are so enthusiastic about sports that conference rooms are booked just to discuss team strategies for the matches.
I was so much into these games that my friends would ask me if the company pays me for this and if that indeed is the case, they were more than willing to join my company!!

But it had to end someday like life itself.
It's funny how life teaches us to value things by taking those very same things away.

Once again I wish I could change things and bring back those who are dear to us.
I wish death was not such an integral part of life and thats the irony

Slumdog or Underdog?

2009-01-22T21:03:00.000+05:30

This is turning out to be a movie review blog more than anything else.
But then I don't seem to be doing anything worthwhile.
I saw Slumdog Millionaire and no....i am not goin to review the movie or narrate the story....that is reserved for movies such as deshdrohi and karz.
When i watched Slumdog millionaire, i did not evn know it was going to be such a rage
I had seen the promos and they seemed interesting. I downloaded it from the LAN and watched it as it attracted me.
So one evening I came home from work and saw the movie..I enjoyed it... it was worth watching at least once. I had forgotten about it the next day.
When I mean forgotten I mean that it was not an outstanding movie that i would probably remember for the rest of my life nor would I call it a great movie experience.
2 weeks later it had won golden globes and was on its way to the Oscars.
Sometime after that, Amitabh Bachchan condemns the movie on his blog for glorifying poverty in India and how movie makers are using it to make money in the west and blah blah. (Well if you are showing mumbai slums, what else can you expect????)

Frankly, the movie was good and that was the end of story. Did it deserve a golden globe and 10 Oscar nominations? I dont think so.
I have seen better movies and this movie was just another good movie for the novelty in its concept.

P.S: Having said all that, I must add, A.R.Rahman is a genius!

Oye Lucky!

2008-12-27T15:04:00.000+05:30

Time for a change..Saw Oye Lucky lucky oye and loved it!
An insanely lovable thief!
Do not miss the movie!

Flashback

2008-12-16T19:12:00.000+05:30

Well, I did not have anything to really blog about this time.
I was going through my old blog at msn spaces and thought of sharing the link.
I cannot belive some of the things i have written!!!

http://kiraniyer.spaces.live.com/blog/

Have a look!

Deshdrohi

2008-12-02T19:05:00.001+05:30

No, I am not talking about the guys who terrorised mumbai nor am I talking about the politicians who have been recently suffering from the foot in mouth syndrome. I am talking about a movie that was released on children's day (inappropriate I know).

By now you must be aware that i have an inclination towards the stupidest movies made ( I did not say cheap because karzzzzzzzzzzzzz was in no way a cheaply made movie)

So this guy comes to mumbai to pursue his dreams and all. Scene one shows him walk out of VT station (without any baggage) He is munching on chana (peanuts) and he is just loitering around when he spots a couple buying drugs from a paanwala (who is called banarasi babu - how novel). Suddenly a group of goondas come along for hafta(they are supposed to be hefty, but they only look fat). Banarasi babu refuses to give money.

At this point, Fat guy tells him "Chudiyaan pehenne waale bhaigiri nahin karte hai, woh beer bar mein daaru bechte hai. Main tereko maaroonga yaha aur shor sunai dega dilli ki parliament mein" (I dont even know what the context is)

Suddenly from nowhere a bike comes along, doing wheelies and all and jumping over vegetable carts. You would think at least by now someone good looking should come along, but no its Gracy singh...(GS)....she throws her helmet on the fat guy who collapses (seriously) Our hero is besotted by her.
Hero : "chehre pe bholapan aur maar peet mein no.1" ( I was really laughing a lot here)He had this constipated look on his face. GS single handedly fights all the goondas while hero leches at her. She drives everyone out of the place and rides away on her bike, not before dropping her handkerchief. Hero picks up the hanky and refers to her as rani laxmi bai and is then seen "dancing" with her in some song in the middle of the desert.

Hero then decides he is tired, needs to come back to mumbai for apna wada pav. Wada pav owner is maharshtrian and hero does not understand a word as he is a bhaiyya.
Wada pav wala happily cheats hero of 20 bucks instead of 10 ( i though wada pav was only 5 bucks)Hero takes ganga maiyya ki kasam and wada pav owner accuses him of being unemployed and coming to mumbai.......blah blah
Kader khan comes to his rescue, gives a big lecture, shows him sky scrapers and all. Hero is happy.

Cut to scene 2: Hero is waiting at the bus-stop (after he is shown wandering at marine drive and haji ali) He sees someone on a cycle, stares at the wheels and seems even more constipated(may be mtion sickness). FLASHBACK- He remembers his bachpan ka saheli(hrishitha bhatt a.k.a HB) in his gaon, how he had an accident on the cycle. His dad is in general pissed off at him and thinks he is a good for nothing (I second his thoughts)He meets another friend who tells him all stories about mumbai, another song with that saif ali khan's italian girlfriend,more taunts from his dad, inspirational stories from his grandpa etc etc. HB asks him out. He says he is a loser (Bingo!!!) Another song (where he seems to have paralysis, parkinsons etc)

You would think half the movie is over.well you are wrong....its jus 30 minutes.

Back to the bus stop, he tells the conductor "bhaiyya, ticket to jogeshwari" Conductor is offended (He used the "bhaiiya" word)throws him out of the bus and lo! he lands at GS's feet. GS says he will drop him. Hero takes the opportunity to return the hanky.

Hero finds his friend who had met him in the gaon and realises he is a watchman. Grandpa dies. Hero is heart broken and decides to do something big. HB asks him out again. Bingo moment again

Hero comes back to mumbai.More goondas, GS to the rescue. (I wonder who the real hero is)Fight is on, hero is inspired by GS, hits guy on the groin, finds a gun and shoots a guy, kills him, GS picks him up and they run away. Hero sobs and sobs in fron of GS. He is wearing a pink shirt in the scene and it really adds to his "character"

Police chase, some more fights on the road.

Policeman finally catches hero, but GS's bro comes in the way when the Policeman shoots (Damn it!)
Hero takes the gun from policeman's hand, shoots all the pandus and runs away.
One more song with GS, more paralysis attacks, parkinson's disease worsens. ( I am praying at this point that he dies of it)

GS takes him to her boss(rajan bhai a.k.a RB) who is also some ort of goonda, sas he will protect him if he shoots the CM. Hero goes to meet the CM and is allowed inside as they are from the same gaon. CM is shown talikng some deshbhakti lingo on the phone.

Hero : Main appse ek sawaal karta hu. Gandhiji ko maarte samay nathuram ghodse ki kya majboori rahi hogi"

CM: "????????????????????"

Hero: "Mujhe bhi nahi pata. Par aapko maarne ke liye main majboor hun"

Cm at this point stands up and asks him to shoot. Even he could not bear the hero's torture i guess.
CM offers him protection. RB is angered. He calls upon heros friend and gives supari. Friend uses words like "suru, Jhindagi, caaauntdaawn" (shuru, zindagi and countdown)

Hero is going to a farmhouse (to get lucky with GS i thought). But he is going there as CM is giving him a safe place to stay. But his lucky plans are cut short by the friend who shoots him. As he is shot, he makes a weird sound like burping or something. I am serious. GS pleads for the people on the road to help her. Obviously no one helps her (I say thank god, the movie is over....but no!!!)
She finds a hand cart (Damn it you hawkers)
Hero recovers. But another policeman behind him (Zulfi.....those who saw bigg biss will know who he is)
Hero goes to CM. CM calls him a good for nothing (finally). Hero is upset, emotional and wondering what to do with his life ( I would say, dont make anther movie)
Cm asks him to have fatith in god

After this is stopped watching the movie
It was too much for me to take. Although i watch stupid movies like this, this one was way to stupid. I don't know what happened to oue hero in the end. I hope he died a slow tortured death.

P.S: Should'nt the movie have been called "Deshbhakt"? Mr.India was not called Mogambo right??????

Honey"moon"!

2008-11-18T09:43:00.000+05:30

India seems to be going through a honeymoon period.
We have been moonstruck and it has really been amazing to send an unmanned vehicle to the moon.
It is indeed a "lunar" leap!
In addition to that, we have defeated the aussies, we are inflicting misery on the pommies!
We are over the moon and on the moon!

Cheers!

Hell Down Under!

2008-11-11T11:15:00.000+05:30

We have trounced Australia!

An "aus"tounding win!

Fight to the finish

2008-11-03T08:57:00.000+05:30

No, I am not talking about the India-Australia test match. I am not a great fan of cricket and definitely not of the longer version of the game. But i enjoy it to the fullest when the Australians lose. I follow football to a greater extent and Formula one and tennis remain my all time favorites.
I saw the Brazilian grand prix yesterday and it was one of the most exciting races to watch. It went down to the wire, with Hamilton ultimately scraping through to win the Drivers championship.
I do not like Hamilton and was not happy with the result. The last 5 laps were really thrilling and rain hit. I was biting my nails till the end (or rather whatever was left on my fingers of all these years of nail-biting)
It was a bitter sweet result for Massa. In a wild last lap, Hamilton moved to sixth position (He had to maintain 5th place or move up higher of he was to win the title). But [unfortunately :(] Hamilton fought back crossing Glock and moving to fifth which ultimately won him the title.

P.S: US elections coming up............another fight to the finish

Karz"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

2008-10-20T09:41:00.000+05:30

Yes, I went and saw the movie Karzzzzzzzzzzzz ( I am not sure how many "z"s are there in the title, never mind, u will sleep through it anyway!)
Don't even bother asking me why I went and saw this movie........it's just one of those crazy things you do.
"Himessss" (H) looked more o a heroine strutting around in his low waist jeans and tight t-shirts. You can also see his curves (read as fat) through his tight t-shirt !
Dino morea plays the role of the guy who is re-incarnated as H. I actually feel sorry for the guy. Imagine being reborn as H!
Urmila is no less and gives competition to H in her garish gaudy clothes and over the top acting.
The new heroine is actually quite scary. She suddenly comes on screen with scary eyes and a witchy smile.
Considering all the above factors, this might as well have been a horror flick.

And i must add this piece of dialogue to the blog,
H goes out with urmila to some pub and they dance and all
at the end of the evening:

U: " I had a wonderful evening. It was amazing"

H: "I don't think so, if it was amazing you would be having lunch with me tomorrow"

At this point i am telling my friend " This is the worst pick up line i have ever heard"

U: "Wow! This is the best pick up line i have ever heard
(WOT????????????????)

And then u can see H and urmila dancing to a song called "tandoori nights"
I mean seriously, can u imagine a song being called tandoori nights? what? is that even supposed to mean? are they eating tandoori chicken or something the whole night? They could have at least shot the song in a dhaaba
If you thought this was bad, then wait till you see the climax! U is shooting bullets while maneuvering an airplane at the same time . H is just too animated, jumping around during all his dialogues, pointing fingers at someone every time he says something. It is probably a failed attempt to cover up bad acting ( and singing and dancing and whatever he is attempting to do)
And who is going to digest H playing a 25-year old while Urmila's meant to be, what, 50?

I don't know what the film was meant to be - You want to have a good laugh, you are bored? Then sleep your way through Karzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

P.S- People who study others become wise but people who study themselves are enlightened.
Let us hope H is enlightened soon!

Weekend Magic!

2008-10-15T14:15:00.000+05:30

I had a fantastic weekend! Courtesy : N - My oldest friend ( I can say i know her all my life! - My mom said we would stroll together from our "pram"ming days!!!!!!)
The old school gang met up at her place
My school friends, I must add, are my most treasured.
Just to list out a few things that occured over the weekend:

Drank great wine
Ate even better food!
Learnt to play poker ( Thank god we did not play with real money)
Beat the hell out of S and R in a game of taboo (It's a board game!)
Did not sleep the entire night
Went out at 10 pm (thats late in Kharghar) to buy TT balls
Bought TT balls
Club House was closed, so did not play TT (Now i feel like a fool)
Was told by someone that i wont be a good mother (sob! sob!)
Heard someone being called COTTON BUMS!
Someone thought Union Jack was a black flag( still can't stop laughing on that one!!!!!)
Finally played TT in the morning!
Came back home
Fought with someone
Cleared the air, realized i love someone even more
And slept in peace

P.S - Americans always try to do the right thing - right after they have tried everything else!

Winners do quit

2008-10-13T10:07:00.000+05:30

Yes, I am talking about Saurav Ganguly who recently announced his retirement. But i guess this news was sort of expected considering the selectors were not very generous with him anyway. He did the right thing by calling it a day. I do not want to get into records and throw around numbers. It is for all to see. Enough slurs have been heaped on him and most of it undeserving.
I felt proud after we won the Kolkata test
I was pissed off when he was stripped of his captaincy
I was amazed at the NatWest victory and the way he took of his shirt and delivered a slap on Flintoff's ego
And now I am sad at the fact that we wont see him play test cricket anymore.

As I looked out of the window for your gaze,
All the memories faded into a haze,
I wait for a glimpse of you everyday,
knowing you will come my way.
You will forever be in my heart
till death do us apart

P.S: That "poem" has nothing to do with Ganguly!

Fag('s) end????????

2008-10-03T11:53:00.000+05:30

On October 2, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss enforced a complete ban on smoking in public places.
(and i am sure that is not going to affect anyone of u)

You CAN,T SMOKE at:

1) Auditoriums

2) Health Institutions

3) Government Buildings

4) Restaurants

5) Courts

6) Public Conveyances

7) Bus Stops

8) Public Transport

9) Stadiums

10) Railway Stations

11) Workplaces

12) Shopping Malls

13) Refreshment Rooms

14) Discotheques

15) Pubs

I just don’t believe it will work. Bans have never worked. Not on smoking..You only drive the problem underground and make it that much more difficult to deal with..

'Cigarette in my hand, I felt like a man.’ (ya right)

We shall see!!!

All play and no work!

2008-09-29T11:37:00.000+05:30

Not only do i love watching football, but off-late i have been playing football! (or at least trying to play some decent football)
We took part in 3 corporate tournaments so far
One is still on, one we won!.
This brings me to the 3rd tournament............this weekend we played the kingfisher cup which was supposed to be an all india corporate football league......but not a single women's team registered from any part of the country (disappointing!) But 5 teams registered from mumbai (that itself is a big thing!)

This weekend saw us playing 4 matches and then a final based on the standings.......
Our first match was against kotak...and they took us by surprise.....they followed a simple rule,,,,,,,, IF U CANT KICK THE BALL, KICK THE FOOT
played really rough football, but for people who know me, i was obviously not going to keep quiet..
Few elbows here and there saw us win the match 1-0
Our next match was against WNS (no less than kotak)....only managed a draw which was disappointing considering that we had ample chances. We failed to convert many and luck was also not on our side and many goals hit the post
At the end of the day we were not too content wid a win and a draw.......
The next day, we were supposed to play the thomas cook team
They had been beaten and bruised on the previous day.......they had conceeded 11 goals in their 2 matches.
I wud not term it as over confidence, but we were pretty sure of beating them
I was even looking forward to play up front (i play defence otherwise)..........but the team dint turn up at all! i guess they cud not recover from their humiliating losses.
So we were awarded 3 points, wich we gladly accepted
Our final league match was against deustche bank (great team i must add!)
They were already leading the table, with 3 wins and we cud not afford to lose against them.......we had to at least play for a draw, to be in the top 2 and hence play in the finals
being the pessimist (i prefer realist), i played for a draw, but then again i am in defence and i cant really score up front!
And as u guessed it (or did u?), we drew!!!(yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay)
(yes genius, that meant we were in the finals)
the finals saw us face deustche bank(yes, again)
It went down to the wire......it was 0-0 at the end of play
there was no extra time and it went direct to penalties
i will not describe how the events unfolded (its too painful)
We lost 0-1 on penalties

P.S: On the upside, We got free beer - 48 cans per team

CHEERS!

We are like this only!!!

2008-09-26T08:42:00.000+05:30

India was recently declared as the 85th most corrupt nation in the world, in a poll that comprised of 180 countries.
If you thought that was bad enough, you are wrong. We are gloating over the fact that we are better off than our neighbouring countries at least (I think pakistan is 34th).......SMALL MERCIES

The sensex is crashing, inflation is on the rise, but there's one place where it's business as usual. It's the most corrupt nation's list.

BRAVO!

Caught in a "pickle"

2008-09-24T19:16:00.000+05:30

This incident still makes me laugh like crazy!
We were reminiscing the good times in the hostel and this incident came up!
Well i had 3 other roomates - A, G and D
Our hostel had a mess and needless to say the food served thr was horrible... In desperate times, we would have maggi, but wen all of us were too lazy to go and buy some or even make it (ya for us 2 minutes is a long time), we would have rice and pickle.
This brings me to the main topic of the post - PICKLE.
SO the 4 of us come down one monday morning for breakfast and we spot a huge bottle of pickle on one of the tables..but we quietly have our breakfast and then leave for classes.
Lunch time : The pickle bottle was lying there untouched.
At this time one of us decides to speak up:
A: "hey did u guys notice tht pickle bottle on the table? It's been lying there since morning"

G: "Yea, I saw that, it's probably spoilt and someone has just left it there"

Me: "Well, what if it is not spoilt and someone has actually forgotten it?" (I have to add fuel to the fire)

D: "Lets see if the bottle is there when we come for snacks, then we shall take a decision (decision??)
So we come back during snacks time(secretly hoping that the bottle is still there) and to our joy, it was still lying there

G: "Come on now, we can't waste good pickle, if it lies like this it will get spoilt, we have to do something"

Me: "Ya I noticed, its mango pickle and it is actually really yummy and it has been a while since i had good mango pickle"

A: "Are u sure it is not spoilt? lets open it and see"

So we take our snack plates and go and sit at u know which table
D slowly pulls the bottle and stares at it (believe me, it was like a mother looking at a new born baby!!!). At this point, we are totally oblivious to the stares we are getting from a gal(lets call her red head) from the neighbouring table.
So we are still undecided on our "course of action". We kept the bottle in the centre and just stared at it (like it is some masterpiece), when suddenly out of nowhere a hand swooped down and picked up the bottle and lo! Its gone!!!

and whose hand was it u ask? RED HEAD!!!

So we quietly walk out of the mess, into the lift (where red head is also thr) and we try to control our laughter.and jus wen red head walks out of the lift, we stoop down to lower levels of shamelessness, and laugh really loudly in front of her!!

I never laughed so hard in my life!!!

And after we went to our rooms, i jus fell down laughing
The funny part is, tht we saw red head everday after that incident and not once did she have the pickle bottle in her hand
I wonder why!!!!

The worst offenders

2008-09-17T12:06:00.000+05:30

Its almost been a year since i re-started blogging and now i am going to re-restart (wotever that means)

Was trying to catch up on the news the other day and watching news now is no better than watching one of the K serials.It seems these days the Indian News Channels are hell bent on providing tough competition to the K-Serials
U have all the drama, the trademark "thrice repeat" (wich means tht if a guy wants to turn his head, he will turn his head thrice and there will b some "fantastic" music accompanying the so called turn) as if its going to make me watch that piece of news (wich for some reason i do) and not to forget all the SANSANI news tht they promise to deliver (read as "nagin ka badla" and "yamlok ka safar")
anyways i think india tv is owned by rakhi sawant coz shes always on it
star news is owned by the so called "'comedians" (and sidhu, who i think will laugh even at someones funeral)
even mumbai mirror is no less..........somehow i feel very "unsafe" after reading mumbai mirror......some one is always robbed, raped or murdered
Useless conversations, overdose of bollywood, fake sting operations, mundane experts and anchors who focus more on make up and fashion rather than news. These are some of the attributes of news watching these days. The worst offenders? i think so too

im back!

2007-12-11T18:39:00.000+05:30

yo!!!
its time for me to start blogging again...........its been a 2 yr break....
n if ur wondering y i stopped in the first place, its just tat i dint have the time or will to do it........
n its simple coz now i do!!!
used to blog on msn spaces n now i thot il give blogspot a try.....this is just my first blog here.
in my earlier blogs, i used to mention abt a GLASS being half full n half empty etc........for those who havent read it........il tel u

for me the glass is sometimes haf full n sometimes haf empty
i dont really understand most of the times coz in the end im always rong coz i think negatively
dont blam me for it...its in my genes....wat am i supposed to do if its in my blood (literally) .......after all my blood group is B -ve indeed

u know expectations lead to disappointment..wich is y i never expect nething. call it pessimism if u will ,but i call it realism
i guess u r more happy to accept things wen u never expected them (though this is not always the case!) rather than expecting too much in the end n being disappointed
so i dont care a damn abt the end result or rather i care so much that i "expect" nothing to happen........

so in the end, the GLASS is neither haf full nor empty!
the GLASS is just there and i have to fill it!!!!!