When you are gone!

Bauji went away...but he did leave his blessings with me..
and no matter the distance between us..i know he can hear me..

Life has changed and changed are things,
When you are gone,gone thus far

I know you can hear me when i say i love you
i know you do,
i know you feel it when you are being missed
i know you do,
The words unspoken,the talks we were yet to share,
For you my friend,have left us the world so bare,
So many miles to walk,but i know you are beside,right there!

I know you know it when i say,I miss you my friend,
I know you do!

Thank you Bauji for being there for me always..I wanted to share this day with you,but i guess i got late.But I also know that your smiling down at me from the heaven above!!
You are greatly missed!

A slip away

Death is nothing at all,
a heavenly slip into the next room..
I am I and you are you,
whatever we were to each other,
we still are!
Call me by my familiar name,
Pray,smile,think of me
Pray for me..
Let my name ever be the household word,
that it was.
Let it be spoken without effect
without a trace of shadow on it

Life means all that it ever meant,
it is the same as it ever was..
That unspoken continuity

Why should I be out of mind,
just because I am out of sight!!!



P.S:-Vinays Grandfather and my grand father in law passed away on 1st october.He was my role model,my friend,someone who encouraged me for everything I wanted to do in life.some one who himself was an icon.someone who loved us all immensely..
someone I am never going to stop missing all my life.
Rest in peace bauji...we really love you!

I wonder why!!

Walking in the clouds
way above where I stand
a ray of hope shining so bright
I wonder whats coming my way
I wonder whats causing the gleam
I wonder whats making me smile
I wonder whats bringing the sheen?

Blue sky and colors all bright
unspoken words and some otherwise
a moment let loose,the others stop by
I wonder what causes the spur
I wonder what rhymes this rhyme
I wonder where beginnings begin
I wonder what dreams look like

Loving the moments and holding them close
Some where deep in the closet of heart
a feeling that of a definite start
I wonder what is so different
I wonder what is it that makes me smile
I wonder why world seems such a better place
I wonder if it would last only a while!!!

Just...

Is it weird to feel..

Detached when you know someone loves you
Estranged when you are very well taken care of
Lonely when the world is around u
Insane when everything is going right
Uncomfortable in your own skin
Loud in the quiet of the night
Restless in the wee hours of morning
Annoyed at nothing yet everything
Tears on your cheeks as you laugh
Miserable for hours..
…

And yet not know the reason?

A day for friends

Dont know what starts it
a smile,a wish
a casual hi or simply nothing..
but no matter what and no matter when
small moments that make a lifetime..
some stay,some move on,
some remain a part of memories
and some become a lifetime of them
a wish to all friends..
who have made this life so beautiful for me..
What would i do without you:)

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY!

Have I told you lately?

Have I told you lately?

I feel blessed to be with you forever

I feel love and full of life

Smiling to me and twinkle eyed

I feel loved, and I feel alive

For you have touched my life,

Like you have,

For you have given meaning to it,

And brought it back to life



Have I told you lately?

Those little moments that I have of you

Memories that span a life time through.

Seem so little and yet so vast

I could get drenched and yet feel the thirst

For you have touched my heart,

Like you have,

For you have given rhythm to it,

And brought it back to life





Have I told you lately?

Even though you may not speak all the time,

How much your words mean to me

Even though you may not be around,

I feel your presence, right next to me

When I get sad and misty eyed,

You is all I need to perk myself

For you have touched my senses,

Like you have,

For you have given feeling to them,

And brought them back to life



Have I told you lately?

When I fight with you, and make you feel so blue

There is a part of my soul that I have lost too

When I say words so harsh and sound so mean

I am clinching the pain of not having you

When I get rustic and miserable

It’s the miles that have taken a toll on me

For you have touched my pain,

Like you have,

For you have given yearning to it,

And brought it back to life





Have I told you lately?

That its you who I have my heart for

Its you who keeps me going

It’s with you that I dare to dream

And spread my wings

Its for you that I am myself

And its you who is my belief

For you have touched my dreams,

Like you have,

For you have given a horizon to them,

And brought them back to life





Have I told you lately?

That I miss you in all walks of my life

Sad and rusted, mad and beyond

And even when life seems overjoyed

Its you who I want to see first thing in the morning

And its you, I wish to kiss goodnight

For you have touched a part of me,

I never knew I had,

For you have given meaning to me,

And brought me back to life

Sometimes

Where I came from was a fairy tale
Radiated,pure and blissful
Where I go to is not what I know of
Mesmerized,enchanted or plain wishful
Thoughts don’t leave me a moment,
Mind overpowers the heart.
Sometimes I wonder,
Is it what one is born with
or just a part of growing up?

Just...a thought

I have again been attacked by the writer's block and was thinking that I wouldn't be able to write for some time;But such is life,things do happen when u least expect them to.

Had a terrible start to the day where I stuck my foot in the bathroom door and the damn thing still hurts.Somehow got dressed for work to realize that i wasn't fitting into my favorite shirt all of a sudden;Grumpy and grouchy left for work only to be stuck in a hour long traffic jam.
Finally on reaching office,when i was struggling hard to gain my sensibilities,i had a major fight with one of my closest friends.And for the first time in 4 years,we both raised our voices and yelled and shouted at each other.
I feel terrible ever since.I shouldn't have said all the bad things I did...but at the same time I feel that the same holds true for him.
The trouble with friends of opposite sex is that the perspectives of fights change for the two people.While the men show their anger by keeping quiet,we women tend to be more expressive and loud.
So,while my talking too much pissed him off,his keeping quiet did the job for me.
I am so miffed,and irritated yet I don't know how to correct this situation.There are times when u know its not your fault,and u know that u stand correct,but tend to change your judgment for others' happiness..
But this time I don't wish to do it.How many times can we go on losing ourselves and our thoughts to keep others happy?Shouldn't the same thing hold true for others too?
Why can't friends stop being judgmental and take you the way you are?Why do some people expect you to change for them when ideally a true friend should accept you the way u are and still love you?Why do people expect you to be sensitive to their emotions while they don't do the same to you?Why do people dislike it when you decide to stand up to your thoughts against them,when they were the ones who taught you to do so?
So many questions in my mind and none that I have answer to..
I just know that I don't want to lose a good friend to an ego clash;that's the worst death a friendship can suffer.:(

Lessons from Rufus -II

Rufus is now 7 months old,freakishly crazy and a totally mad dog....:)
And like before, he still has a lot of lessons in his wisdom book to give me...

1)Some times its good to leave all your inhibitions behind and let your hair loose...



2)Bathing on sunday...is a bad idea..and when you think it is,you must let it show!!



2.If you are in love,then show it!!


Rufus does it by standing hours in the balcony while pepper(his girlfriend) is taking a walk in the lawn



3.Do share your love story with someone you trust...


Sharing it with me helped him immensely,as now the duo generally takes a walk together at the same time.



4)Food should and must always be top priority...


even when it comes from unexpected quarters...


and weird sources...

My song

Since offlate I have been making a lot of trips down the memory lane,here is something which is probably closest to my heart.
the first song that I ever sang....
Though papa happened to misplace his most favorite cd(which had the version I sang for the first time on stage) a few years back,the original version is enough to bring a big smile to my face....
I call it my song.....whats yours?

Farewell

Torn apart in the waves of time
Rusting through the paths I crossed
Entwined in the ghostly bygones
I bid you good bye,Yesterday
Farewell...!

Of books and people...and life..

We always pride ourselves to be very social people..We meet people,make friends wherever we go, build relationships ,some that last a lifetime and some that die when the night is over.But there are some relations in life ,that never go out of sync,no matter which part of your life have you stored them.
As I was looking for an old book in my bookshelf last night and flipping through its worn out pages,is when I realized that our life too is so similar.
We tend to buy every good book that hits the market(or atleast I do!),we read the book,are completely lost during the course of it,never letting go of a single page and engrossed till the end.During that phase,each page is important and the wait to read another one endless.for those few days,that one book revolves around your mind all the time.If it is good,it comes in the last of “My favorites” and if not,its ready to be stored in some back shelf of the book rack.
With the passing life,the process continues,our choices change and so does our mindset.new books take the place of the old ones and so on and so forth.Life goes on and we tend to get busy with the complexities of it.

But,we fail to see that the books that we collected through the course are still there on the shelf,stacked and a rusted few, in a hope that we might just want to have a look at them again;and there are times when we do,probably to read our favorite chapter,or in a need to revisit some lovely memories.But when we do,we realize that we let a lot of time slip away before deciding to look back..
Some times,we tend to get so busy with the events in our lives,that we tend to forget the people who we have left behind in the flow.The people who stayed by our side when we needed them the most and the same people you forgot in your due course of life.
Some times I wonder how selfish we humans are.We need people to be around us during our bad times,but when the time is for us to do the same,we get overtly entwined in our own set of problems.
How often do all of us feel trapped in our own shadows,our own ghosts.How often do we feel that there was a time when we never had to think before we poured our heart to the same friend,with who carrying a conversation for more than five minutes now seems like task.How was it when each phone call was important,and how is it now that the number of missed calls is always higher that the dialed calls.

I feel so;Today as I look back ,I feel terrible.Terrible for having let my closest people slip away,for being so selfish and for being so lost in my own issues and problems,that I forgot about the people who mattered.people who cared and people who silently walked each chapter of my life,even when I was busy reading the newer ones.
And its so weird to see that when a whole night was very little to finish the talks,is now restricted to a basic how are you doing.What was once a careless banter,has now turned into an occasional difficult call.
And so,I am on a path now,from where I need to carve my way back,to reach out to the people who I had somehow forgotten in this journey of my life.People who were nice,and people who were bad,people who loved me,and people who I loved back,people who mattered and people who cared and some of them who simply made a difference in my life by just being there. Its never too late to start from where you left,and from today,I will do just what I used to do back in those years,when world really was a beautiful place….

I don’t know how many people may relate to my thoughts,but the ones who do,make sure you make that phone call today,and make sure who let the people know on how they really made a difference in your life by just being there..Say anything that you have been meaning to say for long,but haven’t been able to for reasons as simple as not getting the time.Take out time,and open up your heart…
Sometimes ,its a conversation that could have ended everything…but sometimes its just a conversation that will begin a new chapter in your life…

Innocence...

With Crazy mind and naughty eyes,
Jumping joys and funny toys…
Roaming the streets,on the 3 wheel cycles,
Hiding from mom, donning her sandals…
Giggles endless,and times so priceless,
How I miss the days of innocence…


Early to bed and early to rise,
Mom and dad…and things so nice…
Waiting each night for bedtime stories,
Tweaking them daily, mom seemed so wise…
Hugs endless, and times so priceless,
How I miss the days of innocence…


Life was all silly games and fun I had,
When English was good, and Maths so bad…
Deadlines for homework, were never attended,
And times of madness, always extended…
Moments timeless, and times so priceless,
How I miss the days of innocence…


Papa always taking my side,
And I would look at mom with pride…
Maths or Science, friends or fiends,
This and thats…and the wordly rants...
Papa ready with all the solutions,
To my wordly set of problems...
Sitting in his lap and dreaming all time,
Papa ……..the bestest friend of mine…
Love selfless,and times so priceless,
How I miss the days of innocence...


After seven was way too late,
And mom was always waiting by the gate...
When Restrictions seemed such farce,
..and mom seemed so very harsh...
Couldn’t wait to grow up..Couldn’t wait to be free,
Couldn’t wait to move out..when couldn’t wait to be ME...
Wait endless and times so priceless,
How I miss the days of innocence…


Grown up now,that I look back in time,
I want it all,the times that were all mine…
I am me…all grow up and free,
Something that, I always wanted to be…
Yet there’s so much that’s gone missing,
I spend each day, secretly wishing…
I want so badly, the days gone by,
The bedtime stories, and fun with friends,
Schooling days, those madness ways....

All this and all that,and a little bit more,
Times of my life,I could hold no more..!

w-h-a-t-e-v-e-r!!!!!!!

I m so totally pissed...freaked...irritated...and god knows what all...
I sometimes just dont understand...why the heck am I here...what the hell am I doing...
somehow being Bangalored totally sucks...
sometimes working in this office totally kills...
I am so angry...so livid,so frustrated,so annoyed...

I fail to understand my everyday purpose...my goal,my dream..this is not what I dreamt of doing...this is not what I dreamt of growing up to become..
This is definitely not what I planned for myself..!!!!
But I landed here...and here that I am...I dont know ,why is it always me who has to face it all...to be THE ONE out of all the other deserving people to be here in this spot!!!!
but who cares...
just about no one..
and thats what makes it worse...
God...I hate this!!!!!

This and That...

Me and Vinnie tend to have a lot of arguements on sundays,reason being,ofcourse house cleaning..While he hates it...I am Monica Geller..
So every week,the usual cribbing goes on through the day..and some times gets over the top when Vin starts with his "selective hearing "routine..and listens to only the things he wants to...
The days when hes lucky,I give up...and the days when he is not..I sulk...and pretend to not to talk to him...

The result is.....


Him:-what are you doing?

Me:-Huh...what do you mean?

Him:-Oh..I am just asking what are you upto at this hour of the night..

Me:-I am cleaning my face with Rose water and as you may have not noticed..I do it every night ...
*shrugs and goes on to cleaning her face*

Him:-Didn't know Bausch and Lomb were into manufacturing Rose water...I thought they only dealt with Contact Lens solution....

*Walks out of the room....and laughs his heart off...which is heard around the entire house*

Me:-....Hmmph!!!

Another feather in the cap!!!

They say weird things happen to weird people.(I don’t know who said it though!!)

And according to my mum,I am the weirdest creature alive.. According to her, I am Some one who can get a double fracture after falling from a 2 feet height,or a multiple one when challenged by her stupid friends to walk on a thin pipe resting on a 7 feet ditch.
.. Who can get bitten by the Chemistry tutor’s dog at 7 in the morning (and still given the look of my-dog-could-die-because -of -biting-you look from the same man) Who can fall just like that while walking,or simply go bang any of the existent body parts against anything that is resting on the way
...Who has changed 4 phones in the last one year(simply because they broke),who looks for potholes while driving, or who made her kinetic look like a piece of such trash within a year of its arrival that even the nearest “kabadi” didn’t want to take it.
Simply a person who cant keep a single thing in a good state,including myself!!!


I had been experiencing bad pain in my hand for the past two months,(which I kept discounting as a simple muscular pain)and when finally Vin got pissed with me and dragged me to the doc and got my tests done,we came across the results

And so…I have managed to fracture the “Trequolim bone”in my hand.
Though not a major bone,its big enough to cause me good amount of pain
So ,while the rest of the world is worried about the fracture in the so called bone in my hand,my mom is busy noting down the incident as merely another feather in my cap!!

And ,when the doctor asked me, how I managed the wonder, I had no answer; Because frankly speaking, I don’t have the faintest clue on how the miracle happened.


But all of this hasn’t deterred me from doing that’s that I love toI still play with Rufus,I still get the house cleaned with the same elan,I still eat pizza with my hand,and still fight with Vin…
...and ofcourse I am blogging too!!!

*Atleast it gave me something to write about*

Jai Ho!!!

Ok...I know I have again done the disappearing act...and I have a zillion reasons for it again…. lack of time, too much work, cant think of something…and the other blahs like that...nevertheless i think that all these are plain simple excuses and its clearly the fact that my silly mind couldn’t get enough thoughts to pen down...

and nor did i think they would...until yesterday!!

I am not at all a cricket lover…The only sport I truly relish is Tennis…and I follow it like a religion(not that I follow my religion like one!!)...but when it comes to Cricket, I have my own prejudices…there are times when I totally hate the game...and a lot of it has to do with my father, my cousin brothers...and my set of cricket fanatic friends...All of them have always hyped the game so much…that it kind of got irritating for me…I understood papa's reasons for loving it(he himself being a good player in his times...until he got busy with lots of other stuff in life)...but when it comes to the other people...I just could never understand the craze...!!!All the more since its not even our national game and the poor national game is in crazy shambles…while the cricketers in India are busy minting money….The likes of Sachin, Dhoni, Dravid and etceteras have so much money with them that the next 3 generations can have crazy fun without batting an eyelid…and yet save enough for the next 2....

Having said that… Ofcourse just like any other girl,I do have my crushes on so many of them… Be it Peterson,or Dhoni;Pathan or Watson;my ever dearest Brett Lee ,Vettori or Warne…I think some of them are totally drool worthy…. and ofcourse I drool over them left right and centre

And comes IPL which by itself is the epitome of crazy money movements accompanied with scorching glamour.The biggies from all the walks of life having decided to have some fun with the excessivemoney in their bank accounts…and hence the concept of IPL…Cheers to Lalit Modi,(a man who was once a part of the poor Rajsthan Cricket council with unusual dreams in his eyes…) for having been able to sell IPL so well.

Whats most exciting is to see the greatest of the players from different countires coming together as a team…and voila how charming is that.Which means that I see Yuvraaj singh and Brett Lee as a part of one team and Peterson and Dravid as the part of another....Ahem!!!

My favourites are ofcourse the Rajasthan Royals.I loved the finals last year(the only match i saw from start to finish)and I totally freaked out on the match yesterday.From whatever limited matches I have forcefully seen in my life,I have enjoyed this one the most.What moments and what enthusiasm!!!Boy I was totally enthralled by Shane Warne and his team who were amazingly terrific.Ofcourse they had their weak moments with Munaaf Patel in a mood for some charity,but the ultimate win is what mattered…and they did..My love for Warne increased manifolds from the last season…he is that one leader who doesn’t need to say any un necessary jargons to win,he leads by example and he does it oh so charmingly…(wink winkI so totally hope that the Royals have a win this year too…Not because I am from Rajasthan,but because it is a team made of people who really have a lot to prove.It is a team who has people like Kamran Khan (who didn’t exist for cricketers,before Warne spotted him in the small town of Azamgarh)and the ones like Yousuf Pathan (who is hungry for the victory)…and some one like Warne who has the everyone against him(I can say that from the round of commentries I heard yesterday)…and who I feel is indeed the greatest Captain australia never had..(though I think Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting too are pretty good looking...mmmm!!!)

Being an avid cricket hater so far..I cannot sit and analyse the game and the jargons and the pitches and the reports….But I can just hope for some real nice and budding players to get the lime light they would have never got

So Royals…go halla bol

Just out of sight...

A conundrum of thoughts…a list of emotions,
The numbing of words, and senseless devotions.
Trembling, she wondered if she were right…
Was he gone forever…or just out of sight...

The last call…and words so few...
New threads of life…he wanted to renew…
Fearing, she wondered if she were right…
Was he gone forever…or just out of sight...

Torn and broken…Simmered and sighed…
Lived the monster…those sleepless nights...
He was gone… she knew it alright...
Hoping, she wondered if she were right…
Was he gone forever…or just out of sight…

Seething in pain,and waiting in vain..
Clutched those thoughts ….She waited through the night..
Waiting,she wondered if she were right…
Was he gone forever…or just out of sight...

Moments seemed a day… and Days passed on..
Waited by the sun…the moon shone on…
Reading to herself ,his letters promised of love..
Smiling, she wondered if she were right…
Was he gone forever…or just out of sight...

He went away…with a promise to return,
As she waited…for tides to turn…
Pressed along the tides of time,
Time moved on, as she stood still
Holding to her heart, never let the memories spill,
The wait went on till she couldn’t hold on
Dying , she wondered if she were right…
Was he gone forever…or just out of sight...

The year that was...

Its been an year...and it still hasn't sunk in...being married to the best guy in the world:)...


The times of fun..madness...crazy little things we have done...
me fighting..and yelling..and u grinning through it all..:)..The fights over the food choices...and every little moment of madness...being with you has been the best thing that has happened to me....and through it all...i havent just realised how one year flew by:)


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY P...


may the madness never stop!!!!

Everyday Lessons...:)

For all those who don’t know, Rufus is a little golden retriever we adopted a month back. He is the new member of the family and of course the cutest too…

I have always been an ardent animal lover, and it is that love which makes me do a little of things which sound weird to a lot of sensible people. And when it comes to dogs, I am on a different wavelength altogether. I have always had dogs around me. Even as a little kid, my undying love for them was pretty evident to everyone.When I was 1 month old, I preferred playing with the 2 huge dogs my father had rather than the chunks of toys lying in my room.I would spend hours playing with them,sleeping over them,pulling their tails,and irritating them,as they happily obliged. After months of living in the fear of seeing her little daughter play gleefully with the pets,my mom made peace with the fact that it probably runs in the family....and after 30 years of being married to my father…even she finally has it in her…

So, recently when we decided to adopt the little Rufus, family wasn’t too surprised..

And, now that he is around us, there are so many things the little one teaches me on a day to day basis…and some of them kae a lot of sense too.I am sure the lessons are going to continue with each passing day...and more often than not, I shall be mentioning about them.

So,starting today in the series of lessons from Rufus,this post is rightfully named as lessons from Rufus-I



1. There is never a wrong time to eat. Eat to your heart’s content…and still wonder if you missed something.


2.Peas,carrots,apples,oranges,cabbage,capsicum,
make healthy side dishes on a lazy Sunday afternoon!!






3.The best place in the house is the kitchen.
If you settle yourself near the area,

chances are that you will get to eat every hour







4.Bath tubs make great swimming pools. It s all in the mind.














5. Bean bags make lovely beds.
The more the better…!!!















6. Eating grass is fun, digging it is even better.

7. Noisy kids don’t make great company. Kids with football do.







8. Good looks are always attractive, so keep your self groomed even after all the mess you have created around you.



9. Car parking is a fun place to take a walk, you see a lot of things, and you otherwise won’t get a chance to.




10.Cute things you do, may distract people to the extent of accidently banging their heads against the wall. Sometimes, your master could also be one of them.


















11.Women like well behaved men, so every time you cross one, look at her with the cutest expression you can gather, she will surely come and say a sweet hello. She might even come and pat you and tell you how cute you are…. And if it’s really your day, she might as well pick u up and sport a little kiss.

The top 3 Tag

So, Akash has tagged me...The nice guy that he is...trying to get useless people like me to get out of the self proclaimed Writer's Block...

...and here I am with my list of Top Three's

I wish there were more categories…but then ,if there were…I would be more troubled…listing out these was tough…coz there are so many things…where I have multiple faves…

But then …a rule is a rule.. is a rule...!!!

Here I go...

1. 3 Favorite Actors
• Johnny Depp (hes awesome in all senses)
• George Clooney (I can drool over him all the time)

• Heath Ledger (He was brilliant…I so wish we could have more of him)

2. 3 Favorite Actresses
• Julia Roberts (Never seen a better smile)

• Angelina Jolie (She is oh-so-gorgeuos)
• Kajol (She is awesome…)

3. 3 Favorite New Stars (Bollywood)
• Abhay Deol (What a chilled out guy…!!!)
• Sonam Kapoor (So pretty…and yet can act!!!)
• Darsheel Zafari (I wish he doesn’t get stardom to his head…this boy indeed is talented)

4. 3 Favorite Sports
• Tennis
• Tennis
• Tennis

Yeah..I don’t understand any other game...!!!!

5. 3 Favorite Sportspersons
• Rafael Nadal
• Steffi Graf
• Roger Federer

(Obvious choices!!)

6. 3 Favorite Politicians
• None

• None
• None

(I cant stand the sight of any of them…because I think all of them are simply good for nothing!!)

7. 3 Favorite Comedians
• Vinay Pathak

• Cyrus
• Saif Ali Khan

(ok!!the Saif lovers don’t kill me-he does a fab job when hes comic…you gotta give me that)

8. 3 Favorite Indian Male singers
• Mohammad Rafi (No one can beat him...what a voice)

• KK (This guy rocks everytime he sings…man what bundle of talent)

• Mohit Chauhan (subtle and awesome)

9. 3 Favorite Indian Female singers
• Shreya Ghoshal (Lovely voice)
• Lata Mangeshkar (She doesn’t need words)
• Sunidhi Chouhan (Powerhouse)

10. 3 Favorite Corporate Honchos
• Jack Welch

• Ratan Tata

• N R Narayanamurthy

11. 3 Favorite News channels
• CNBC TV18
• NDTV 24x7
• CNN IBN

12. 3 Favorite News anchors
• Rajdeep Sardesai
• Pranoy Roy
• Barkha Dutt

13. 3 Favorite Hindi Entertainment channels
• MTV
• Channel V
• 9 xm (I love bakwaas band kar)

14. 3 Favorite English entertainment channels
• Zee Studio

• Zee Cafe

• Star World

15. 3 Favorite TV Shows
• Roadies
• Friends
• Sex and the city

16. 3 Favorite Writers
• Nicholas Sparks
• Erich Segal

• Ayn Rand

17. 3 Favorite Movies
• One Fine Day
• DDLJ
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This list is so not fair…I am still thinking on the list of fave movies…!!!

18. 3 Favorite Indian Holiday destinations
• Kerala
• Kodaikanal

• Rajasthan

19. 3 Favorite Professions
• Media Planner

• HR consulting
• Banking
(...the irony is that...I am in currently in my most unfavorite profession...!!!)

20. 3 Favorite Mobile Brands
• Nokia
• Blackberry
• Sony Ericcson

21. 3 Favorite Laptop Brands
• Dell
• Apple
• Sony

22. 3 Favorite Cars
• BMW 7 series
• Audi
• Honda

23. 3 Favorite Apparel brands
• Levi’s

• Versace

• Indian Terrain

24. 3 Favorite Deserts
• A chocolate cake dripping with chocolate chunks and soaked in chocolate sauce

• Caramel walnuts with icecream(if you haven’t tried this-go to a good Chinese restaurant and try it!!!)

• Mom made Besan ke laddoo

25. 3 Favorite Cuisines
• Italian
• India(I wish Punjabi food was a cuisine)
• Mexican

So I am done...and waiting for all others for their own...

All those who think are really suffering from the Writer's Block...Go ahead..and take this tag...

Its a great way to exercise the rusted mind and take it off that dreaded laptop...and ofcourse..it gives you a new post as well...:)

Off you Go!!!!

The Thank you Email

When I joined my work place..I had mixed emotions...which gradually changed to something of utmost hatred..
Times passed and eventually,I started liking the place where I work.Well,there are a lot of factors to it..I have a role change..which is likeable..my manager and I are more like on the same level...and its one kind of a case where the manager works more than the subordinates...so kinda feels nice too.....the team I have is good fun to work with .. then there are morning meetings
....
and then there are times like this when I get emails of the sort,which keep me absolutely thrilled...:)

Hi All,
Thanks for your patients in listening the demo
Please find the attached excel sheet with the spread details.
Thanks,
XXX


Couldn't ask for more:)

Of love...and life..

I claim to understand a lot of things in life…and then there is love..!!!

Its not about any of my romantic dreams,or some beautiful book I read..

Its not even about my perceptions on love..and nor of others…

Its just about how I wonder when people lose their mind in the wrong way when they are in love.

I have a friend at my workplace.Nice and sweet guy and truly, madly deeply in love with this girl who stays in Dubai.They have known each other for ages…. and finally started seeing each other a couple of years back…and for all this while the relationship has been long distance.

So,everyday at lunch time I would be bombarded with their long love filled stories,and I used to feel terrible that two people who were so much in love couldn’t be together.

He would plan nice little ,big ,huge surprises for her everyday..and when he was not working,we all knew where to find him..He would always be in the pantry talking to his sweetheart.We all totally loved having him around….and he would give us all reasons to.

He would often come home and we would strum the guitar and sing on for hours while Vin recorded our amateur performances…

He and Vin gelled along like brothers…and I kept getting my cooking lessons from his mother..And a thousand miles away from home,it indeed was a little family situation we were a part of…

But some how gradually I noticed that the sweet smiling boy had started getting jittery about little things. He would often get finicky, and weird .He was thinking a lot, was always on the phone and eventually started taking a lot of leaves too...Initially I presumed it was his back that kept troubling him like in the old times..On a few occasions me n Vin went to visit him over,his parents seemed distressed … but they would still try n be the merry people that they are… And some how things didn’t seem right..

Finally after a gap of 2 weeks, he came to work...and as we caught up for lunch, he told me..”Rich I am leaving”..

I didn’t quite understand what he meant by that…but on closer look at him,I knew what he meant .He was quitting the job to go ....to go and be with his lady love.

I first thought he had finally got a job in Dubai and was moving there,when he told me that he didn’t have a job…and was going there to look for one…I was shocked..

I knew..and so did he…that in the pathetic market situation like this, where people were being thrown out of their jobs ,he had taken a huge risk by quitting a well paying job…only because his girl friend felt that he didn’t want to be with her.

I asked him if he had thought about what he was doing?The answer to which was,

“I cant let her be alone….”

I was pretty shocked again… because I knew she lived there with her family..and was in no way all alone and by her self…But I knew that he had made up his mind and as expected ,all that I was trying to explain seemed gibberish to him.As the conversation proceeded… I kept thinking on what caused such a wise guy to do something so foolish …

When you are an only child..and your parents have retired…I guess there is a huge sense of responsibility and in those situations,if a person,who is incidentally a good friend too…makes such decisions,you cant do anything but feel helpless at the irony of the situation.

So finally,he applied for a 1 week leave( he finally listened to me and did not resign),and left for Dubai.

The very same week,came a shocker at our workplace,when about 100 people were fired as a part of the cost cutting measure by the company.

The process was simple,the people who were to be fired were called in for a meeting by their respective managers,and while they were being given the notice of termination,all their access were revoked.

And I don’t know why I was really scared about the whole thing.

I informed my friend about the situation,who by then was pretty happy being in Dubai..and making up for all the years he lost out on.

I knew once gone,he was not coming back until he had a job in his hand…and that’s how it has been till date

Its been 4 weeks since he’s gone;he hasn't called his manager to inform him of reasons on why he’s not back yet..

He is still struggling to get a job there …and its unlikely that he will…because the ever flourishing Middle East too is in shambles of the Recession...

This morning,he pinged me to tell me that he couldn’t connect to the vpn…he couldn’t access his outlook…his accesses were revoked…I tried talking to the IT guys,but I was directed to his manager,who seemed totally cold whe I went to him to talk…

I didn’t know what to do…I don’t even know whats happening…

Some how I don’t feel sorry for the state he is in..he asked for what he has got…But I do feel really sad for all that has happened..and I so wish I could reverse it completely..I wish I could make him think sane.

And in the middle of it..all I can remember is a saying…”people rise in love”

..And then I wonder why that girl,for whom he took so many pains,didn't understand that just because of her own selfish interests,she made him lose out on a lot.

And I wonder why…even after all this, he hasn’t got a lesson..to rectify his mistakes…

..and why he is not thinking of his parents who he has left all alone here…

…why is he so blinded by the cursory illusions of fame,power and quick money…..

This is just a person in my life who I came across...I am sure there are so many other people like that..who do not rise in love..but get drowned..who do not realise a lot of things untill they have messed them.

I have been through that phase too...but before I could lose myself in my own shadow,I came out of it..But then not everyone gets that chance in life..

I wonder why…when in love ,you are so blinded that you don’t realize your wrongs…

I wonder …..if it is really love…or just the illusion of it..!

The 7 am hiatus...

Ok so I know I have been hibernating for so long that most of the people have even forgotten that I ever existed….and now that I have had a long enough break, I so hope that I will have something to write about on a more regular basis.Well..i am back…and this time for the good…

So,while I had been spending my time away from the blog world, it really wasn’t for the good…The generally jobless me was overloaded and bombarded with work...Well I know I should be happy that I finally got some work after months of boredom in my office, but the saddest part was that the work that I eventually got to work on was more boring than the non work that I didn’t have…Alright…Yeah…it’s kind of confusing…so be it...I never understood it anyway...

So, for the past one month, I have been living with meetings. Meetings that start at 7...and end only when I am on the verge of collapsing...I start my day with one...and of course end it too with a couple of them to haunt me through the night.Well for those who know me, they also know for the fact that my mornings don’t begin before 11.All the 4 years of college, I could never make it for the first two lectures; In Gurgaon, mornings started at 10, but this new job wasn’t too emphatic with my state.… and with much difficulty, (and umpteen efforts for 6 months), I finally clocked my self to get up at 8 and somehow reach office by 10,an achievement that my family celebrated for quite a few days. As days went by, I started getting adjusted to my 8 am mornings, and suddenly one evening as I was comfortably sitting on the easy chair planning my next meal, I got a sms from my manager.

Now, my manager deserves another post to be written about since mentioning her in just a few lines would be a injustice to her kind of a personality.So, I will make sure that my coming posts do talk about her.

Coming back to the discussion, I got a message from her, stating that there is a review meeting scheduled for 7 am the next morning. I was aghast!!! What was she thinking,7 am is no time. It was almost midnight…I read the message again,and again..and when I realized that the words were just as I was reading them,and didn’t appear to change,I called her to confirm if she really had lost it completely. Talk about being curt, she wasn’t even apologetic for calling me on such unruly hours…and I knew I didn’t have a choice but to go.Vin tried to console me by saying that it wouldn’t happen again, and just once I could manage it…and so I did and the rest is just history……

But such is the irony of life... that fateful, horrendous and freaking day marked the beginning of a never ending torture on me.And now,I reach office at 6:45 am…attend meetings till 4 pm,and end up getting yelled at for not giving any work stats reports which should be out by 4 pm anyways.And so, the poor me has been juggling with trying to please one and all…and getting nowhere.To make things better(read worse..Iam in my sarcastic mode), 3 of my super bosses are on a visit to the India office .So this lady(lets call her V) has taken a step further to leave no stone unturned to impress each one of them.Dont know how many are impressed, but the whole process has surely killed me.

So, one of these fateful meeting days of mine, I was struggling with discussions since 7 am. It was already 1230, and along with being hungry, I was damn sleepy and yawning shamelessly (well not really, I was trying really hard to control it…) as the VP was addressing us. I don’t know if everyone can relate to the pain of being hungry and sleepy at the same time, but it surely is a deadly combo for me.And right when I was on the verge of getting stoned, this fun loving VP(lets call him C) of ours decided to have some fun session, and he wanted our feedback on whatever nonsense he was trying to utter.Me being me,thought I could really get away by trying and being moderately responsive and sleeping with eyes wide open…And so it began..the discussion on Perception…C was trying really hard to sound like a cool guy (at 50, he is neither cool, nor funny,and the least interesting)..
C:-So guys, lets talk about perception and how we can turn our perceptions into a world class thought process of a world class team.

While everyone raised their hands like 5 year old nursery kids, I was still trying to get back to my senses...and trying to understand what he was really talking about...

C-So Richa, you look contemplative..lets start with you…

“(Huh..why me?I don’t even know what you are asking..contemplative…man..Iam dying of lack of sleep..and im starving all in an effort to tolerate your nonsense.…and you call me contemplative….!!!grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!)”

Some gibberish that I uttered,somehow saved me from being caught red handed in my sleeping act.

C:-Great Richa…so now let’s hear you all…

Phew..….Some more futile and silly questions later…..as we dug in deeper to understand what Perception meant…

C:-Ok guys, how many of you have been to the US

Voila…I was safe here..I grinned and grinned ,I have never been to the mighty US..and there was no way he could have directed the question to me..and so I fell back and started to go back to my relaxation mode..

Everyone else was looking at each other,so it was obvious that none had been…V was observing everyone in the meantime in a hope that some one will raise a hand..and when no one did,she decided to volunteer.(No matter how sleepy I was,I could bet,she had never been there…and she was faking…)

C:-Ok V…so Can you tell me what do they mean when they have 55 MPH written on their expressways.?

Now,this was getting interesting,and I woke up to see the most priceless expression I have seen on some ones face.She didn’t know..and it was evident.But now that she was trapped in her own oversmart move,she didn’t have a choice.So ,after an initial hiccup,she started to speak…

C:-“It means the same like it means here in India,It is ofcourse the maximum speed limit and it means that people cant go beyond 55 mph and the difference between US and India is that people there follow rules”

It seems that she went a little wrong with her overboard answer..I didn’t know until C got uncomfortable with her silly answer.and suggested that it really was the other way around..

And as C continued the discussion with how 55 mph means the minimum speed limit and not the maximum, there she was…embarrassed…and irritated ofcourse…and as she tried to confirm that she meant the same… I burst out in a laughter(to my amusement,everyone felt that I was coughing…as they passed me a glass of water)…I finally had a jump start to the rest of the day….What happened to her…?Well she hasn’t raised her hand for any of the questions till date..I guess she will take some time to gather her thoughts..
And what happened to me after that…well..I got a new manager..The 7 am meetings continue…but this time..I am not complaining…!!
P.S.:-I realized that this is my first post of 2009…16 days since the new years went by…And that just reminds me that I am yet to make my new year resolutions for 2009...I have already started Contemplating..contemplation is good for me...:)

Happpy New Year…!!!