Wednesday 25 February 2009

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.


Monday 23 February 2009

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!!!!


Friday 20 February 2009

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:)



Friday 13 February 2009

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..!