Nature's Blog !

A quick re-cap of 2009 !

2010-01-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hushh..its gone..Thankfully ! 2009 is a memorable year- more for the wrong reasons..Such a roller coaster ride it was ! but every experience teaches you something..and here is a list of things the experiences in 2009 taught me !

1. Early to Bed and Early to rise...can save a whopping 12K !! ( I pledge i will never miss my flight even if that means sacrificing my most beloved dreams)

2. Follow your gut instincts..even if that means going against the majority - doesn't matter if the whole world falls in the majority criteria..Listen to the world, ponder upon their suggestions but follow your own instincts- it will never fail you. We, as human beings, have an inbuilt self-protective and self-defensive mechanism (more on that later).

3. Never Regret your decision. I believe that :
"Every decision I take is the sum total of my level of reasoning based on the circumstances prevailing at that time" So you must have had some reason behind doing something at any point of time and it must have been right atleast at that time..so why regret later ? What you did then was right then..

4. Stay in touch !! Don't distance yourself from people close to you. You will miss them the most when you will need them the most.

5. Keep learning..The only good thing in the last year probably is that i started learning guitar..(Ok ok, i agree its just the style quotient that attracted me towards it..but now i am loving it baby)

6. Hop a little, Jump a little..1,2,3 : Sing, Dance and Be Merry !! It makes you smile and I am yet to see a person who is not beautiful while smiling (Dentures or no dentures, Ha !)

7. Break the Rules, if that helps you(Dont go against the ethics plz)..its ok (You are at your creative best when you do that ;-) )

8. Don't love your company or boss..for them you are just another 'Associate' adding to the head count..try to Love your work though to keep yourself happy and contented.

9. "Aamdani atththanni, Kharcha rupaiya?"..Ha Nothing wrong in pampering oneself but you never know if one of the top goons of your company is riding an unstoppable tiger or not (Reference : Letter by Mr. Ramalingam Raju - How creative- riding on the tiger..hehe) So, Save enough to be able to keep indulging in luxury.

10. Health is wealth..Exercise, don't over eat - It will not only keep you fit but also save you the unnecessary trips and tips to the hospitals..Plus the compliments you get for that purrfect figure is a desirable and much coveted bonus..(Hehe..how girlie)

So yeah..Its been a happening year..which means i was always on my toes, palms, head, fingers..everything ! Always thinking, always running, a little bit of sadness a lot of fun..and its all gone..

Hope the new year brings a lot of laughter, luck and love in everybody's life !

Be nice..Be Good and Do good...
Believe in GOOD if not in GOD (Yeah, thts coming from an Agnostic )

Happy New Year everyone !

Ring Out the Old...Ring in the New !!!

2009-12-30T10:21:00.000-08:00

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife,
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweet manners, purer laws.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

By - Alfred Tennyson
----------------------------------------

Hum Sab Ek Hai...:-)

2009-12-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Got this forwarded email yesterday..It is very similar to the previous post written by me but its written in a funnier way..i enjoyed reading it..so cudnt help but put it here..
HUM SAB EK HAIN !!!!

"Tamils"are always proud to be Tamizhs; Pretty courteous (that is what
they think, at least!). They speak yenglish but sorry, no indi (Hindi)
saar...what da??.The more common Madarasi (chennaisi..., now?) is an
ardent fan of
kireeketmatches.

Their counterparts in Bombay think they live in America but speak Hinglish
like ...are you sure ki Sujata aa rahi hai ya Ill go akela!" And
they take great pride in making stupid mistakes in Hindi Grammar.

Thamizhs, are verrry lecky to have "simble" neighbours in the "keralites"
who are a komblex race of peoblle (they migrated around 2000 B.C. from the
middle east, I guess; and now even the Sheikhs feel wary of them) but they
eat a lot of chooclyte and own 99.998765% of chai shops in the world and
form 99.89% of nursing community.

Not far begind the kerals is the "telugu desam", who are totally againesht
flaunting their wealthu to the woruldu, though they occasionally come out
withu brick red shirtsu and parrot green pantsu with pleetsu (pleat).
Worustu,no?! But they (think) are greatu in CICSu, Microsu and COBOLu!
Generally sane peoplesu (and so you can always findu them judgingu,
probhingu, queschioningu othersu ....)

The Canadians, excuse me, the "Kannadigas" aor (are) the coolest dobun
When it comes to Rajkumar (actor), if a fly sits on his nose,
they'll burn the entire city of Bengaloroo to kill the fly! To hell with
Silicon valley! I-ron, firshtu, girlu, Lasht Bussu, roadu, crickeatu,
filamu are some of their favourites.

"Maharashtrians" are a conservative, confused, complex lot-kar. -Kar, that
is because gavasakar, tendulkar, bahulkar,.. confused that is because
sitting in southern part of India they would ask the other person "are
you from Maharashtra or from south India..?" and genuinely wonder why the
other person takes some time to answer the question. They like the
principles of pheejix and their favourite character in the alphabet is Zay
(god knows where that came from). Although soft, peace loving people but
they elect the shivsena n MNS to rule them.

And right there next to the Maharashtrians are the "Gujjubhais". They like
to keep kes in the benk and their favourite past time is eating snakes
(snacks)
like paav bhaji, masala papad and pijja at the local snake bar. They
gobble down palak sev like their life depends on it and believe in the
brotherhood and sisterhood of man and woman (everybody is a bhai or a
ben).

If you go further eesht, the land uf Udissa - the land of irron ("r"
unsilent) where sombalpuroa and Bhubaneshbara are big towns. The people
are
bery cordial and if you are Vikram they bill soorly ask your name starts
from B
or Bhe. They
do not sout, sam or soot but occasnally bawsh their phace at the
wasbashin. James Bond Mohanty in our colleze had a roll nomber jero, jero,
sebhen.

Bengalees are bery bery similor, but or bery proud oph Subas Chondro Boash
and Shoatyojit Roy (I used to know a director by name Satyajit Ray who was
also pretty good) and eberybody is X da. I used to habe a friend by name.
Dada. Bonder...neber mind. Bot I most conphess, Roshgollas are bery
goooood, tho!

Bihari kids are supposed to be the smartest kids in India (if not in the
universe!). How we wish they grow up the same way,...but... And Biharees
are bery phond of Laloo and Ranchi, isse bhadiya tumre pass koochi hai
kaa?! spit spit...

UPites and MPites are busy going to ischool and istudying metals to make
lots of ishteel.

Punjabis are very sweet and aggressive and offer Rotti Shotti Khayega! to
which I once replied No. He said Tage itu, yaar! By Godu! Surjeetu, what
happenedu, oi?!. Then of course, everybodys a paappe or a kaakke. Thats
Pnjab for you.

And Kashmir (called Cashmir by many, may be because of the amount of cash
spent to keep it in India)?!?
I know Roja (or Roza?)was shot (I mean filmed) somewhere nearby...

But at the end of the day, wherever you are in the world, whether it is in Sunnyvale, CA; Birmingham, UK; UmmAl Quwain, UAE or Serangoon Road, Singapore, ask them who they are and you'll get just one answer ---
"INDIANS"
NOM to Anyone and to be taken in the right spirit.

Whats your Style ?

2009-08-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

India is a multi-ethnic country with varied culture, languages, rituals, mannerisms and so much more!! Yeah, a similar line can be found in any Social Studies textbook, i know, but having had a first hand experience and having actually come across soo many variety of people in last 4 years has left me wondering at the possibility and reality of all of us sharing one common name.."Indian"..I sometimes feel even the subject matter experts would find it impossible to research on how a country which is uniquely different every few thousand miles is still so united and intact..Its like a caterpillar having hundres of legs..When the caterpillar walks, its legs move in a kind of mexican wave fashion..if the caterpillar tries to research on each leg's movement probably it will stop walking :)...A Balanced chaos !

Having met a variety of people from all over India(I claim to have acquaintances/friends in every state of India..Chhatisgarh, Bihar and a place called Tinsukia in Assam also included !!!! ), i have noticed a pattern of mannerisms and style in them based on where they belong to. So, I present to you those typical mannerisms through which you can identify where a person is from..

Disclaimer : The following information pertains to my observation of people from different regions in general. It may not be exactly true and it is not intended to ridicule or hurt the sentiments of people.

1. They are generally LOUD and boisterous. They like forming groups and doing get togethers every now and then. For them, "hall" and "hole", "snakes" and "snacks" are pronounced in the same way. They are(if Hindus), undoubtedly, either vegetarians or Jains. They can gorge on "Fafda" "jalebi" anytime of the day. They love food as much as they love shares and bonds. Atleast one of their family members is in USA. They are our garrulous Gujaratis....ahem..Your Highness is a Gujarati too !

2. They love coconuts and coconut Oil. From food delicacies to maintaining those lovely long tresses, coconut oil is used everywhere. For them, "Humble" becomes "Ummble". Girls love wearing Half Sarees and Gajras. During marriage, you will probably not be able to see the bride properly as she would have been dressed in "GOLD" from head to toe. They love "Appam". They are our Keralites.

3. They eat, drink and work I.T. Rice is their staple food. All they would love to order is "Curd Rice" and "Sambhar" even in the costliest Restaurants. In one course of meal, they have four different varieties of RICE. Like keralites, they love Sona. Dowry is still considered as a prestige there. No dowry means to give only one flat, a large piece of land along with lots of gold(Sigh). They love Gajras too. For them, "YES" and "S" is pronounced the same way i.e "S". They end up the sentence with an extended "aaa" and use the word "Raa" very often.(Raa is similar to yaar in hindi)
For e.g. A: lets watch a movie Ra..
B: Movie aaa ? which one?
They are great movie buffs. They call an 'item number song' as a 'mass song' and can do their patented "Teen Maar" step on any song. They love "Chiroo" (Chiranjeevi). They are fond of spicy food, Haleems and Biryanis and even have a biryani named after one of their cities. They are our Andhrites.

4. The easiest way to spot them is the way they speak Hindi which is surprisingly sooo similar in all of them and so not so correct.
For e.g :
"Maine kiya hai" becomes "Main kiya hun" or "Main ki hun"
"Usne khaya hai" becomes "woh khaya hai" or "woh khayi hai"
"Sha" becomes "sa"..i.e. "Shaadi" becomes "Saadi", "Shaam" becomes "saam"
"Ksha" becomes "Kha"(They dont have "Ksha" in their Alphabet)..So "Antakshari" becomes "Ontokhari" and if you are Mr. Akshay Kumar, you will get a new name there which will be "Okhay Kumar".
They beam at the mention of Fish Fry and "Pakhal"- a food delicacy there. Their region is the origin of one of the classical dances called "Odissi". They are our Oriyas.

5. They have a similarity with Oriyas in some aspects. They love Sea food. They generally pronounce "A" as "O". For e.g. Monday could be pronounced the same way as it is written. Ladies are more dominant than their men. Their hindi could be one of the funniest as they tend to translate everything according to their language and.well..their language, unfortunately, lacks gender..So if you find a guy saying "Main jaa RAHI hun.." and a girl saying "main jaa RAHA hun"..you know exactly where they belong to..They are fond of sweets and Rosogulla is one of their most popular sweet. They are our sweet Bengalis.

6. They are handsome and beautiful(hehe). They love ghee, butter,lassi, parathas, makke di roti and sarson da saag. You can spot them easily by the way they speak. They do only "Balle Balle" Bhangra in any type of song. They are our vivacious Punjabis.

7. They dont know Hindi properly. Even if they do, more often than not, they will hesitate to speak it. If they speak it at all, we have to make an effort to understand it. For them, "KHA" and "KA" are same(Seemingly, "kha" is absent in their alphabets) So "Khana Khaya" becomes "Kaana kaaya". Like Andhrites, Rice is their staple diet too. Rajnikant is God to them. They are our Tamilians.

8. They end up their sentence with "DA" while talking to a freind. Da is similar to yaar in hindi. For e.g. A: Wassup Da ?B: Nothing much..Lots of work Da.They are our Kannadas.

9. Married ladies adorn themselves with flashy saris and suits. They will generally cover their heads with their pallu. They love Gatte ki sabji and daal baati. They have a rich and royal heritage. They are our Royal Rajasthanis.

10. They speak Hinglish very fluently. They indulge in showbaazi a great lot. They may live in a rented apt but may still possess a Mercedes. They are tip-top in their dressing. Leaving without applying lipstick, powder and other makeup(even if it is to buy vegetables) is a reprehensible act. They are our Delhites.

9. A major lot aspires to become IAS officers. They are more traditional and a little orthodox. Their hindi is also quite different. For e.g. "Kya kahat ho babua..ham ka bhi batayi do". They are our Bihari Babus.

10. They love art in any form. Be it movies, theatre, painting etc. They love Pav-Bhaji, Vada Paav, Shrikhand. They are our Maharashtrians.

Let me know if you have any more interesting facts to add to the list :)

Jai Hind ! Happy independence Day !

Back to Square One ?

2009-03-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

How many times have you felt being lost and then suddenly find yourself at the same position from where you started ? How many times have you felt the "deja-vu" when you meet someone, when you see a particular series of actions, when you go to the same place you might have stayed or visited a few years back ? And when you feel all that, does it really make you happy or sad or just indifferent(you must be really insensitive to feel indifferent)?

Well, it happens more than often to me..the "deja-vu"..the back to square one feeling...the start-all-over-with-zero-zero-score game..the NOT-AGAIN look !! And the feelings thenafter ? Depends ! Mostly, it starts with the twinkle in my eyes , feeling happy to see/feel a familiariaty..which soon turns into amusing surprise..and then a little dejected..if it was where i wanted to be then i feel sad that i missed being there for soo long..if it was where i dint actually want to be then i still feel sad to be back again...and then finally "getting-used-to" stage !

A similar thing happened when i came back to Hyd..The first ever time when i came to Hyd, i was just a college fresher, wanting to experience new thing, new freedom, new independence..the want dint last too long ! i felt too homesick to decide upon staying for more than 3 months which was the mandatory training period..decided to go back immediately after those 3 months..and then ended up in a project..getting a project sounded a great deal then so grabbed the opportunity(o really?) and started planning for a transfer to Pune ASAP...(after all its better to have an overnight journey from Pune to Ahmedabad then either slogging in the train for 24 hours or spending a hefty sum in getting there in flat 2 hours)..planning continued forever and I preferably ended up going home every couple of months in flat 2 hours..I had already made really really good friends in Hyd by then..Fabulous roomies and awesome office freinds as well..which made my stay in hyd the most memorable one indeed ! And one fine day, i dropped out of the project(first step to move forward for resignation)..got bored, lost enthusiasm, wanted to go home badly...and then they offered me another project in USA...Ahem ! There was a catch again...another Big Opportunity(O really???)..i grabbed it again and flew to the usa..When i finally left Hyd for USA, i made a silent pledge not to come back again ever to work..not that i dint like it here but because i never really felt like home in Hyd..it was always a temporary stay for me..And Lo ! After almost 1.5 years, i am back in Good Old Hyd..

I was wondering, while flying from home to hyd, whether i will still be able to go where i had to go..and yes, i was..i knew all the streets and turns..There was amusement, surprise, disbelief followed by sadness that i came back here..i was lucky enough to get a temporary stay at the same place where i had stayed for 2 years..another deja-vu..i enter the house..see familar faces of neighbours..but the roomies arent there..some of my best freinds then were not in touch for various reasons now..In the dust of familiarity..i felt lonely and homesick..again !

And now..i have got used to it again..but there is a difference now...ppl around are no more college freshers..they are either committed or married, some even having kids..you cant chill-maaro with your committed/married friends anytime you wish to..you cant/shudnt expect them to give the same and immediate attention that you desire..you cant rilly call them at the middle of the night just to say " so ja be nocturnal creature;)"..hopefully this phase will end soon too..After all its just a temporary stay ;-)

And, thus, after circling round the globe, i am back to square 1...:-P

A Few Truths...

2009-03-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

My NEW EX-roomie (;)) in hyd forwarded this email to me..when i had one of the most pathetic days !!!!!!

Thanks Miss A :-)

A Few Truths

1. No one can ruin your day without YOUR permission.

2. Most people will be about as happy as they decide to be.

3. Others can stop you temporarily, but only you can do it permanently.

4. Whatever you are willing to put up with, is exactly what you will have.

5. Success stops when you do.

6. When your ship comes in. ... make sure you are willing to unload it.

7. You will never "have it all together."

8. Life is a journey ... not a destination. Enjoy the trip!

9. The biggest lie on the planet: "When I get what I want I will be happy."

10. The best way to escape your problem is to solve it.

11. I've learned that ultimately 'takers' lose and ’givers’ win.

12. Life's precious moments don't have value, unless they are shared.

13. If you don't start, it's certain you won't arrive.

14. We often fear the thing we want the most.

15. Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you have to
say. Best friends listen to what you don't say!

16. Yesterday was the deadline for all complaints.

17. Look for opportunities...not guarantees.

18. Life is what's coming....not what was.

19. Success is getting up one more time.

20. Now is the most interesting time of all.

21. When things go wrong.....don't go with them.

22. Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.

23. God can mend all broken hearts. You just have to give Him all the pieces.

24. A person who asks a question might be a fool for five minutes, but
a person who doesn't ask, is a fool forever.

25. A best friend is like a four leaf clover ... hard to find, and
lucky to have.

26. A friend is someone who reaches for your hand but touches your heart.

27. A coincidence is when God performs a miracle, and decides to
remain anonymous.

28. I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

29. Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of
God's grace ...and your best days are never so good that you are
beyond the need of God's grace.

Corporate Sabzi Mandi

2009-01-25T21:25:00.000-08:00

While most people have a dicey future in front of themselves(thanks to Mr.Raju), there are a few who are making the most of this time ! it seems to be all chandi-chandi for the onsite guys...

THEN :
Just a few days ago I was so unsure of my professional career..my client company,having 12 years affair with my company broke off in just 8 days after the fraud news..and we were given just 1 month to wrap up things and go back..one month is just not enuff to sell the car, break the lease of the apartment you are staying in by paying a hefty amount,call each and every bank and every other company you have your account with, sell all your household stuff, clean the apt..and after all this, go where ?? we knew for sure that going back means just one thing..being jobless !! "People were shattered and depressed" would be an understatement.

NOW :
Some clients know the worth of the knowledge that is present in the minds of all those who are getting released because of the management decision(Mind you, its not one or two people..its hundreds of people)..and some companies are smart enough to recognize this fact..Client does not want to get rid of us, it is just the name tag of the company that they are afraid of..and Lo ! most of us are getting the best offers right now..Its like corporate sabzi mandi..one vendor quoting higher than the other..coaxing, convincing and in some cases even spying has become the norm of the business fetching game..its a win-win situation for all..employees get a job, clients can retain the same people they have worked with since years and years..and vendors get business..

this is what is happening in just my client location..situation in India, as told by my colleagues,is worse than ever..i hope a miracle happens which turns the bad to good for all of them !

~Amen~

P.S - I still have to sell off my car (how painful it is, i bought it as my bday gift :( )

The Spirit of Satyam !

2009-01-18T22:59:00.000-08:00

Satyam is going through the most difficult time and there are chances that Satyam gets merged or acquired or bought or dissolved..but still there is this hope in most of the satyamites that it will bounce back and rise like phoenix..

This hope does not come out of mere selfishness of getting paid though ! Most of us who joined satyam soon after college(referred to as ELTPs in satyam)have developed a bonding with the company name..Its my first job that gave me many firsts in my life..my first stay outside my state,my first laptop, my first car, my first US trip and not to mention soooo many friends from all over the country..and the mere knowledge of the fact that whatever is happening to the company and its associates has nothing to do with the associates themselves throws me into the (self)pity and (high)hopes mode ! Its like calamity and crisis binds people together..Uncertain of my association with Satyam in the near future,i would still hope satyam revives !
I came across this email n my mailbox..liked it a lot,not because it is in praise of the company but because it is full of spirit and hope which is very much necessary to withstand any crisis..

"Dear All,

I am deputed at client location and came across a very interesting conversation in cafeteria yesterday. One of my co-worker, also deputed with the same client through some lesser known two room company, mustered guts to ask me sarcastically in front of entire team, “So, Satyam is gone! What are you guys planning to do now?” In normal circumstances, I have a habit to not to reply to lose talks, but in front of entire team.... I thought I need to fix this guy’s thought process. I asked him, as my military training has imbibed in me the habit to fight till last breadth, “Who says Satyam is gone when I am very much alive here and committed to create value on behalf of my company?”. He shot back, “Hello Mr., your chairman has resigned, you guys are facing financial turbulence and you still have a face to say that Satyam is not gone!”

At this juncture, I thought of replying to this guy in his own language. I asked him, “Tell me, what will you do and where will you go if our country India was not there?” He was not prepared for this level of thought and asked back, “What a stupid question, How can India be gone, it is a country?” I asked him back, “Country! What makes a country? Land? Economy? Our Prime Minister? Our President? Our Geography? Or the PEOPLE? If our PM resigns, will you say India is gone? If our economy faces a slowdown, will you say India is gone? But yes, if the people of a country are lost for any reason, we will say that country has no meaning. Who cares of vast land of Antarctica today which has just one permanent resident, Father Georgy? Which country does it belongs to? Why does not it has any government? Why does not it has any economy? Or, how many countries were there when humans used to hunt for food in pre-historic times? Countries, Wealth, Infrastructures and booming economies are nothing but creations of efforts of PEOPLE, and they do not have any existance on their own. And the final blow was, “When one man can create Satyam as an organization of 53,000 people, why not 53,000 committed people can rebuild one SATYAM?”

By now, I saw my point was well placed and he stood up and shook hands with me and murmured, “Yaar, when I used to hear from my roommate who work in Satyam that EVERY SATYAMITE IS A LEADER, I used to laugh it off. Now, I know why! " "

Proud to be an Indian..

2008-08-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

No matter where I am, No matter what I am..I am and will always be an Indian..a proud Indian..
Happy Independence Day to all Indians...

Jai Hind !

Impatient Patient

2008-08-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

India is much much better when it comes to treating patients..that too an emergency patient..

Dont be a patient in USA. Period. You will suffer more in the hospital than from your actual pain because of the incessant grilling sessions you have to pass through ! We took my roomie to a hospital here at 3 AM for an emergency care..A lady promptly came and asked "What happened ?"..Ofcourse i jumped to answer it..I told her 'in detail' about it (people who know me can imagine my 'in detail' story telling capability) and then a flurry of questions like
1. Are you allergic to any medicines ?
2. did u take any medicine before coming to the hospital ?
3. Any religious/cultural beliefs or inhibitions that they should know of ?
etc..these questions seemed relevant and then there were questions like :
4. Are you married/single/divorced/separated ?
(Now, why does someone's marital status matter in the hospital?)
I could answer all these questions on the patient's behalf..was not a problem..THANKFULLY my roomie was single..had she been married, there was a related question which was *Gulp* "does it pain when you do?" ( i saw that on the sheet...Reaaaalllly!!) i wud in no way be in a position to answer THAT question..
5. Which is the most difficult thing for you to learn ? Listening,reading, writing ?
Roomie : huh ?
Me : Mark listening please...

We were already getting impatient with the questions..and then she took us to a room..made us sit forever and another lady comes who simply asks "What happened"..grrrrrrrr.....she had a different set of questions again...and then there was another and another and yet another doctor/nurse/whoever it was coming and asking questions..In total 6 different people came and asked soo many questions one by one that i felt like i am an alibi to a great crime master who has been caught red handed murdering !!!
Come on, the patient will die answering the questions this way !!! Treat her bloody and then check your formalities...

Finally, they discharged her giving a Pain Killer !! WOW !! it was already 5:30 AM by then..

Bottomline : Dont fall ill if you are in USA..

Addiction....by choice

2008-07-24T00:59:00.000-07:00

These days i have got addicted to a number of things...I like this addiction and i am trying to make sure i remain addicted..Diverting my restlessness in a positive way such that i remain active and not just restless !

Sports -
Tennis and badminton rule the days as of now..I have simply fallen in "love" with the games of "love" ;-) although i would like to see more of such kind of "love" on the other side of the court..lol

Song :
"Ek Lau" from movie Aamir in Hindi
And Enya's collection in English - Personal favs - OSTs of Gladiator, LOTR, May it Be, caribbean Blue, Adiemus

Websites :
1. Youtube and Goooooooogle..hehe..pretty easy guess..but i cant imagine my life without these sites..youtube is not just a fav timepass but a very vast source of information..ditto for gooooogle
2. Cars.com, craigslist.com...waiting to sing "Main nikli ho gaddi leke.." Getting a car was a necessity till a few weeks back..now it has become my want,my desire, my obsession to such an extent that i eat, drink(and puke it very badly too), sleep cars..i am at the peak of my desperation for cars...
One secret..i am searching for a car thinking that i am searching for a life partner so that i dont end up with any trash :-P..it should make me happy, feel safe and secure, neither too mature(SUV types..makes me feel old) nor just totally adventurous(Ferrari types..although would love to drive such cars for the thrill of it)..smthing tht i should be proud of..reliable (dont want a breakdown in the middle of the race, dude)..appealing in looks(veryyyyy imp...lol)
so lets see if i m able to find such a guy..umm..i mean..car..one good thing about cars is i dont have to worry about car's reaction..i get to pick what i want ;-)
3. Orkut - Who is doing what ?? doesnt matter even if the 'who' is a nobody and the 'what' is nothing..ooof..girls and gossip will never separate from eachother..

Language:
1. Globalisation SPOILS ur language...As such i was never a master of languages, but i could speak atleast Hindi and Gujarati by keeping the proper gender of the things/persons intact..Now thanks to my many freinds from all over India(Punjabi, gujarati, Hyderabadis, Udiya, bengali)..my hindi has become sooo bad that when i speak hindi in front of my good old bollywood ishtyle friends..they think i am faking an accent and pretending to have forgotten the basics after coming to usa...so now i m talking more to those freinds of mine to make it proper (freinds plz dont kill me, this ofcourse doesnt mean i m using you)

2. Spanish - Yup...the fact that the guy helping me with it is handsome spanish guy is just a coincidence ;-)

Music :
Piano - it is definitely fun..keeping both your hands in synchro is a littl difficult though..cant just start playing 'chand taare..." ala sharukh style..

Things I would love to do...
1. Reading..Miss D, wish you were together...all those reading habits have gone now..want to start it all over again..this time, some fruitful reading..enuff of mills n boons, sidneys, thrillers, fiction...want to read sm good stuff, really good stuff

2. Movies..want to see soooo many movies...miss my ex-rommies here..watching movies with them was fun..movies without comments is like movies without popcorn !!

3. Do something creative..yet again: Its been a long time since i wrote a poem, painted a flower, made a greeting card, or even coming up with a just out-of-the-box idea that can surprise as well as please me at the same time..guess i need to take out time for myself,with myself by just being with me !

Addiction...is a choice i am making ! And i'm lovin it bayybee :-)

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas ! :D

2008-07-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

What happens in Vegas has to stay in Vegas..No wonder it is called "The Sin City"..
I was impressed to see how a desert has been converted into such a happening place ! It has the highest number of hotel rooms in the world and most of the hotels are still not vacant during holidays !!

We were lucky enough to get a nice room(it was as big as an apartment with kitchen, living room, bedroom and 1.5 bathrooms)..Thanks to my coll freind S who made all the arrangements beforehand ! It was a perfect place to enjoy and hangout with coll friends whom i met after 4 years !!!

It mainly thrives on Casinos, Shows and adult entertainment..
List of things you should not miss while in LV
1. Bellagio Fountain show- its free of cost and its AMAZING !!

2. Watch any show..they are pretty expensive but worth watching..We decided to go for the most popular and most expensive show called "O - Circue du Soleil"..we enjoyed every bit of it..They performed dance and gymnastics on a very very big stage that had water all over !!! with various forms of water and every step being done in a very refined way, it was a treat to eyes..Make sure you are in your best evening dress while attending the show !

3. Gambling- Ofcourse, vegas and gambling go hand in hand..For the starters, casino games like Slot machines, Rouleth, Wheel of fortune may look good..For the more daring and experimenting ones, there is Black Jack, Poker, Three cards and likes..Be ready to shell out money and be prepared to lose all of it..i managed to win 30 bucks :-P while S managed to win 300 bucks ! two more friends ended up losing everything..

4. Venetian casino: They have made a replica of Venice in this casino..you enter this casino even at night and you will feel like its still day..they hav made an artificial sky overhead and streets like Venice..there is even a stream and Gondolas floating in it !! We decided to take a ride on Gondola and was it fun ! there will be an italian person rowing the gondola and singing a song for you (Mind you, they are all classically trained singers and they sing a la opera style)

Some other interesting facts about Vegas
1. J to S : why is it called The Sin City ?
S to j : Just look around and you will see(there were casinos, strip clubs and many such clubs(ahem)).
A woman gives a card to J..she immediately throws it away in a state of shock..well, thts when she realized prostitution is legal in Vegas
No wonder its a sin city

2. The whole city is actually in a desert which is quite impressive..to turn a barren land into a place tht attracts tourists the most and generates revenue is appreciable !

3. It has highest number of hotel rooms in the world ! Venetial hotel alone has 7000 rooms and marriott alone has 5000 rooms..there are many many such hotels and many other hotes and casinos are still under construction..

4. Liquor is free inside the casinos and its unlimited..the more you drink, the more you are prone to gambling

5. somebody told me they have oxygen supplies in all casinos to keep gamblers active so that they dont fall asleep and keep playing..

6. Stratosphere rides are hyped i believe..you may still go and have fun to enjoy the famous rides

7. The city being in the desert, is very very hot during summers. we finished two sunscreen lotion bottles and still got sun burns and tan !

8. As soon as you enter a casino, there will be someone asking you if you are already married ! Weird..

9. They ask you for your id for everything...even for drinking water !! Phew..

We spent our third day in San Diego which is a very beautiful city with scenic beaches..the most famous being Coronado beach (the hotel just opposite to Coronado beach has a room that is haunted !!!)

Nice trip with the coll group !

I saw one interesting T-shirt in Vegas that had a line on it " what happened in vegas, did not stay in Vegas"....lol

Where'd you go..i miss you so...

2008-01-28T22:40:00.000-08:00

Somebody told me that this particular song by Fort Minor reminds him of me..
i love this song..i get nostalgic some how and long to go back home when i listen to it...i especially like the lines...

Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone,
Please come back home...

For full lyrics, visit Lyrics

The original video has some conversation in it, so i have just put the reproduction here..Just listen to the song...

Weekend Hungamas..

2008-01-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

There has not been a single weekend that i can call boring or when i have not had anything exciting to do after coming to USA..
The excitement follows...

Weekend 0 : Shopping
The day i arrived in USA...i had a feeling of confused emotions..excited as well as exhausted, different as well as desired, known ppl in an unknown land, Jetlag..
The best part was the visit of my cousin and bhabhi on the very next day of my arrival..i met them after a long time..i felt homely then..i did shopping(a lot of it),learnt some basic things tht need to be taken care of to appear normal...

Weekend 1 : St.Louis
Went to a place called St. Louis- some 3 hours drive from Bloomington..The speciality of this place is an Arch which is like 630 Feet high and 630 feet wide..Athough beautiful,One time visit is ok for this place, i felt...

Weekend 2 : Skiing
It is indeed a dangerous fun ! Being a good roller skater, i thought skiing would be a piece of cake for me but my over confidence was shattered into pieces as small and fine as the snow granules when i could not complete more than two rounds without falling/skidding...Whoa !! If you are a beginner, you might consider joining a group with cute and handsome instructor..i bet u wont mind falling again and again..(i still remember my instructor..Geeez)

Weekend 3: Auora Temple
Its very rare that i travel 3 hours (Bloomington to Aurora which is near Chicago) to go to a temple...Did i mention newhere tht i am an Agnostic..??? n tht going to a temple was a last thing i did while i was in India ??

Weekend 4: Home (Almost) Sweet Home !
Moved in to a new apartment which i can call mine, where i hav a say in things, where i can put things dirty or clean without neone cribbing abt it..One hectic weekend when i and my new roomie(she is veryy sweet btw) went on a shopping spree and set up our house..

Weekend 5: Vande Mataram !
We performed dance (yet again) on the occassion of Republic day in an Indian Association..As usual, people termed it as the Best Performance of the Day ! Oh yeah, We are the Best , i know !

And the excitment still continues.....

And the Drama Begins.....

2008-01-20T13:28:00.001-08:00

For all those most useless people who still dont know about my current whereabouts - Well, i am in Uncle Sam's Place..The U.S of A - as they say...
And non-suprisingly, I am doing the same things out here that i had heard in a lot many Maniben-turned-Monica or Jigneshbhai-turned-Jigs stories...
Its been just three weeks since i landed here...and i have already attended more than 15 Parties, explored Skiing , visited a city called St.Loius, practising for an upcoming event on Republic Day here in some Indian Association..
Not to mention the primary job which is working and setting up a house..i am used to being occupied generally but i guess this was a li'l too much for a self-proclaimed laziest person on Earth !!

Why back to Blogging ?!? Well, I was never really fond of it and I always maintained that there are mainly three categories of people who turn to blogging :
1 - Loners - These are the bunch of people who may hav lost touch with their freinds and have nothing better to do than write some crap on a public website stating all personal things...
2 - Promoters - They like to be Brand Ambassadors of their writing skills, some Product, some issue etc..Best example is Aamir Khan and the owner of the Cleartrip.com website
3 - Timepass -
And then there are few clueless persons like me who dont know why they are blogging- they might start off blogging stating in their very first Blog that they are here to "figure out" what Blogging is..lol

Probably, I do fall into one of the other two categories now..:-)

so back to parties...Having attended soo many parties here, i could not help but notice a list of Turn-On and Turn-Off things- not all points belong to just parties though :

Turn-offs of the Parties - Big Losers :
1. A torn sock- no wait a minute- Torn pair of socks- is a complete no-no for anyone and if the torn sock wala turns out to be a big shot Manager..the torn sock wala soon becomes a SHOCK wala..i am sure ALL the fingers and toes of leg, peeping out from the dirty socks is not at all a Fashion statement.

2. People talking in a language alien to you..and trying to convince you that they all are speaking different languages..For their records, all languages that belong to South India is a South Indian Language for me- be it Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam..

3. The only handsome guy you have seen soo far in the place you are, has a voice thats thinner than Tendulkar's.

4. Guys behaving Gayish instead of Guyish.

5. People trying to fake an accent..with..UTTERLY WRONG English..
Sample :
Mr. X - yeah, i'll give you a missed call
(Read : yeeea, i'll ghiff yuo a "MISS-AID" khol) whts miss-aid call ??
Mr. Y - i always keep extra "GLOVSES" in my car...
huh?? he meant a pair of Gloves..

There is one word that people speak very differently from what i have been taught in the school...CHICAGO..they say chi as in chick and i say chi as in shi..i still need to confirm this before i comment !!

Turn-ons of the Parties - Nice Gainers :

1. Deliciously made and lovely Food...Having Idli-Dhosa, Pavbhaji, Panipuri, Chhole Bhatura, Pulao etc almost everyday is definitely a treat for the eyes as well as stomach..My Mom is happy for sure ;)

2. Getting to know so many people..

ummm..cant think of many this class..

The only thing that acts as SHOW-KILLER is the weather..More details on that later..

Just got a cal from a freind..we gotta go SHOPPING...wow, dont i love shopping..yippies..

A night mare and 4 O'Clock Friend !

2007-08-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

The thing happened yesterday night...I had a nightmare (for a change, all my dream bhoots decided to stop joking around and they vanished leaving behind, what people call as Nightmare..hehe)the nightmare had the exact effect as it is supposed to cast on normal human being...and there i was...Eyes wide open, heart beating full dhak-dhak,dhak-dhak...in a semi-statue condition..(if only i were obese or the weather was not chilling,probably i cud have felt the sweat dripping from my forehead but for now that part didnt happen..and well, no i dint scream either -the way it is shown in TVs)..

I woke up and i saw that it was still dark..i struggled to find my mobile and my impromptu reaction thenafter was ..call up a freind(referred to as Y) ! I dint have to think twice, dint hesitate even once,i just had to call Y..just had to tell Y about my nightmare..n i knew Y wud understand, if not anything atleast will stay shut and listen to me :-P

I felt relieved after talking to Y..Y just listened and when i was done with my story telling about how i escaped from the bhoot,Y jus smiled and said some really good things..and we hung up..thts when i realized i had called Y at 4 A.m !!

What a coincidence ! I read it in some novel about the 4 O'clock friend..The name sounded funny and weird at first..but later on, i fell in love with that phrase !

The concept behind the name is..Whenever we need someone to talk to, to share our feelings with,whenever we need someone to just listen to us,to understand, to care,to reciprocate, who we know will just "Be there" at any point of time- be it in the wee hours of the morning, or in the scorching heat of the afternoon, or at midnight or even past midnight at 4 A.M in the morning ! We know that , THAT friend of ours will always be there !!

I am lucky to have got such 4 O'clock freinds in my life whom i dont hesitate to call netime..Those are the freinds who i trust completely...i can count on them whenever i need them..i love them..and the best part is they love me too ;-)

I wish everyone has such 4 o'clock friends and everyone is able to become a 4 o'clock freind for someone else too !
~ Amen

P.S - Btw, My nightmare turned out to be one hilarious dream later on..hehe !! :-P

Warriors in Peace(Better Quality)

2007-07-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

pART - 1

Warriors in Peace

2007-07-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

this is the dance that we performed...
Its not very clear as it was taken from a cellphone..i will upload the better quality video as soon as i get it...
Till then..try to keep track of the girl in the extreme left in the beginning...Thts me ! :-P

We are 'THE HOTTIES'...Period.

2007-07-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yoooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!
We did it !! WE DID IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We won the prize for the Best Dance Performance yesterday at a function called 'Radio Mirchi Corporate Hottie Hungama' contest organised by Radio Mirchi ofcourse !!!

It was amazing..awesome...the theme, the costumes, the dance, the performance, the energy, the team, the synchro...it was all visible right there on stage and man....Was it Brilliant !!!!!.....(plz excuse me for appreciating my own performance..but then cant help it..it was the BEST performance of the evening.)

We were the hotties of the evening , of the show !! wooooooooooo !!
There were 14 Dance performances in all..the teams represented the company they belonged to...there were ppl from Infosys, TCS, Sonata, Sitel, Sierra Atlantic, CSC etc..It was nice to see such a huge crowd turning up at the venue...The judges couldnt help but blurt out way before the results were out that it was by far the best performance..(and ours was the last performance )..We not only got the loudest cheering from the crowd but also standing ovation from one and all !!

Well, our theme was a patriotic theme and we had performed on a medley which comprised of three songs in the following sequence :
1. Warriors in Peace ( composed by A.R Rehman)
2. Airtel instrumental music
3. A small part of the whole Telugu song that has 'Vande Mataram' sung repeatedly.

We enjoyed every bit of it...it was just amazing and spectacular performance..we could see everyone being spellbound...lol...ok fine..i will upload the link on You tube and paste the link here to make you believe what i wrote above :-P

There was Fashion too...which was also very good...
We had performed at the end of the show and we ended with a BANG..n when the results were announced we were just too excited not to celebrate...the whole team and a few more freinds celebrated the victory at a rest , had dinner at 2 a.m and came back home at 4 a.m !!!! Geeeeees..
so overall a fantastic evening spent yesterday...:-)

Btw..Club Mahindra Holiday Resorts voucher(one each for all the team members..and that was a voucher for couple which makes 6x2=12 ppl) to visit any place in India for 3 days/2 nights was an added advantage..hehe !!

So finally , its a proven fact that we are THE HOTTIES....;-)

We are the hotties..well..almost ;-)

2007-06-23T01:31:00.000-07:00

Whoever said Software engineers are boring ???!!!???
i am enjoying every bit of it.....my job gives me just enuff time to relax and be on the move always...almost every 3 months i am caught practising for either a singing or dance performance for the company outing or making arrangements and planning for a yet another trip...

We have competitions like 'The singing idol', 'Boogie woogie' etc..and if no such thing happens , there is always the 'Outing' wherein we are taken to the similar looking resorts everytime(that sucks now, frankly speaking)...

Last whole week, we were practising for the 'Radio Mirchi Corporate Hottie Hungama' contest...there is gonna be Fahion Show and Dance competetions which was open to all corporate guys...now i havnt a clue why they named it as 'Hottie Hungama' contest..but then its that way !!

As usual , once again, my group has entered into finals (cant help it..i just somehow end up being into finals of every competition..lol ;-) )..yesterday, there was supposed to be the finals...we were all geared up for it...after all, we worked so hard for it( i know every muscle of my body now) and having spent some thousands on the dance costumes too( in a hope that if our dance is a flop show then atleast audience have something to look at, that will divert their attention...geeeez), also we have the most unsual combination of girls and guys in our group- 4 girls vs. just two guys (We girls are just too good for guys...i guess) and then.....GULP....we got the news that THE SHOW IS POSTPONED....

Its raining cats and dogs in hyderabad...and it seems the venue at the **** star hotel they had chosen was not good enough...

So we wait now..for the date when we can show what happens when people with two left feet can do...lol..

Till then...we are atleast semi-hotties...;-)

Two sides of the same coin !

2007-05-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

I have always maintained that every situation should be looked at from various angles to reach to a conclusion...i try to adhere to this belief of mine most of the times..
Incidents can be as simple as a young girl daring to cross the road where there is a heavy traffic, almost risking her life :
One way to look at it is : Silly girl, couldnt she wait for the traffic to slow down ?What's the hurry??
The other way to look at it : Could she have waited since a long time for the traffic to slow down and finally took the daring step??

The incident is too simple, real -life and the one that i wouldnt care to remember for long..

And yet..i thought twice before making a judgement...for a totally unknown person...
But still, i missed to give a second thought before judging a freind(henceforth referred to as Z) whom i know since quite a long time...

Although i have always admired Z for the beauty, charm, intelligence, wit that Z possesses, there were a few things that made me dislike Z for what Z is !!
And today, having known the real reason behind Z being what Z is, the way Z is, and what compelled Z to follow a certain very-common-yet-unconventional way that made a lot many people like me to detest Z for that particular thing...i cant help but feel ashamed of thinking the way i thought !!

How could i miss giving it a second thought ? Why dint the real reasons occur to my mind before judging Z ??

Z and i are not best friends..but we have talked a lot, hung out a lot with eachother, shared happiness, have even had minor fights...it should have been easier for me to disregard the apparent for the time being and consider the probable options for the invisible...

However, i let myself flow with the flow of other people's thoughts...
Z doesnt even have the slightest idea that i might have detested Z at some point..and i m glad that Z doesnt know !!
And still, i say sorry to Z...

I respect and admire Z all the more !
Hats off to Z's tolerance, patience and wisdom !

The incident taught me again that - Every coin has two sides ! The apparent one isnt always the only one..try to have a look at both the sides !

Food for Thought..

2007-05-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

The inevitable truth of life is.....

"Everybody is going to hurt you sooner or later....You just have to realise who is worth the pain"

Vishakhapatnam = Vizag = Beautiful Place !!!

2007-05-07T05:05:00.000-07:00

Recently came to know that the more popularly known(popular only in South India i guess , though) place Vizag is nothing but the good ol' Vishakhapatnam...

I have taken a pledge to finish off visiting all the places nearby Hyderabad ( and ahem..fitting the budget too) before i say Bye-Bye to the place..So this time it was Vizag's turn..A beautiful place..wherein there are

Beaches -sand beaches,rock beaches, red rock beaches..everything,

there is a very wonderful Araku Valley(Reminded me of Khandala),

Borra Caves - Naturally made caves..very good,

Waterfall - As dangerous as it looked Beautiful and it looked damn beautiful...

Some good pics from Vizag..

And the Boss said I am an...S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-05-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

Hehe...and i m soo damn happy about it !! My Boss said i m an S..lol..
well..well..dont get me wrong here...In our appraisal we are getting ratings based on our performance..the ratings are called SMART ratings i.e .
S - Start
M - Meritorious
A - Adequate
R - Reasonable
T - Trailing
S being the highest and T being the lowest...

And my boss said i m an S..i.e i m a STAR....yooooooooohoooooooooooo....waiting for more moolah now !! ;)

psst..psst..after all not writing my actual 'achievements' paid well...lol

Boss is Always RIGHT !

2007-04-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Oooof the Appraisal time !!
The most awaited time for the corporate guys as this is the only time to get more mooolah in their pockets ! For those who are unaware of the whole process called Appraisal, it is that time of the year when you magnify every small act done by you ( sometimes such acts can be as big and normal as breathing) to make it sound as a very important 'achievement' that helped your company in some or the other way..and then leave the rest to..ahem..one n only..the Saviour...the BOSS !!! Boss decides who should be given promotion, who should rake in more moolah...and although there is provision for Argument in case your views dont match with that of your boss', in the end Boss is Always Right !!;-)

Being a self-confessed narcissist, i should have been happy to portray my 'achievements' and should have felt happier to have got one full week to do it !! But surprisingly, i cudnt think of anything as so special to be written in some official website..GULP..Everything official about it Dude ! So I try my best skills now..Act as a peeping Tom or evesdropping to other ppl's conversation...And after a lot of Hard Work ( its not an easy job to get such details out, mind you) i finally managed to write my Appraisal Form...I am soo glad i dint write the whole truth in the form which would probably look something like this :

APPRAISAL FORM :

Ability to Learn - i should be given the Award of 'The Best learner' in my office. Whoever knows each and every detail about the latest breakup and makeup affairs ?? That too soo fast ??

Teaming-Fair Play - i have very good teaming with all my freinds in office.i always get spare time to meet any and every friend of mine at the 'Coffee point' and discuss about the latest movie plan. Such great bonding i have...lol

Efficient use of Office Products - i make use of Office product - Telephone - very efficiently to make free calls without any bias for Local calls, STD calls n ahem..at times ISD calls..:D

Proliferation-Effective Communication - i have remarkably good and proven gossipping skills. i use innovative methods to communicate with other associates depending on my teaming with them. For e.g : wink wink(Good looks a must for the associates)...;-)

The Appraisal form was long enough and i dont want to let the whole secret out about my 'achievements'...lol..you think its too much ??? Match this..
Organization Initiative -Contribution to organization - i have contributed greatly to the organization by joining it. It is very difficult to get a talented person with all the above listed skills...

but then nobody cares...coz in the end, inspite of all your achievements, the boss decides your future in the company...and Boss is Always right !!

Corporate Lingo !

2007-03-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

I can very well relate to this ..:-P

Corporate lingo :
1."We will do it" means "You will do it"
2."You have done a great job" means "More work to be given to you"
3."We are working on it" means "We have not yet started working on the same"
4."Tomorrow first thing in the morning" means" Its not getting done "At least not tomorrow!".
5."After discussion we will decide-I am very open to views" means "I have already decided, I will tell you what to do"
6."There was a slight miscommunication" means "We had actually lied"
7."Lets call a meeting and discuss" means "I have no time now, will talk later"
8."We can always do it" means "We actually cannot do the same on time"
9."We are on the right track but there needs to be a slight extension of the deadline" means "The project is screwed up, we cannot deliver on time."
10."We had slight differences of opinion" means "We had actually fought"
11."Make a list of the work that you do and let's see how I can help you" means "Anyway you have to find a way out no help from me"
12."You should have told me earlier" means "Well even if you told me earlier that would have made hardly any difference!
13."We need to find out the real reason" means "Well I will tell you where your fault is"
14."Well Family is important, your leave is always granted.Just ensure that the work is not affected," means," Well you know..."
15."We are a team" means " I am not the only one to be blamed"
16."That's actually a good question" means "I do not know anything about it"
17."All the Best" means "You are in trouble"

Weekend Movies !!

2007-03-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

I was never a movie freak at home..in fact i remember watching only selective movies there..but here, i hav crossed all limits to qualify as a movie freak(yeah exactly..a FREAK)..come to think of it..who will go to the theatre to watch 'Jawani diwani' on the first day itself..well my roomies n I did..out of sheer boredom..lol, hyderabad does that to you ! people are so damn crazy about movies that it is impossible to get tickets for a good movie in the first week itself...and the irony is..inspite of people being crazy for movies..more often than not, the movie is lost somewhere in the second week,..( i missed 'Music and lyrics' that way :-( )

So now,come what may..bunk office..fake illness..go for late night shows..go alone..by hook or crook..movie watching is a must and that too in the first week of the movie release..n then..hehehahaha(trying the gabbar singh laughter) ...reveal the suspense/story/thrill of the movie...how sadistic people can be !!!

Neways i saw two movies this weekend, the revelation part of which follows next..;-)

WATER:

Set in India,1938, it talks about the issues related to the widows in that era..how they are forced into believing that they can attain moksha by way of celibacy, or by dying along with their dead husbands in their funerals..at the same time how the same widows are sent to 'entertain' rich people so that they always hav the roof above their heads. The movie is made up nicely and aesthetically. Personally i dint feel the concept was anything new and the middle part of the movie was quite slow and dragging too but overall it was a good watch. The last part of the movie which deals with the Child Sexual Abuse is very heart wrenching ! The child widow chuhiya's part stands out and is perhaps, the only character that lingers in your mind long after you have watched the movie .I dont know how apt is the title of the movie with respect to the problems shown but since the widow story revolves around the river Ghat..and also may be because they hav shown the suicidal end of the lead actress Lisa Ray , who also is a widow, and a much coveted one at that, in the same Ghat..the title can be considered as apt !

Highlight of the movie : Character of the child widow-chuhiya,who is too innocent and naive to even understand what a widow is and what she goes through,especially the child sexual abuse part !

Worth a single -time watch !!

Blood Diamond :
TIA - This Is Africa !!

Blood diamond, as the name suggests,is all about getting hold of this diamond, which is supposedly the biggest till now !The story is set in Africa wherein the mining of diamonds is shown parallely with the abduction of children from the mines , only to push them towards terrorism after brainwashing their minds and using drugs to lose control over it to an extent that they forget their own parents and are ready to kill just anyone and everyone ! The story reveals the facts and shows how illegally, diamonds are smuggled, the world over !
i was surprised to know in the end that the movie was not a fictitious one..it showcased the real happenings..
Definitely Worth a watch !
Highlight of the movie :Actions sequences

My next movie is gonna be 'The Pursuit of happiness'..i hope i get to see it before it gets lost !!

:-)

Girls vs. Guys !!!

2007-03-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

Had a culfest sorta thingie in my company last weekend..We had to decide upon what dress to wear for dance and what for Fashion show..
The conversation went something like this...

GIRLS :
G1 - What will we wear yaar ?? The first dance is totally western and the third one is fusion..
G2 - Lets come in a pair of jeans..blue everyone ?? ready ??
G3 - Hey no..plz..no jeans..i look soooo fat in jeans..
G4 - I dont hav a blue jeans either..
G1 - How about skirts ?It will suit in Fusion ..
G2 - I am game for it..short one..??;)
G4 - OOps...skirt ???? i dont wear skirts..and besides i dont have one..
G3 - Yeah and in 'that' particular step, it will be difficult to sit and stand and blah..
Finally they decide upon Jeans/Trousers..whatever they have..
G2 - What about top ?? Black everyone ??
G1 - Hey no..lets go for a red top instead..
G4 - No..black would be fine,..you can always borrow it for a day right ?
G1 - Oh my shoulders are so broad..i cant wear nebody's tops...
Finally they decide upon the 'Shades of Black..'
G2 - What hairstyle are you planning to have ?? Free flowing hair ? or should we pin it up half way..??
G3 - And what about make-up kit ?
G1 - We wont wear shoes ya ?? it will hurt while dancing..and i might even slip...
And lots of blah and blah....
The conversation went on for about more than an hour..

GUYS :
B1 : Yaar dance mein kya pehnenge ?
B2 : umm..dekho abhi jisne jo bhi jeans pehni hai..wahi pehen lena..aur upar koi bhi dark colour ki t-shirt....waise bhi humein kaun dekhne wala hai yaar..sab ladkiyon ko hi dekhenge..ki farak penda ??
B1,B3,B4 - hahahaha...
And its done !!!

Phew !

This bhi this bhi That bhi !!

2007-02-23T22:14:00.000-08:00

Long hair ? Short hair ?..or Bald ?
Trip to Goa?Trip to Pondicherry ?..or Chill at home?
Take a chance? Dont take a chance?..or Forget the matter?
Traditional? Western?..or Fusion ?
Whisky? Rum?..or Fresh Lime soda water ?
Give up? Give in?..or Hold on?
Italian dish? Chinese dish?..or roadside panipuri?
Love him?Hate him?..or Just Ignore him ?
I do? I dont?..or....

We often come across questions where we want this bhi,this bhi and that bhi and more often than not only one is possible at a time and only one has to be chosen...

when we need to take decisions that could impact the next 5 minutes or the next 50 years of our life !

when you can only ask for suggestions but be solely responsible for the consequences !

when the fear of failure runs parallely with the desire and struggle to succeed..

when you know you are right,and yet so very wrong..

when you know you cant live without him, and yet aint sure if you can live with him all your life..

I read an article recently that said, 'Always follow your instinct while taking the decisions...whenever you are in two minds'. I tried doing it ..but well, that lead to an additional question of deciding which one is my thought by instinct and which one is the rational and logically thought one !! I always have to face such a deluge of questions full of dilemma, where it becomes difficult to decide upon one particular thing as both the things sound equally good or equally bad !! Lucky me, atleast i can ponder upon the ques with any of the minds...
I know a freind, who is always in a dilemma for one particular question..'Fart with a whistle or Fart with a Bang !!!!!!' and..ahem...poor guy doesnt have any option to use either of his minds in this case...;-)

Birthday Celebrations !!

2007-01-31T13:14:00.000-08:00

It was the best celebrated b'day at hyderabadwala home today..all 6 roomies were together for the first time to celebrate a b'day at home..all of us but the b'day girl just waiting for the clock to strike 12 ..well,that is what we thought untill Jigna-the birthday girl came out suddenly(she was supposedly sleeping,by the way) at quarter to 12,asking (or was she demanding??) everyone to wish her birthday...lol
Jigna was the lucky one..or may be the unlucky one..to have all of us together giving her the most dreaded b'day bumps !!
So at first, it was "The more the merrier" and soon after it became "The more the heavier"(No puns intended for a couple of roomies who belong to the so-called 'khate pite ghar ke' or 'Heavy' class )

All the roomies seemed to have enjoyed it so much that we decided to give bumps to each one of us as there was atleast one roomie missing in somebody or the other's b'day. Ohh it was fun !! Although it was,thankfully, much much milder as compared to the guys giving b'day bumps !

And can anyone miss CAKE on the birthday ??? Well..we did..lol
It had became a routine to make the b'day girl cut the cake,apply the cake on the face which she knows is going to happen and still pretends to escape from that, and say some supposedly funny dialogues that are too cliched to even pretend smiling at!

So we broke the rules and got what she loves the most ! ICECREAMS,FLOWERS AND CHOCOLATES!!!!!!!!
All in all,had a great time..after quite a long time(not really..we celebrated christmas in a fantastic way actually) we all shared the same jokes,giggled at the same gossip sitting together,wished for something common and looked forward to the same thing..ahem..party i mean..hehe
So here's wishing Happy Birthday to Jigna again !! :-)

Gandhigiri Works !

2007-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, it works ! An incontrollable freak as I am, I would be the second last person to prefer the Gandhigiri way to solve matters(Some of my freinds are already contesting for the 'last' position)...
But i experimented it on a leisure day(just in case things didn't work out the gandhigiri way, i would have had enough time to showcase my Hitlerism;-))

And it indeed works ! An egoist will definitely dislike doing it and it might even seem being submissive or giving in to the matter..also the time taken would be longer..but its worth the wait..as the realization in the other person that he/she might have gone overboard in doing something will just make you forget the whole matter,well almost,atleast the negative intensity of the matter gets reduced !
And well who wouldn't like a biiig hug in the end ?? ;-)

You Name it..n I got it !

2007-01-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

Stupid game of naming each other..but then a narcissist like me has all ears and eyes for such games..after all you get to hear what the other person thinks about you..just in one word(doesnt waste much time this way,you see ;-) and in case there is noone thinking about you,such games irritatingly force people to think ...
The only rule is it should be a one word name..(thats rilly good for people like me..avoids unnecessary verbal diarrhoea from other people who might be waiting for an opportunity to give all possible *Beep* *Beep* words in all possible languages..so..just one word and finish it off..lol)

And so it started..the name game..
And guess what names i got ???
All fantastic adjectives...like 'Beautiful,Hot,Brilliant,Genius,Intellectual,Sharp' (what names-wow-what names) were..ahem.. ruthlessly eliminated from the list of one n all.. instead all i got was ' Bubbly,Chulbuli,Nautanki,Nakhrali,Tubelight,Chashmis chachhu,Dumbo,Kiddo,Mischievious,Flirt'

Well, i believe they must be secretly playing some self-made game called 'Liar !Liar !' ..
And then i happened to read 'some interesting facts about birthdays' wherein each month is assigned to a chracteristics of human nature.. I am a Virgo..and so my chracteristics go like this..

AUGUST=FLIRT
You've got the best personality and are an absolute pleasure to be around. You love to makenew friends and be outgoing. You are a great flirt and more than likely have a very attractive partner, a wicked hottie. Like somebody with an August brithday. It is also more than likely that you have a massive record collection. When it comes to films, you know how to pick them and may one day become a famous actor/actress yourself - heck,you've got the looks for it!!!

Now this is what i call absolute truth ! Look at the words they have used..waah !waah !Famous actor(instead of nautanki)....you hav got the looks(instead of chasmi chachhu)..guess my freinds need a class on vocab :-P

Buh-Bye 2006 !

2007-01-03T02:44:00.000-08:00

One more year passed by...its amazing how we realize the worth of smthing only when we dont hav it nemore(or if we fear we might not have it later),be it permanently or temporarily...we hardly notice it when we know its there n we long for it when its nowhere to be seen...i hav learnt a lot in this last one year..n although i wud love to relive the special moments tht i had (n i had many)...i wud still not want to cling to it,partly coz i fear the few dull moments in my life n partly coz i get bored easily of the same experience !!! :D

So whts so special abt 2006 for me?? Well, here's the list y so...'

I CAN COOK !! Yes,i can cook..(most of the times,its edible too)
I hav learnt tht the tiny li'll paper of the size of the ruler can be your electricity bill, n tht one shud nevr throw it out,n i hav also learnt how to pay the bills (M i proud..lol)
I hav mastered my inherent Gossiping skills, thanks to a cpl of my roomies who can be considered the Gurus of this necessary evil for the gentler sex ( i wont use the word fairer..its racism..n ahem..not all the women are fair..now stop saying..mirror mirror on the wall)
I hav managed to get this devil-may-care attitude,or atleast pretend tht i hav got it..(smtimes i use it to bully the even more gentler species inhabiting the house)
Walking a mile = 10Rs in auto....so always prefer the later (social work+employment booster ..u see ;) )
I hav learnt tht one tumbler of water makes u a proud owner of the basic necessary material required for bathing ! Any extra tumbler means you're just plain lucky!!
If at all you board the wrong train..dont argue with the passengers for ur seat..if at all u do argue,dont ask the TC to resolve matter..if at all u do tht n the TC asks u to get down at the next station..GET THE HELL OUTTA TRAIN..before u're thrown out ...!!
Break-ups hav stopped surprising/amusing/saddening me..
Link-ups are the topics of gossip..no more no less..no surprise factor here too !
I hav stopped taking shit from ppl..to b precise..i can stand up for myself..this is one thing i m rilly rilly proud of !
I hav started believing in inter-caste marriages..this is the second thing i m proud of !
I hav made sm rilly good friends out here..who i wud want to remain as freinds in future too n not narrow down the relation to just aquaintances !
My ting list is active again !! (if you dunno whts ting list..u r certainly not my freind)
I hav realized the worth of my family more than nething else..having stayed far from there for the first time for the last whole year..

So u see..2006 year has taught me soo much..n the list is not yet over..its jus the overview..lol
n hence i happily bid adieu to 2006 n welcome 2007 !!
Wishing myself a chocolate filled, icecream loaded year to me !!
May friends bestow upon me all my favourite gifts !
~Amen ~

Blogging and me ??

2006-12-30T11:32:00.000-08:00

I dont rilly get the idea behind this 'personal-yet-public-diary'...blogging to be precise..
and as a self proclaimed net savvy person..i cant afford to leave this one area unexperimented..
so here i m !! Just to experiment !:-)