Musings Hub

His and her tale

2011-01-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

The meeting had a purpose, so respective families accompanied both of them. She saw him for the first time and thought ‘Really?’ His first thought was ‘Oh, we were on the same flight yesterday’. Of course none of them had a clue that they were going to meet the next day. (Btw if you have not yet figured it out, this was their first filmy moment!!)

As it happens in numerous such first time gatherings, general talk took over followed by food (the venue was a restaurant). After sometime someone realized that he and she should be left alone. So, their time finally came and then they talked and talked (he did most of it). For whatever reasons it did not work out and they went their separate ways to different cities. In their busy lives, everything was forgotten.

But destiny clearly had other plans for them, so it meant that their days as single were numbered. Out of the blue an email lands up in her inbox and as they say ‘the rest is history’. Then began a incredibly beautiful phase – she phoned, he phoned, she emailed, he emailed, she pinged and they chatted like there was no tomorrow! And finally they decided this is it! Different cities meant no more face to face meetings before the D-Day.

She left everything in God’s hand, but that lingering doubt somehow found its place in her mind, sometimes. Finally it was that day and everything happened almost smoothly. Hey...what kinda big day would be without some glitches that people could narrate and laugh their heads off till eternity! So, they had their share of stories from this day.

She was going to his home which was about a couple of hours away by road. The heavy jewelery, clothes, customs, rituals, etc took their toll on her. She stopped the car and puked her guts out. Not an ominous sign, they all thought, scratching their chin!!

He came to aid her and then when she sat on the backseat and he on the front seat – he just looked at her and a silent message passed between them amidst the mini crowd. This was the moment she knew that she had taken the right decision; they were made for each other!

Sometimes all that is needed is a nod or a smile from the right person at the right moment! This can change lives forever :D

The day when (almost) everything went wrong!

2010-04-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Well some things went right towards the evening, so that (almost) bit. By the end of the day, I was thinking if I had this story, back in my school days when we had to write never ending essays on the topic ‘The day everything went wrong’, it would have been a real help.

It was a Sunday, my uncle and aunt (in-laws) were scheduled to come to our house (my first meeting with them) they are pretty aged, uncle above 90 and aunt definitely over 85. Since morning I and hubby were busy trying to finish all our works, including cooking, so that we would be free, when they come in the evening, their flight was scheduled to land at 5 in the evening.

I was cooking lunch, dinner and also something for lunch the next day, as I could not miss office that day. Now just as I finished cleaning and chopping all the vegetable and started to cook, the first disaster struck, I ran out of gas cylinder…..I swear there were no advance warnings, suddenly the flame just went off and not matter what I tried, it just stove refused to light up again!!!

Getting a filled-up cylinder on a Sunday afternoon, is something almost unheard of! It was then my neighbor came to our rescue (god bless her!!) She gave me an electric heater, to temporarily (till I got a cylinder) take care of the cooking, so first disaster taken care of.well at least somewhat!

The next disaster was just lurking in the corner, waiting for its turn to happen. I was washing some utensils, and suddenly I felt as if I was standing in ankle deep water (well almost), a glance downwards confirmed my worst fear…the sink drain was clogged, so water flooded the kitchen. Within minutes, hubby and I were down on our knees and hands, trying to soak up the dirty water and dry up the kitchen…..ugh, what a disaster.

After that things were strangely calm, but little did we realize that it was the lull before the storm, alas!!! We were sinking into a comfort zone now, thinking what else could go wrong now. We reached the airport 10 minutes before 5, bought 2 passes to get inside. The display board inside said, the flight from Silchar (that’s where they were coming from, on their way to Dhaka) had arrived. We waited for about 30 minutes, still no sign of them, anywhere. The luggage counter was right in front of us, so absolutely no chance that they are still collecting their luggage.

Now, we were seriously worried…..there was absolutely no sign of them and the board continued to flash that the flight has arrived. So, we decided I would go out and look for them, while hubby will try to find them inside (they did not have a phone with them). I was made at least 5 rounds to and from the domestic airport to international, which took at least 5-7 minutes, every time. We kept calling each other over the phone repeatedly, but so signs of them. Just then my father-in-law called, but I did not have the nerve to take his call. I mean what do, I tell him...hello, we can’t find your brother and sis-in-law; well I simply did not have the nerve to do so.

After another half an hour, hubby came out and we made some other rounds again, domestic-international-domestic-international….it was almost never ending. We thought they must be nearby, but…!!!!

Finally I spotted them coming out of the airport, grinning widely…..after about an hour! Apparently the flight was late, but those idiots at the airport never bothered to correct the display messages….uffffffff!!! Thankfully we brought them back home and things were pretty much ok after that, but we had more than our share for the day!!!

Money Trouble……..When I fell short by a mere rupee!!!

2009-11-26T07:40:00.000-08:00

When I first read a Mills & Boons novel, I was simply blown over like any other starry eyed teenager. I had seen many novels and heard many a stories from friends, but I never actually bought one for a long time. The cover pictures that I saw warned me in advance that my folks are definitely not going to like me reading one of those books…..but the lure of the forbidden was just too much to resist, so I decided to buy my first Mills & Boons, I was perhaps in class 7 or 8….. :-))
Now arranging for money was the tough part, surreptitious inquiries revealed I needed 50 bucks for this! Back in those days, getting hold of 50 rupees was kind of impossible! So my partner-in-crime, my younger sister decided to pool all the savings we had. We searched all our secret hiding places, all the piggy banks were emptied and all we could manage was 29 Rs….sigh!

We then sat down and began scratching our heads, splitting our hair to find a solution to THE biggest problem of our lives at that point of time…..we just needed 31 bucks more and we could lay hand on that DREAM BOOK….ohhhh so near yet so far!!!! BINGO….suddenly I remembered about twenty rupees that I had inside one of my long forgotten books. Wow…..I finally had the money to buy the novel….well that was what I thought before I counted the total money…!!!!

It was exactly 49 Rs…..unbelievable and total filmy, but I swear this is exactly how it had happened! And finding that 1re took eternity…..in fact I remember we could manage the one rupee only on the next day. Whenever I muse about this incident, it never fails to bring a smile to my face and give a tug at all my heartstrings! We all have our personal filmy moments in our lives I guess…..Finally we did manage the fifty bucks and the excuse to go out of the house to buy the book was an innovative (according to me) ‘I want to go to a friend house in the neighborhood, her family is moving out of Kohima’....hehehe!!!

I remember the protagonists of the story were named Mel and Jade…….and probably the name of the novel was Man Trouble….well in my case it was no man trouble at all, it was plain and simple money trouble….:P

Awri's Story.....at last!

2009-10-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

The first blow hit her just as she was bending down to pick up the broom! Stunned, she whirled around to see what or who had hit her and her sight rested on Awri! He was a good for nothing drunkard, did small works during the day and with the little money that he earned; he drank his day’s share of daru in the evening. She did not know how to react…..Awri regularly used to beat up his wife, but this was certainly the first time he had hit her!

Before she could fully stand erect…more blows landed all over her fragile body. “What the hell is wrong with you, why are you hitting me”, she shouted! But there was no relief….he now picked up the broom and started hitting her and abusing her! Her screams brought out the others of the family and they were stunned by the sight….“what the hell are you doing, have you gone mad?” shouted his mother!

He was taken aback.....no body had ever dared to shout at him, but today everybody were shouting at him, even his meek wife......what was happening?? He tried to focus on the people around him and figure out what the fuss was all about! After a few moments it hit him and hit him really hard, he almost reeled with the affect.....he was hitting his elder brother's wife instead of his wife...huh so much for trying to tame his wife while he was drunk!!!

Btw this is based on a real incident, the names have of course been changed!

Still reeling with disbelief!!

2009-10-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

I was in the midst of one of those moments when words magically flow in your mind! I was in the middle of writing an incident about Awri that had cropped up in mind just a few moments ago, I was typing furiously…….did not want out to miss out on a single thought! And then the most unlikely thing happened to me…!!!

Suddenly I heard a sound ‘Plop!!’…..something accompanied with a foul smell (ughhhh) fell on the floor just next to me. Actually it has brushed my arm on its journey to the ground. Automatically my sight traveled towards the floor….initially I could not make out what it was. After sometime realized it was some kind of shit…….still I was not very sure. I mean what kind of shit hits you inside your room??!!!

Automatically I looked up and saw a lizard looking down at me with a grin and seemed to say ‘awrite it was me’. Instantly all thoughts flew out of my mind……actually for the next few minutes, not even a single thought or legible sentence about Awri came to my mind.

So, now here I am writing about lizard shit instead of the drunkard Awri about whom I had sat down to write in the first place! The so called “writer’s block” (not sure if it applies to lesser mortals like me…sigh!) had hit me many times….but lizard shit bringing about the proverbial writer’s block was certainly a first for me….huh! I still can’t believe it….done in by LIZARD SHIT!!!

PS……I guess Awri’s story will take some more time!!!

The Rickshaw Van!

2009-10-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

At first sight I was not very sure how people could comfortably sit on it.....but as soon as I sat on one I fell in love with it! The 'Rickshaw Van' is such a delight to ride on when you are surrounded by beautiful greenery all around! The ride through Bakkhal village on a rickshaw van is a completely out of the world experience! I was wondering what is so different about this ride....I mean the landscapes are pretty similar to the ones I see back home in Assam? About 2 minutes into the ride I got the answer.....its the ride coupled with the gentle evening breeze in a distant land, with beautiful low roof huts, greenery all around, the pollution free air topped with of course great company!!

Just tuck in you legs or spread it out if you wish (there is more than enough space) or better still you can lie down if you wish and see the sky......it is a beautiful sight! The conversation with the Rickshaw Van wala about his livelihood, family, village, food and everything made it even more memorable. The people in Bakkhal are a hardworking lot....they are either out with their fishing trawlers catching fishes...or driving rickshaw van taking tourist on a sight seeing spree of the village.....during winter they collect dates (Khejur) and make gur (jagerry)...then they have the land to cultivate...build or repair their huts whenever needed.....they are busy throughout the year!

Bakkhal is such a pleasant and lovely place, that you will immediately fall in love with it. So if anyone happens to go there in their own vehicle.....I recommend they take a rickshaw van for seeing the village.....it is such a joy and you do not know what you are missing.....that is if you do not try it out! Watching the sunset from the beach is simply amazing.....you can just laze around in the beach or go and get completely drenched in the waters......it is such a stress buster, nothing like it!

Caught in a downpour

2009-09-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Angry strong winds lased out as if to say 'enough of the heat'......and the rains followed soon after! The drops came down heavily, furiously and non - stop. Those who were caught off guard thought might as well get drenched and enjoy the downpour.....some were more mindful, didn't want to catch a cold in this festive season, the swine flu scare was also working on their mind!

The chaiwala and chatwala were surrounded.....some wanted a hot cup in the rain, some wanted a spicy plate of chat, others just needed temporary shelter from the angrily lashing rains. We ran out in the rain, got completely drenched and by the time we resembled wet crows......we went to the chatwala's temporary shed.

We hailed one taxi after the other....but none was willing to take us home. All our gadgets was secure inside a plastic bag.......running out in the rain after every couple of minutes was so much fun! A girl decided this is the best time to sell her book....she was constantly running after people trying to show her book, but no one seemed interested!

Rains should soak you to the skin.......to me an umbrella has always been a useless accessory!!!

Drawing dread

2009-08-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

As a kid I used to dread that I will fall behind a year just because I could not draw, I was terrible at it! Erratic heartbeats, sweaty palms, palpitations, butterflies in my stomach, feeling like going to the loo every five minutes….I can compile an entire list of things I used to feel in my body as the drawing exams approached. I was always an average student, not a very big fan of either mathematics or science, but I used to score pretty decent marks there which were usually about 50 or 60, but drawing was a sheer terror!

Stick figures were my saving grace if at all I had to draw any human figure. I remember the assignments of the drawing exams that year required us to draw the scene in our school playground during the lunch break. Now what on earth could a poor soul like me draw, my hands used to shiver even when I attempted to draw a straight line! Stick figures were clearly not going to work here…

I can imagine a thousand things in my mind, but to translate them into pictures by drawing is beyond me, I just cannot do it! I remember frantically looking around, trying to peep into my friend’s paper to see how to go about doing it. After about 1 hour, my paper was practically blank! I was sure that I would be detained in that class (I was in class 5) and I was sweating profusely!

Suddenly a classmate who was sitting nearby took pity on me and offered to draw for me. But then I did not know how to react, Moral Science classes always taught me cheating in exams was a bad thing to do. After giving a lot of thought to the biggest dilemma in my life at that point of time, I decided to pass on the paper to my friend. I reasoned I will pray to god a thousand times ask for his forgiveness, god understands everything and he is all forgiving after all.

Undoubtedly one of the happiest moments in my life as a kid was when I learnt that there would be no more drawing exams for me to pass! Sometimes I just sit and think of all the things that we dread as a kid and all the innocence that goes with it. The more I think about it, the more I miss being a child and my childhood!!

Some Judgment, huh…@#%#$!!

2009-07-22T00:31:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court yesterday gave the verdict that a mentally challenged girl who is pregnant (after being raped) can give birth to the child and it is the responsibility of the state to look after the baby. Apparently she was raped by two caretakers of the shelter house in Chandigarh where she was kept by the STATE. Hell they could not even come up with the name of the father of the baby and the court expects that the state will look after the child!

The counsel for the victim apparently pleaded "A child is not allowed to be born; a woman has to come to the court with a plea to allow her to have her baby". When pointed out to the judges that the victim is not in a position to take care of her and is unable to understand the concept of pregnancy and subsequent birth of a baby, the judgment said “Nature has its own methodology”, ya rite!!

According to psychiatrists her mental age is between seven and nine years with an IQ of children in that age group. I wonder how her counsel came to the conclusion that the victim wants the child to be born! How can the STATE take care of the victim and its child when she was raped in the very institution where the STATE had put her in!

I am scared very scared to think what will happen now both to the mother and the child. What future will the child have? What is the guarantee that the victim will not be raped again by a sick pervert? What happens to the person who raped her? Will all this madness and chaos ever stop???

Ahhhh that feeling…..

2009-05-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

I must have been in class 3 or 4…….don’t remember exactly! All I remember is this happened while I was studying in the neighborhood school where I studied till class 4 before getting admitted to LFS. The teacher was talking about India’s neighboring countries in the Social Studies class. The conversation naturally veered towards the President and Prime Minister of those countries.

“Who is the Prime Minister of Pakistan?” she asked the girl sitting in the front bench. Not having a clue about the answer, she stared mutely at the teacher. Not getting a reply, she asked the next girl and got a similar response. She got blank stares from all the students she put the question to.

I was sitting the back bench….( I was a backbencher for most of my school life) I knew the answer, so I was waiting for my turn, but I never expected that none of the students in the class could come up with the correct answer. It was around that time that the then PM of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was in news…..probably she was elected the first women PM of Pakistan or something like that!

When my turn came, I answered the question. Even after my answering it, nobody in the class could get it right. The teacher told the class…..It is shocking, in a class of about 50 she is the only one who could answer the question correctly. So from today onwards she is the queen and all of you are her slaves…..:), you will listen to whatever she tells you….the teacher made the whole class stand the entire period and I was the only one sitting down, naturally I could not stop my ear to ear grin!!!

Ahhh…the joy and pride that I felt then nothing has ever matched up to my feelings of that day till date. But I live in the hope that someday something bigger might happen that might surpass all the feelings that I had experienced that day…!!!

Country under siege!!!

2008-11-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

I don't know what I am feeling at this point of time......I have become numb....it has been 2 days now to this madness! I felt so ashamed to see the CM on television channels claiming that about 20 terrorists came on speedboats and entered the city.....what was the Government doing?? What kind of security measures do they have in place for people like us, where do we go, whom do we turn to for support? As a layman all I understand is they have been elected by people like us and we pay taxes to them.....the least we can expect from them is to to be secured and move around freely!

It is time for all of us to wake up.....after every terrorist attack be it in Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Gujarat or any other part of the country all I had heard and have been hearing is the so called 'Resilient' spirit of the people. I have never understood this resilience and have no intention of understanding it! How long will people ignore all this....till it strikes close home, till someone we know or love is a victim? I don't know if this post is making any sense.....honestly I don't even care, I am just putting down whatever is coming to my mind!!!

I have always refrained from from making general statement about people......but now I think I can safely say that all politicians are a 'bunch of losers' who have no morals! All they want is votes...trust them to come up with an ad the next day blaming the other party for all that is happening!! I just can't understand that how can a group of 20 odd people kill, injure or take over 500 people hostage.....how can they hold an entire city to ransom? Any person walking down the road knows that situations are not ideal this days and the so called professionals claim that they did not have intelligence information about terrorists attacks on Mumbai.....what kind of information are they looking for....someone calling them up up and telling them 'hello...we are going to attack this place at this time?'...@#$%@#$....is this the intelligence they are waiting for??

I have so many things to say.....but I just can't find the words to put here......It pains me, makes me angry, makes me sad, make me feel frustrated, helpless and makes me very very scared..... How long will this madness go on, is there no end in sight???

Lessons from my debut!!

2008-11-03T02:55:00.000-08:00

It has almost been four years in Delhi, but somehow or the other I always missed out on watching a cricket match at Kotla. I guess there is a time for everything and my time had not yet come till of course the 1^st of Nov, 2008. I made my debut in watching cricket matches on the ground!!! Entry glitches was bad......they don't allow cameras inside if you are an Indian! Yes, if you are a foreigner with white skin or any other you can take a camera and click away to glory!!!

I asked the security guys why was camera not allowed inside?? He says it is possible to blow up a stadium with the memory chip in a digital camera..!!! But I just fail to understand what made them think that foreigners will not think of blowing up the place...weired!!! My friend had a wonderful idea, he said just drop the camera in the bag of the Aussie guy standing in the Q....once inside we can just take it from him....huh so much for security!!!

Poor me and my friend, we did not have a car.....so had no choice but to deposit our cameras in a room just outside the stadium!! How much we asked?? 200 bucks for two cameras..!! The guy said this is just a small price you have to pay for keeping your expensive stuff with us for a few hours!! Thats not all, he wanted the money then and there!! I said see we are keeping your camera with you and we are definitely coming back to get it, you can take the money then. In case we do not come to get it, you can always keep the camera and only then he agreed to take the money at the end of the day!!

Two important lessons learnt from watching the match at Kotla....first dye my hair blond or some other exotic colour, speak with an accent and dress casually like tourists..... it will get an entry to the stadium with a camera without any questions asked!! Second get a room on rent real close to the stadium.....you can easily pocket 3000 to 5000 bucks on a match day by keeping cameras for a few hours!!

I am mulling what to do before the next match is played here!!!

Guys n gals any suggestions on this!!???

Mantyhose....ewww!!

2008-10-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

Ok....this report is lifted straight from TOI, I circulated it among some colleagues and friends and got some very interesting responses. Just wanted some more views on this, so put it up here.

My take on this, it is plain revolting....ewww, what happened to manliness!! As Sukanya aptly puts it 'since when did guys begin to have great legs, Huhhhh???' The pictures were too revolting to put here....people have threatened to kill me for that :(

Here goes the report,

Mantyhose: A must-have for men

Men have invaded ladies' fashion domain a little further, for after 'man-bras' and 'manscara' the latest must have for men is "mantyhose." "Mantyhose"or pantyhose for men have become a popular sheer garment from truck drivers to cowboys.

A self confessed male hosiery-wearer, Harisnya is so passionate about the issue he set up e-MANcipate, a website which he says aims to "accelerate the acceptance of male pantyhose as a regular clothing item".

The website offers men a step-by-step guide on how to wear pantyhose without damaging it. Harisnya declares that the website, based in the United Kingdom, is "as serious as fashion can be". He is adamant that both males and females should be allowed to wear the sexy sheer garment.

"Men have great legs and hosiery is a great way to show them. It's quite practical in some ways. It prevents chafing, for example, when horse riding or cycling, but it's also a good alternative to bulky underwear if you need some warmth,"News.com.au quoted Harisnya, as saying.

"Going to work on a cold autumn day in regular trousers with 20 denier hose underneath helps to avoid getting cold. Plus you won't ever have to worry about loosing or matching your socks. It's fun, but no joke,"he added.

The men's pantyhose come with a "male comfort panel"that better fits a man's shape, and sometimes offers a convenient fly opening.

Harisyna's love of pantyhose is backed up by testimonials from truck drivers who swear by nylon hosiery for its circulation benefits and cowboys who don them under their Levi's for warmth.

He believes that men's pantyhose is an easy way to dress differently.

"Not all men like to hide in grey uniformed clothes. It's an easy way to dress differently, pairing the colour or pattern of your pantyhose to the rest of your clothes just like you do with the colour or pattern of your tie.

"It's relatively easy, too, as hosiery goes easily with almost every kind of shorts and shoes,"he said.

The e-MAN-cipate campaign is the push for companies to produce pantyhose made specifically for men.

"Don't buy female pantyhose at all. Don't strengthen those companies who don't produce/sell male pantyhose. Buy male pantyhose. Do help with your purchasing power to those who are on your/our side,"said the website.

The GREAT rivalry !!!

2008-09-02T01:51:00.000-07:00

My earliest memories about the rivalry are from my school days.....so it was school vs school. My school Little Flower School (a girls school) was of course the best and all the guys wanted to be seen with LFS gals!!! We on the other hand thought that kids in the other school (DBS, KES, etc....) were big time losers....any inter-school contest had to be won by our school, more so if it was a beauty contest!!! We had to hog the limelight at all the youth festivals with with our charming/graceful/elegant hostesses, singers and potential models in the fashion show segment....it was huge fun!!!

Within school rivalries were just between the sections. So, if you were in section A, then section B gals had to be the over smart and dumb ones! Back then, it used to feel that this was the biggest thing in life, your entire life used to revolve around that.....if only we knew the truth!! In college the rivalry was of course between the students of the arts section against the students from the commerce, science sections. Everybody used to guard with a hawk's eye, one mistake and students were scarred for life....:)

When I joined the university the rivalry was between departments. Mass Communication was the most sought after department, apparently it was the most glamorous deptt..! Of course the computer science deptt was kind of an unspoken enemy......funny cause I have many good friends from that deptt. I remember once during the social week, I had a huge fight with my friend Rocky over something very very trivial!!!

After that we were not on talking terms for about 2 or 3 months!!! Now when I sit back and think about it all that comes to my mind is what an absolute waste!!! All my very good friends are either from the other section in school and college or from the other departments in university. Thats not to say that I do not have gr8 friends from my section and department....!!!!

I am sure all of have gone through all this or are still going through these rivalries, if you are a student till now!!! It is extremely emotional while it lasts, amusing when you think about it later and definitely brings the smile back on your face....:):)

Glorifying terrorism...???

2008-06-09T21:58:00.001-07:00

The front page headline in Times of India this morning saya 'Jehadis may get nukes, warns PM'....it caught my attention no doubt! So, I read the report very carefully word by word, thrice! And I did not find the mention of the word Jehadi even once in the story....yes there was mention of how the PM was worried about the country's nukes falling to the wrong hands, read terrorists. The report says that the PM 'sounded a chilling warning about the dangers of nuclear technology falling into the "dangerous hands" of terrorists and called for greater vigil'.......

I very much endorse the PMs view and ya if it falls into wrong hands, the consequences will be disastrous, no doubt. But I have certain issues about the headline and the story. Jehad is an Arabic word that means Holy War and jehadis are those who wage the war. So, is Times of India trying to say that terrorism is a holy war, by calling the terrorists jehadis?? Did the PM actually use the word Jehadis in his speech.....I was not present there nor did I see it on TV, so I do not know what exactly was said by the PM (I have a feeling that the word was not used...) Or did the reporter think that the word Jehadi will aptly describe terrorists??

Just because some morons use the name of religion to justify their evil acts does not mean that the entire world should accept that!! Those morons can name their act as Jihad, Honour Killing and such other names, but at the end of the day if the media and the public endorse the terms used, is it not showing acceptance about the whole thing at some levels?? I really do not understand the why that word was used in the first place. Terrorism has no religion....thats what everybody says....but the use of this word in the front page of the leading English daily of the country certainly does not reflect so!!

Bundle of joy......

2008-06-04T02:08:00.000-07:00

I am on cloud nine these days.....the next generation of my family has arrived!!! My niece (brother's daughter) came to the world on 2nd of June at about 11 in the night. Right from the moment I came to know that Bhabi was expecting, I was wishing from the bottom of my heart for a daughter....now my prayers are answered!!! Everyone in the family is extra excited these days days!!!

All of us came with with our own choice of names and now we have more than 10 names to choose from.....bhaiya will have to draw a name out of the hat....she is going to be the 1st one in the family to be named through draw of lots!!!

My choice of names are Riffat (high).....Falak (star) and Nayyab (very rare, exclusive)....will have to wait and see if any of these names come out of the hat or not. All of us were looking for names that start with S, Z, T,P...definitely not with A.....we have had enough of being the first one in the line for exams, viva, injections, practicals and many other unpleasant things....we don't want that for her!!!

Definitely not looking for a daaknaam, specially after all I had written about daaknam's in one of the postings.....but I guess she will invariably end up having one. One of my friend rightly puts it by saying daaknaam's are so much part of our culture.....somewhere or the other one is bound to spring up!!!

Welcome to the family....here is wishing her a very happy, successful and adventurous life ahead....go girl, the world out there is waiting for you, make us all very PROUD of you!!!

Getting even with a narcissist.....

2008-05-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

Some people live under the illusion that the world owes its existence to them, I have done this.....I have done that......had it not been for me ....blah blah blah!!! I had to interview this guy (professional hazard you see!!!!) and once he started shooting from his lips, he was not stopping. Trust me even a tsunami, earthquake....nothing could have dented him. I was sitting there wondering how on earth can someone actually say something like that????

The day did not start very well for me, got a vehicle that sucked big time in the heat to reach the place. Finding out the place took a lot of time.....well if this much time needed to find out a WORLD FAMOUS location, I never even want to be famous, forget about being world famous!!! Mister Big Shot.... was not in by the time me and my colleague landed there....guess you do not qualify to be a big shot till you keep people waiting to meet you without any evident reasons.

Sample of some of the things he blabbered about......he runs an organization and on being about expansion plans to other cities, his response was 'people go to worship religious places, those places never come to people'. All people those who matter in Bollywood miraculously are associated with him, in other words owe their staggering success to him alone.....what would we ever do without Bollywood, huh!!!

He had the gall to claim that certain areas in the city were planned and developed by him.....they were just very thick jungles before he actually decided to take pity on us mortals and plan out that place. Next he started rattling 'out of the world' figures to put across his success story.......and in between all this crap talk he complemented me on my looks......so now you can guess where his concentration was all this time!!! No I am not even getting there about his crap......I have heard better compliments in my life!!!

After about a week of this disastrous interview, I was traveling with my brother. It was extremely hot and I was not feeling well, so I drank tender coconut water from one of the roadside vendors......suddenly I had a wicked idea and I did not throw the outer covering of the tender coconut water after I had finished drinking. We has to pass through the area that the man had claimed he planned and developed.........once inside the place, I asked my brother to slow down the car and I actually dumped the coconut husk just in front of his building.....yes, I did it.........ohhhhh! It felt so good, just can't tell you how much.

So, next time you are really pissed at someone and cannot do anything about it, trying doing this.....it gives you a kick, a heady feeling I must say.....just throw caution to the winds....... do it and ya do lemme know how it feels afterwards!!!

Caught off-guard....completly

2008-05-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

The shirt with multi-coloured fishes printed all over suddenly, caught her attention, it fascinated her.......she examined it for sometime and asked me why the fishes are out of water and not moving! I told her they were printed, so doesn't make a difference anyway! 'Huh....as if printing things makes all the difference', she muttered....clearly I failed to convince her.

Now she wanted to know why was the second shelf in the cloth rack empty.! 'To let kids get inside and play', I said...... she wanted to get inside and see for herself. I warned her, if you get inside once you cannot come out. She was going out with her family, so she decided not to risk going in....

She wanted to know where was I headed, I said the same place where she was. 'I am going bowling', she declared, daring me, now what do you have to say? 'I will go with you' I said.....'do you know what it is and how is it done' was written all over her face. I had absolutely no clue about any blowing alleys in Delhi.....I bet she read my confused expressions!!!

Suddenly she had another thought, how will you go there? 'I will go with you' I said.........no chance she counters, papa is driving, mama sits next to papa, dadi, Puneet bhaiya, Rishu and I sit at the back, so there is no space for me! She has a valid point here, so I suggest she I can take her place and she can sit on my lap. No ways she says....kids do that!

I suggested that I could follow her in another car. She looked around for sometime searching for some divine intervention to keep me out of her plans with her family........... .and suddenly she had it!!!! She turned and told me why don't you get inside the clothes rack........huh, serves me right for so much of arguing and putting ideas into a kid's mind....!!!!!

Btw...never got across asking her name!!!

Boundaries across bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens

2008-04-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Going back home to my paternal place in Assam in the month of November/ December used to be an annual occasion that I used to relish in those days. Playing in the fields with my cousins and other kids till it becomes dark, relatives pampering you as if you have descendant from some other land, those impromptu picnics aha.....those were the days. Gone are those days now, today I hardly find time to spend with my parents as we stay in separate cities. Someday I am going to write a description about those memorable picnics that we used to have!!!

My paternal place is located very near the India - Bangladesh border. Once when I was visiting there the Commandant of the BSF battalion that was posted there came to meet us. Apparently he was my father's student when he used to teach in a college at Nagaland, he took us on a tour of the border. It was a once in a lifetime experience for many of us. So, about 15 of us consisting of cousins, aunts, uncles, brother-in-laws decided to go and see those places near the border.

I came across a very strange house during the trip. There was this house where two brothers lived with their families, and the dividing line between the two countries ran right in the middle of the house. So, you have one brother who is an Indian and the other brother who is a Bangladeshi legally living under the same roof. One family's kitchen is in India, dinning room and loo in Bangladesh, and bedroom again in India and vice versa. So, what you get to do if you stay there sometime is cook in B'desh, eat in India, sleep and shit in B'desh or it could be the other way round depending on which brother's family you are staying with!

I was awed on seeing this and it actually took some to sink in. Trust me when you are actually standing in that house, you will just be overwhelmed. There was a stump like erection in the middle of the house which is supposed to be the demarcating line between the two countries. I never got another opportunity to go back and visit that house. This time when I go back home and if I find time to visit my paternal place, I will definitely go and visit that house. It has been more than 5-7 years since I saw that house, I just want to see if anything has changed with time in that house.

Today when there is so much talk about borders, countries, division and violence in the name of country religion, cast and creed it actually feels surreal to come across something like this. I am sure both the brothers have their own share of dislikes, tiffs and fights but they live together in 1 house as citizens of two countries, it actually feels good to know about something like this!!!

The Mystery of Spices.....

2008-04-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Delving deep into things has this ability to throw up surprises that you never really apprehended. This happened to me while I tried probing about the mystery of spices!! Did you ever think that there could be more to garlic, than being a spice that gives you a foul breath? Definitely not the right recipe if you are about to embark on a romantic evening with your partner! If you thought so, you are mistaken.....the Greeks and Egyptians believe garlic to be aphrodisiac and whats more, even modern science has seconded that through research.

This is not the part of any research paper, rather a movie brought these things and many other things to light for me! I was watching The Mistress of Spices and came across many interesting uses and qualities of spices that I never knew before, except probably for very few of them. I simply loved the movie just because of the way the properties of various spices were described. I have tired to put down some of them in here......

Chandan: - to erase bad memories
Til :- is a nourisher
Garlic : acts as an aphrodisiac
Saffron : attracts love
Cinnamon : helps in making friends
Kalo Jeera (black cumin seeds) : protects against the evil eye
Bharmi oil : cools down the entire system
Meethi(Fenugreek) : gives strength
Ajwain(carom seeds or bishop's weed) : builds up confidence
Fennel (Saunf) : perseverence
Hing (Asefoetida) : antidote of love
Tulsi (Basil) : for remembrance
Crushed Prishniparni burnt with lotus roots in the evening could bring back someone who is estranged
Powdered almond and keasr boiled with milk : for sweet words and remembering love buried under anger
Neem leaf : it is an anti-septic
Mustard seed : to send someone away from you
Cardamon : is to bind true love
Rendi oil from castro : to massage in joint pains and arthritis
Black pepper (with lime soda) : brings out your deepest secrets in the open
Lotus root: is for a lifetime of deep loving.......

The various ingredients used in supari are due to certain qualities present in them. The supari is for intoxication, the shreeded cocount is for uttering sweet words, the fennel seeds aid in digestion and the cardamon is to make words last forever. Of course, all those mentioned spices must be taken in certain quantities in combination with certain spices and at a certain time to get these results. So, the next time you need to dig a secret out from someone you could try serving lime soda with black pepper. You might just get lucky with this not so well known secret recipe...!!!

Lethargy, cell phone, ring tones et al.....

2008-03-06T01:49:00.000-08:00

Zzzz...Zzzz...Zzzz....feeling very sleepy today, don'y know why!!! Feeling lethargic.....may be the ascent of summer in the horizon is the cuplrit. A colleague got married last night, so half the people in office turned up by mid day today. Lost my phone two days back, I was going to the market to meet some friends. When I got out of office had the phone with me, probably dropped it while I was getting in the rickshaw....pocket trouble you see. No there was no hole in it, but sometimes things just drop from the pocket of that particular trouser.

After I reached the market, about 5 mins from my office....put a hand in my pocket and its gone!!! The first few moments I did not know what to do, couldn't go back to office, couldn't call up anybody.....felt utterly lost and alone without my phone. Had a haunch that my friends will be in the pastry shop, so just headed in that direction and fortunately found them there. Next, called up the customer care guys and told them to block my number and dispatch a new SIM card. This just made me wonder how dependent we have become on our cellphones.

It was not very long ago that all of us used to know phone numbers by heart...well there were actually very few numbers for us to remember.

Today the scene is completely different, just show me 1 person who does not have a cell phone.....anybody and everybody has it. Back in my hometown cell phones were not actually a fad say about 2 years ago. Trust me I did not know anything about operating one and had very limited knowledge about its functions. Of course I knew you could make and receive call with it from anywhere....but thats about it.

When I was first coming to Delhi I got in touch with a friend through email and she asked me to come over to her place and stay for sometimes. Most of the communication was done via emails and she gave me her phone number as well. She knew the dates when I would be travelling, but had asked me to call her when I was starting from there. So, decided to call her up.....and when I dialed her number instead of the traditional sound of a phone ring, all I got to hear hear was the song Purani Jeans aur Guitar....my first thoughts were, there was some kind of cross connection and my call had reached some other place, so disconnected immediately!!!

Tried to call again...still the same result and this happened for about 3-4 times. So not knowing what else to do, just thought will go ahead with my trip. She knew about the dates, so my guess was she will be there to receive me. Throughout the journey I was worried if I could not find her..... had some other numbers as well...so if I am in any trouble, I can easily call up some other friend. Finally, when I landed in Delhi, tried calling her again and this time decided to actually find out who picks up the call. She did pick up the call and it was then I realized that the song Purani Jeans was not due to any cross connection or something, it was the ringtone!!!

So much for my lack of knowledge about cell phones, caller tunes and ring tones!!! Got a new phone today , got back contacts of people who matter to me......but let me tell you 2 days without a phone seemed like never ending. How things have changed with mobile phones and other technology....how much I have changed from the time I landed in Delhi till now.... I have all the important contacts now with me saved in a Google document, will get a ring tone soon and probably a dial tone as well....everything is indeed changing!!!! Ezra Pound said 'there is no reason why the same man should like the same books at eighteen and forty-eight'. Change is after all the only constant thing in life.....

Bye bye hibernation, Hello blogging.......

2008-02-26T01:48:00.000-08:00

Its been a very long time since my post.....actually can't even remember when I last posted without taking a reference. I was not buried deep with work that I did not have time for blogging, had access to internet at all times and the pc was at my disposal but don't know why I was not doing this! Seriously, I have been thinking why this was happening to me and trust me, I could not come up with any satisfactory explanation.

I have been thinking about many topics and they just remained in the 'pipeline'. In fact I had written and rewritten them endless number of times......but all in my mind. Somehow, they never materalized...but thats now gonna change. Pensativo, I have finally decided to listen to your tic tic tic and actually come out of the hibernation!!!

I am often asked questions about my blog, how I got about wirting it, why I write and don't I feel uncomfortable writing out a virtual diary online. I understand that there are strangers reading this blog, but I don't think that I'hv written anything out of this world. Stories about going live on air, a schoolday fiasco, expriences in an airport, bidding farewell to a friend who will never come back, funny and interesting incidents that keep on happening all the time.......and I am sure this happens to everbody.

So if I put these things up in my blog I do not see any harm in it. At the most what will happen is that, may be I will end up making new friends through this and I don't mind that. I also pretty much like the fact that people that I have never met, never heard of and possibly will never meet actually read my blogs and put comments too!!!! Oh...its a heady feeling and actually thats what keeps me going...:)

Stranger in your own backyard

2007-12-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

The feeling of nostalgia and the feeling of being a stranger, in surroundings that you were once dead familiar with have a bizarre connection. I found this out the hard way…went to my Alma Mater; Assam University after about 2 years, just wanted to reconnect and try to have a feel of things as they used to be. First, the university is completely unrecognizable these days…with constructions going on all around the campus. The entrance gate is beautifully erected, and with all the security there, makes you feel that you are in some new place. During my days the facilities were not that good, but things definitely look bright for juniors.

It was pouring heavily that day, perhaps an indication of things to come. I went to my department, anticipating many things. There were lots of students filling in and out of classrooms, but none of the faces were recognizable. But that’s understandable given the fact that everyone has moved on, and new people have come to take over. A new lab has come up in the room where we used to sit and belt out the latest chartbusters at the top of our voices. It suddenly felt as if I was in some other place and I had never been there before. Change they say is the permanent thing in life and things surely are changing. None of the professors or lecturers was present in the department and the people from the support staff were also missing that day.

The very nook and corner that we used to lord over once suddenly seemed unknown and unreachable, new people have entered there. My attempt to feel and savor what my classmates and me had at one point of time fell flat. I just went around the department trying to see the places where we used to hang out, where we used to have classes and where we grew up. Yes, there were traces of my memories and that was enough for me. This is the place where I spent the best 2 years of my life. The place that brought in lots of fun, laughter, tears, frustration, misery, joy, failure and success in my life.

Whatever little I have achieved today professionally, I owe that all to this department of mass communication located in this remote place. This is a special place and even though none of the students here recognize me here, the traces of memories that I could find here is a pleasant feeling. It’s an eerie feeling to actually go and see that your territory has been taken over and you are a stranger in your own backyard…but it is worth the effort of just going there and having a glimpse of the place.

Naam ar daaknaam

2007-10-26T05:41:00.000-07:00

Angur, khajur, biscuit, bedana, submarine, poltu, laddu, bui......do not try to find any similarity among all these, you may not find any!! These are some of the weired naam and daaknaam that I have come across, trust me I do not want to be in the shoes of all these people, no matter how happy, how rich or how famous they are!!! For all those who have not seen The Namesake, 'daaknaam' is 'nickname' in Bengali. Imagine being stuck with such names and nicknames for your entire life....

There was this person called Fedai..... and he was famous by that name. Once someone wanted to send a wedding invite to him and we could not find out his real name or his so called 'good name'!!!! Everyone knew him by his bad name :) and the poor guy got the invite in that name.

How can I forget the most intriguing daaknaam I have ever come across....there are two guys named Azir in my mama's place.... I do not know why one is known as Poison Azir and the other is known as Danger Azir. The first time I heard those names I thought both were criminals and perhaps one had poisoned someone to death..... and the other one must have must have made a bomb go off somewhere.... hmm those were the only reasons I could think of! The truth was an absolute bouncer to me, apparently both are well behaved gentleman, but they are known by those strange names just like that!!!! Imagine your parents being called by those names....Its weired how people get stuck with such naams due to no fault of theirs!!!

I was reading a book a few days ago and the main female protagonist was named Temple. Imagine someone having names like masjid, mandir, church or for that matter mosque. Bet they do not need to go to any place of worship, they are Chalta Phirta places of worship after all :), imagine having someone like that in your family.....

A friend's relative is named submarine, just because the father had heard about submarines for the first time and was so fascinated by the whole thing that he ended up naming his poor daughter Submarine. So, does it mean that if someone is fascinated by t.v, radio or mobile phone, they will end up naming their poor child after that, OMG.....food for thought surely!!!

Guys and gals can you tell me about the weirdest naams and daaknaams you have come across???

Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!

2007-10-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

"Wrong, Do it again!"
"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you
have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"
"You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddy!"......

The finer things in life

2007-09-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you heard raindrops falling on the rooftop? Trust me I have been thinking about this for a long time and I seriously cannot recall that moment!! For someone like me who has spent most of my life in a place where there is lot of greenery and rain, this is something that I miss very much. In Delhi, it hardly rains and even if it rains you never get to hear that sound in your rooftop cause you stay in a 2nd floor or 3rd floor of a 5 or 6 storied flat!!! I guess anyone who goes out of their home to stay alone in big cities (read metros) for studies, work or any other purpose has to pay a price and missing out on these small things are what are perhaps our payment.

I am not saying that this is the only thing that you miss out on, I am sure if I sit down to compile a list, I will come up with an exhaustive one!! Many times it happens that you cannot go home for Eid, Diwali, Durga Puja or Christmas just because you cannot afford to take leave at that point of time. Its sheer torture to be away from home on these occasions, but again we just cannot help this. Its the month of Ramzan and let me tell you its not just the same without your family. The spirit of the occasion is simply not there when you are fasting all alone. Well, you cannot expect your roommate or friends to give you company when you get up early in the morning.

So just getting up alone and trying to ensure that you do not disturb anyone who is sleeping is a real task!!! But let me tell you, I have become quite an expert in this. These days I crave for typical Bengali delicacies, think will have to wait to savor this till I go back home. I have tried to cook here many times, but they just do not come out the way my mother makes them. It is said that you do not value things when you have them and only realize their worth when you no longer have them. Never thought that I could miss home cooked food, the first smell of rain falling on the dust, the sound of rain on rooftops, morning dew.....the list is endless.

Aha, how can I forget those annual family gatherings and family weddings!!! Those were the occasions when you have cousins, grandparents, distant relatives, uncle's and aunt's landing in one place from all over the country. The most common things that you will hear in such gatherings from those uncles and aunts are "Oh! My God, how tall, fat, thin, beautiful......... (I'm forgetting some more adjectives here) you have become" And if you are of marriageable age everyone will have some of the other prospective bride or groom in their mind for you.

And if by chance you happen to be happily married, than they will give you a big chunk of their mind with all the Gyaan in this world about starting a family or about family planning. God, at times it gets just too overwhelming!!! Most of the time you end up being introduced to relatives who you have never met in your life and have no clue of their existence. But these are fun times and when you stay away from home, you miss these things so much. The finer things in life may seem to be too finer, but thats where all the fun lies. I am feeling pretty homesick today.....

Rest in Peace my friend.......

2007-09-17T04:59:00.000-07:00

I was living in a fool's paradise thinking that I am one of the strongest person around....well it was not just me, everyone around me thought so and now I know I am not. My friend is with God now, he never recovered from the critical condition. As I am writing this, I know my friend you will never see this.......never say that I write well, never ask me if I could help you out with something or the other, never talk to me, never laugh with me, never pull my leg, never walk with me, never meet me, never smile, never go out with me and the very thought fills up my heart with a sadness and a reality that I find very hard to accept. I know and I always say that.......... No matter what happens, life simply moves on and yes life is moving on.....but there is this emptiness inside which will never go away.

Never for one moment did I think that you could go away just like this. From the very beginning the doctors were firm that your condition is nothing life threatening, and though recovery will take time, you will be fine soon. You were in the ICU and on ventilation from the day of the accident, I was relying too much on the doctor's opinion. I know its all God's will and we mortals cannot do a thing about this and even the best treatment could not have revived you. You just had to go, you had completed your time on earth and you went away at a good time, a very auspicious moment .......Friday night in the Month of Ramadhan. I am glad that you are one of God's chosen one.

My friend I know wherever you are, you are doing good. You are just too good a person not to do good and not to be happy. Family and friends will miss you, they are all devastated, but I get solace from the fact that they say, only the good die young and let me tell you at 28 you are young........though I often used to tell you that you are losing all your hair and growing old too soon. I have never lost someone close to me.........missing you is something that I cannot help and trust me anyone who has known you even for a short time will never ever forget you. The whole thing feels very surreal even after so many days...... I have known you for about the last five years but its not about the quantity of time that we spend, its all about the quality of time.

Its ironical that you met with the accident on a Friday and you went away the next Friday. 5th of Sept (My B'day) and 7th of Sept are never ever going to be the same in my life..... Separations are wounds that none can heal but memories are treasures that none can steal, all these memories are just too precious. My friend wherever you are I hope you are good, Goodbye, Rest in Peace!!!

Contrasting friday realities

2007-09-07T05:01:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was the day when I got the news that my friend was involved in a serious accident.....at first I could not believe this. I mean come on, he was online just a few hours ago, how could he just be involved in an accident!!! But when I could not reach his number I knew that something was seriously wrong. Anyways he is admitted in the ICU in another city and the saddest part I can't even go and see him. The whole week was very depressing and on top of that my birthday was on Wednesday....5th Sept. Somehow I never got around celebrating birthdays, but this time I had decided to celebrate with friends. It was all set and the classic case of Man proposes and God disposes happened!!!

After the accident I was in no mood to celebrate anything and my birthday was the last thing on my mind. The guys at office got a cake, and everyone gathered at the cafeteria to celebrate my birthday. There are somethings that you just cannot escape, so I was there with all of them and we had some snacks there. Thank god......it was over really fast. The week just dragged on and I thought that this is probably the longest week of the year. Btw till now there is no change in my friend's condition, he is still critical and I guess the only thing that I can do is pray to God.....

This Friday was in stark contrast to the last Friday, for some funny reason I had finished work early. My team suddenly had a weird idea and all of us decided to do an impromptu dance session and on top of that capture it on camera. We rehearsed our wild sequence for a good 2 minutes, called out the rest of my team to record it. For a moment it fell like we were back in school having a fun session after lunch hour. It was a hilarious experience.... dancing around like little kids and laughing our hearts out!!!

I guess sometimes it is just ok, to let your hair down and have a blast. Worrying is not the answer to anything and I have seen that when I have too much things on my mind I always end up doing things like this. I strictly believe no matter what happens, life just moves on and probably this was my way of dealing with the situation. Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey, it reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived......

Saga of an Aparichit and a Red Rose

2007-08-29T04:56:00.000-07:00

An aparchit (stranger) walks round killing people and a person with a red rose in his coat buttonhole also goes around killing people!!! Now don't get scared out of your wits, I am talking about two movies which dealt with serial killing. Sometimes you just stumble across some movies and though you know that the movie is crap you just watch it nonetheless, just to know what the hell are they showing. Aparachit and Red Rose are two movies that I watched solely for that reason.

Aparachit is a South Indian movie dubbed in hindi, which tells the story of a guy having split personality. He is that bhola bhala meek guy when he is around the girl and no one even imagines that he is the person responsible for all those deadly killings that take place in the town. There is this scene where he kills one guy by drowning him in hot oil...... and when his dead body is taken for the last rites one guy asks the dead person's brother "Anteem sanskar kaisey karna hai" and this guy answers "jal to chuka hai, aab dafnado!!!!"

What the crap....... if someone is a Hindu a funeral pyre will be lit and if he is a Muslim or Christian he will be buried. Why on earth did that guy (a family member of all people) ask what should be done with the body. Looks like there was big time confusion......again pardon my Hindi!!!!

Red Rose had Rajesh Khanna playing the role of the killer ( its an old flick) the red rose stood prominently throughout the movie, and Khanna wore his trademark large glasses that covered almost half of his face and an equally disgusting scarlet red tie!!! He was wearing a coat, almost throughout the film and for some strange reason the open edge of the coat was always stiff......it never fell properly in place on his chest. It was quite a sight when they were showing a shot that was taken sideways, you can always see the edges protruding from his chest.

Both these movies dealt with certain conditions, but if you see the final product trust me you will end up laughing, rolling on the ground. I saw the movie on one of those days when you have just nothing to do.....my dish tv subscription was over and I did not have any book to kill the time. The best part is if you have company while watching that movie, you can have the time of your life...talking about the movie. Thank god.... I had company both the times and trust me these are just one or two observations that I mentioned here, you can come up with many. Never make the cardinal mistake of watching these movies alone....

Thoughts at the airport.....

2007-08-17T03:59:00.000-07:00

A few days back I was flying to Calcutta, and as usual after reaching the airport I came to know that the flight was delayed by 2 hrs. I had plenty of time to kill and armed with a book, I thought time will fly soon. There was a lot of activity going on, in the airport, people coming and going, kids running round, air hostess and other airport officials busy with their work, Delhi airport was buzzing with all kinds of activities. It was then I decided to discard my book and observe the people around me. After I had I boarded the flight I realized that you can come up with many stories from an airport just by observing the people there closely. Let me tell you its very interesting.......

Sitting right next to me was a guy, late forties wearing branded jeans, shirt and big shades (those corporate types who have everything and anything in this world) He was talking on the phone and some of his one-liners were 'haan' ,'theek hai, tum uske school chale jao', 'wapas ane par dekh lunga' and the regular 'mere paas time nahi hai, tum bhi to kuch kar liya karo kabhi kabhi' and ended the phone call muttering his displeasure(please excuse my Hindi and the spellings!!!)

After about 2-3 mins there was another call ,this time he sounded happy and the conversation was in English. 'Ya I understand how difficult things are', 'I really like the way you go about organizing things' 'Don't worry things will fall in place once I reach there'. Need I still elaborate who are the two people, this guy was talking to? Actually its surprising to see how things change so easily and without any effort.

A seat just opposite to mine was vacant, one Auntyji came and sat there armed with two samosas and a sandwich. She was wearing a salwar kameez and bursting at the seams (thanks to samosas and sandwiches) Again she was one the phone probabaly with a friend......'there is a power cut at my place since 8 in the morning, so I came to the airport 4 hours early'. Now I kno why airports are crowded most of the times, except perhaps when it is really late at night. Probably it is difficult to arrange transport at that hour!!!

Another couple were busy with their respective laptops (taking care of last minute office work may be) and their kid was trying her best to draw their attention. First she tried to pull her father's shirt, then her mothers laptop with no result. So she decided that it was safe for her to wander off, just like that. She looked around and the magazine vending machine caught her attention. She started walking towards that which was opposite to where her parents were sitting. The kid was too cute and sweet.......and after reaching there positioned herself just next to the machine.

After a good 10 mins the mother suddenly looks up from her laptop, looks around for her daughter, then calls her husband when she cannot see her anywhere nearby. Now both of them are looking for the kid and I point out to them where she is. The father goes and collects his daughter and thanks me and this time it is the daughter that the parents are concentrating on and not their laptops!!

Another newly wedded couple seem oblivious to everything that is happening around them, except of course each other. The girl was wearing a red saree, she was wearing chura and had amazing mehendi patterns on her hand. Probably they were headed for a honeymoon somewhere, whispering God knows what to each other......probably sweet nothings. Weddings and honeymoon they say are special, so the couple were probably overwhelmed by the whole thing!!!!

I had done my share of eavesdropping and adamsdropping too!!! Btw, adamsdropping is a new term coined by Ranjini, my colleague. She says when we hear the conversation of a girl it is eavesdropping and when we hear a guy's conversation its adamsdropping and I heard that guy talking on the phone to you know whom.....It felt that I was sitting there for about half an hour, but one look at my watch told me that it has been more then 2 hrs. Phew.....that was really fast!!!

Enough...

2007-08-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hey!! hope I do not sound like that J Lo movie title, but honestly I have been neglecting my blog for a long time. Now I have decided enough is enough and I am going to pay attention to it, may be post 1 or 2 blogs weekly. I always thought that is you are passionate about something you make time for this, no mater what. I love reading, so once when the library from which I borrow was closed I bought a new book!!!! So I guess excuses like not having enough time, being busy with work does not hold too good.

But to be honest, I was really bogged down with work and I had not been able to organize my daily schedule properly. I am working on a new project and that is why things were not organized properly. Now things are looking better and hopefully I will manage this properly. Ok, one post weekly, think I can manage that. There are many things that I want to write on and I am confused where to start. Hmmm.....may be can start with the movies that I saw in the last few days.

Parzania is the one movie that comes to my mind immediately. Felt really bad after seeing the movie, just did not know what to feel and how to react!!! Felt frightened to think about what could happen to you, me or for that matter to anyone else if things turn ugly. Its scary......let me tell you this movie compelled me to think a lot and I felt really really bad after seeing the movie.

Its a Ginormous Debut.....

2007-07-12T03:46:00.000-07:00

Ginormous is among the latest entrant, along with many other words to the Websters Dictionary (I was typing and MS Word did not recognize ginormous, and came up with alternatives like Enormous, Enormously and so on....), so be rest assured this is very new. Apparently ginormous is the combination of two words enormous and gigantic. You can imagine what size ginormous will be, I take it......size will definitely matter from now on :-) From now most of the things which used to be gigantic or enormous can safely become ginormous.

There was an online research where visitors were asked 'What is your favorite word which is not in the dictionary'? Ginormous was the winner, clearly with a size this big, who can doubt this even for a moment. Sudoku is another entrant, Hell......I never knew that the game which is so popular world wide was not defined in the dictionary, anyways it is never too late!!!! Apna Bollywood (total filmy) also found an entry in the dictionary this year. Next time you type the word Bollywood, MS Word will not prompt you with alternatives like Hollywood.

Look around and listen carefully, you will find many people shouting hoarse that the Queen's language is being polluted. But did not somebody say that change is the only constant in life? Yes, it is difficult to accept changes that are drastic, but on the other hand you also have the option of not going according to the changes and making your own statement. Nothing can be forced, so you can still say that the plane took off with enormous noise instead of ginormous noise..!!!!!!!

There was a talk sometime back of allowing students to write exams in SMS lingo. It may seem outrageous, but who knows may be our kids will actually learn to read, write and talk the Queen's language in the so called SMS lingo.....May be by that time we will have many new words like Bongs, Mallus, the so called slangs making their debut and languages like Hinglish and Banglish being spoken globally!!! Perhaps one day you can safely say The Angrez used to rule over us, once upon a time, and find acceptance all over the world with the choice of words used in the sentence, Angrez way well go on to enter the Webster Dictionary.........may be that time is not too far away!!!!

Trudging on

2007-07-05T05:03:00.000-07:00

The Original Golden Oldie, memories of this song are just too many, too precious and too strong to let go......

Let go, vent all emotions
Cry, savor and ponder
Over precious moments

The melody is today's
Goodbyes, never stop
the tears from falling

The feeling of pain
The feeling of hurt
The desperation, the loneliness
Trudges on life long!!!

Ridiculous question, stage fright and a prize...

2007-07-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

Seriously this is getting addictive, but I love this addiction. Now do not jump to conclusions, I am talking about blogging here. Sometimes I have all the thoughts and ideas forming in my mind, but just do not get the time to put those thoughts to words. Wish I had more time and could blog regularly. One incident had been hovering in my mind for sometime, let me try to write this. When the Football World Cup was on in 2006, it was my first year in Del and I was putting up in a PG. So there was absolutely no chance of watching the matches, especially when they were being played at odd hours (the owner was an aged lady who was always glued Saas Bahu serials). It was hell, I could not catch up with most of the matches, and the only ones that I saw was when I was staying at a friends place. But once Italy and France reached the finals, I had to see the that.

I actually went ahead and bought a TV, was planning to for sometime but the finals just hastened my decision. So there I was watching the final in my small TV all alone, my roomies were sleeping soundly so had to put the TV on Mute!!! But let me tell you Italy's victory was worth all the effort. About 1 or 2 days after the final, I was listening to FM. They were playing some really nice songs. During the break the DJ was asking questions and one question really caught my attention. The question was What is the Name of the Player who was head butted by Zidane in the finals?

I found this question very funny and thought how could someone actually ask such a silly question? I am sure by that time the whole world knew who head butted whom, so the question was simply ridiculous. But I dont know what came over me and I just sent a text with the answer. Let me tell you I was feeling rather stupid for answering such a silly question. After that I get busy with my work and suddenly I got a call. I was thinking this must be another of those guys selling credit card or insurance, so I had the answers ready in my mind to get rid of him or may be her.

But surprise, surprise surprise...... the call was from the radio station, I had got the answer correct and was actually the winner. I was flabbergasted, just did not know how to react, How on Earth could I win a prize for answering that question. I was sure they had got hundreds of correct entires for that question. Somehow I was not ready to accept that I was the only 1 who got it right, hmmm.....guess that was my luck day and I just had to win, the RJ asked me what the correct answer was and I told him. He told me "You will be on air soon, and I will ask you the answer, you have to say it again" " Then we can continue to talk for sometime live on air", he said.

Now they very though that I would be live on air was a scary one. I am not someone who likes to face a crowd, I have what people call "Stage Fright". Radio listeners were not at all visible but just the thought that probably thousands of people will be listening to me was enough to have butterflies fluttering all over my stomach. If possible, I will rather run miles away form all this, but by then I was already live on air. the RJ was very cool, he kept on asking me about the match, my favorite players and so on. I don't know how I finished all this and what I said.

After I was off air the RJ was telling me "You were really sounding nervous and frightened while you were talking" Now I knew that we were no longer Live so I came up with answers like " No I was as not at all frightened about the whole thing, it was fun" Guess I just wanted to be cool about the while thing. Oh, forgot to mention, I won an Audio CD as the prize. Hmm.....not bad at all considering I won this for answering such an easy question. Can I get twice lucky, Guess there is no harm in trying!!!!

If Men Got Pregnant...endless possibilities

2007-06-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

Go this email the other day and it got me thinking and thinking really hard, I came up with endless possibilities. Some were hilarious, some downright unrealistic, some outright chaos, some interesting and some were hmmm.........Ok some were cruel!!!!!!!

But then its not everyday that you come across an email that tells you what will happen if Man got pregnant....... this gets you thinking and you can give a free rein to all your imagination prowess!!! Arnie did a fine job of not only getting pregnant, but actually delivering a baby in the labor room. But all that was in Junior a movie that had him playing the role of a pregnant Man@@##!!

If Men Got Pregnant.......(Oh, If only!!!)

* Maternity leave would last two years... With full pay. ( A man at home for two full years without work......God save the women from this torture......trust me no Man will have a good feeling about the whole thing)

* There would be a cure for stretch marks. (But then guys do not wear midriff baring clothes, except when they are swimming perhaps, so may be they can continue without a cure for the stretch marks..:-), Imagine the amount of stretch mark if some guy ends up delivering 3 or 4 babies!)

* Natural childbirth would become obsolete. (Ahhh.....this I agree to without a second thought)

* Morning sickness would rank as the nation's #1 health problem. ( My friend is pregnant, I pity her the morning sickness part, "Guys are not comfortable when they see someone puking", her husband says.....this will serve them right!!!)

* All methods of birth control would be 100% effective. (Who's gonna have the control here???)

* Children would be kept in the hospital until toilet trained. ( The hospital is gonna become one noisy and messy place. There are plenty of critically ill patients and we need all the quiet and space we can manage in hospitals. So, can we do away with this privilege, please??)

* Men would be eager to talk about commitment. (Men talking about the C word, hmmm everything comes in a circle)

* They wouldn't think twins were so cute. (Not to mention triplets and quadruplets and I m forgetting the rest of the terms now......)

* Sons would have to be home from dates by 10:00 PM ( Gals the call is all urs!!)

* Briefcases would be used as diaper bags. (That would be an interesting sight to behold!!!!)

* Paternity suits would be a fashion line of clothes. (Fashionable no doubt, to forget the unpleasantness of the Court Room!!!)

* They'd stay in bed during the entire pregnancy. (They just can't do this, its just something beyond their capacity)

* Restaurants would include ice cream and pickles as main entrees. (They will now understand Perity's predicament when she has ice cream cravings at 'Pone Bara Baje' in the night)

* Women would rule the world!! (Thats not a bad thought at all)

Huh....don't think they can ever accomplish this. Women look better being pregnant and doing the honors of bringing new life to earth. I guess that for a women nothing can ever surpass this feeling of awe, power, joy and humility all at the same time!!!

Guys n Gals your comments and thoughts on this plz......

Back to work, back to reality and back to slogging!!!

2007-06-21T03:29:00.000-07:00

The illusion is over and I am back to work and back to reality. But I must say till the time this lasted it felt good really good. They say that all good things must come to an end, so my vacation is over. Travelling opens up an entirely new world to you and you start seeing things in a completely different prespective. I saw and observed many things and over time I will try to air the expriences here. I don't know how successful I will be in this, but I am determined to give it my best shot.

First things first, I just fail to understand what joy do people get by harassing others for no apparent reason. May be they derive a strange joy by harassing people and seeing them in helpless condition. The immigrition guys at Calcutta, I dont know what the hell kind of work they do and why the hell are they being paid for? After getting the boarding pass it seems that one is required to fill up an immigrition form. Now if someone does not tell this to me, how in the world am I supposed to know? We went to the immigrition counter and at the last moment we were told that we need to fill up a form.

They Immigrition guys were getting ready to close the counter and we had to rush to the other counter to get the form. The lady who gave us the boarding pass was not in her desk, I must tell you she was one lucky lady, I dnt know what would have happened had she been present in the counter! Now the real fun began, the guy in the immigrition then said that we cannot go as we have to show that we have an amount of $500 per person before we can board the flight. My brother had told us specifically what amount was needed and we were carrying that.

That Gentleman was hell bent on harassing us and when I asked him what is the solution to the problem is, he just kept repeating like a fool "This is not my rule, it is the Govt of India's rule and I can't do anything about this, but I can stop you from boarding the flight" Fed up with his constant bantering I replied "Well it cannot be your rule, we live in a democratic country so it has to be the Goverment's rule. Now could you please show me the rule that states that we need to carry $500 per head?" This got him and he mumbled something incoherent, and started some serious discussion with another fellow. After a few moments he did not say anything, just put his signature and the required seal without a word of complaint.

I never knew that the Government of India rules could change so easily, huh!!! I am tempted to change many rules now......I just wonder if someone fell in to this trap what will happen to those poor fellows, and I am sure many people have suffered due to this. I just don't understand what joy did he get by doing this? The Government has put those fellows to serve us public properly and they only seem to end up creating more trouble instead of helping us. Will this ever end???

Days just dragging by...

2007-06-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

This week seems to be never ending and today is just Wednesday. Two more days to go for the weekend, and the workload seems to be getting more and more. Is it that before one goes on a vacation, they have to work their butt off? Honestly these days, I dont even get the time to breath properly......

Tying up loose ends to make the work flow smooth in your absence takes a hell lot of time n energy. Sometimes it feels I better cancel all my plans and stick to the work here. That seems easier, I think I am getting tempted to do this, better stop dwelling about it, before it is too late!!! A vacation is long due and I better head there without any thoughts.....

Everything takes a backseat, I am in the mood to relax now!!!

My brush with fame for hmmmm.....35 seconds

2007-05-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was that short all of 35 seconds, or may be it was shorter then that, I did not check!!!! I was booking tickets for my family through a travel agent. I had been calling her up for say about a week (almost daily) grilling her about the fare, taxes, visa formalities and other stuff. She was extra sweet while talking to me, and that was very obvious . The funniest part of my claim to fame is that I never saw her and neither did she see me. Huh, If only fame was that easy......

Once while we were talking she asked me"Can I ask you something" and I was like "Yeah, why not" She asked "Mam do you work for Star Tv". Hell she was more precise and asked Star News particularly. For a few moments I was stunned, how could someone actually ask me this question without even seeing me. I mean if someone saw me and thought that I am so good looking and the only place where I can be is Tv, then I undertsand. But she never saw me and trust me if she saw me she would never ask me the question.

I mean I am not a stunner or what you call Drop Dead Gorgeous......I surely am not that. I am just an average looking girl and no way have a face that is meant to be in front of the camera. Personally speaking I love being behind the camera. I asked her what made her think that I work with Star News and she had the most weird answer. She told me my name is Ayesha Khanom and there is a news reader by that name in Star News and I sound exactly like her.

Wow, no one ever told me this before. I would have taken up dozen of names starting from Christiane Amanpour to Barkha Dutt to God knows what! I would have joined some mimicary course to disguise my voice...... But I must admit when she took me for some news reader ( I don't see Star news so have no clue about the news reader) it felt good really GOOD. That girl was adamant and insisted that she saw me reading the news last night and my voice was just the same.

Ahem...I did not actually let her belive that I was not that news reader, it just felt too good!! I just told her no I dont work for Star News in a non committal way. I gave her the impression that I am a popular news reader and am trying to guard my privacy. Now my only wish and hope is that she never ever sees me and of course never comes across this blog as well :-) :-) :-)

Now this news reader better be good as well....@@@##!!!!

"If all female teachers are Mother in Law........"

2007-05-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

I spent the best part of my life in my school Little Flower school (LFS). It was a girls school, and most of the girls in my school were tomboys. Now we hardly used to come across guys as the school was situated in an isolated place high on the hills. Naturally we were very curious about guys and most of our talk used to revolve around them. If by any chance, a few girls knew a guy then the poor guy used to have a hard time. No we never did or say anything to the guy, but its just that we used to pair up any girl with that guy and tease them a lot. We used to have a blast doing that, without the poor guy having any clue about this.

Now there was this guy who was the son of one of our teacher (a Lady teacher). My friends used to pair me up with him and tease me. Poor guy, he had no clue about this!!!! One day when we were between periods, we were having a serious disucssion about mother in laws. Now it so happened that the very next period that Madam was supposed to take our Social Studies class. All my friends were picturing how she would look as my mother in law. We were busy discussing all this silly things, and she entered the class. It was after the lunch hour, so the whole class stood up and greeted her Good Afternoon

Now I don't know from were did some of my friends get this smart idea and few of them shouted "Good Afternoon Mother in Law". As luck would have it, she heard this and her response was "Who called me Mother in Law, please step forwad, or the entire class can keep on standing" All the grils were cursing us coz they all knew the direction from where this sound came and knew I was paired up with her son. Then two of my brave friends stepped forward and admitted that they were the culprits.

She called them to her desk and asked them what made them call her Mother in Law. One of my friend is real smart and came up with an answer that anyone in this world will have to digest, no matter how sure they are that this is not true. she just told Madam that we were disucssing about mother in law before she entered the class, and hence this SLIP OF TONGUE!!! Whew, she bought that and it was a lucky escape!!! That freind is a reputed doctor now and I hope none of her patients pull on a fast one like this on her!! I am not taking names here for everybody's sake. Poor guy will have a heart attack if he reads this, we used to be soooo good like angels when we were around him or his mother!!!

I think, no am certain she would not take the reality too well. Well,who would?? Imagine girls in her class teasing about her son and pairing the poor guy up with one gal and disucssing her merits and demerits as a potential mother in law. God Forbid.....She had a very good sense of humor and to diffuse the situation she asked the class "If you start calling all the female teachers Mother in Law, what would you call all the male teachers?" "Father in Law ", we shouted.

Next period our mathematics Sir was due to come in. The bell rang, she was getting ready to go out of the class. Just as she was reached the door , she saw Sir standing outside. Now just as one period gets over, there are lots of chaos and commotion in the class. She came back to her desk and said "Girls, be quiet one Father in Law is standing outside" We burst out laughing on hearing this. She was just so cool!!! It has been about 10 years and I have no clue where Madam is now. I know she is somewhere in Delhi, but........ I wish I could meet her some day, just to tell her how cool a teacher she used to be in those days.

Regrets are passe!!

2007-05-21T04:57:00.000-07:00

Time flies fast
We search for ways
We search for means
To control this, at our own will
None has found success

Time flies fast
Realization comes in late
Only when it is too late
Rueing is not the answer
Making the most of it is......

Only when we lose things
Do we realize the real worth
Count the blessings that you have
Search not for more
And lose that you have

Realize the worth of things
Crying will not bring it back
No matter how hard you try
Time once gone
Never comes back

Realize the worth
Realize the potential
Never let this slip
Focus on goals
Waste not your energy
On trivial things

Life will oft give this chance
But not for important things
Waste not, regret not
Life offers one chance
Grab it,make the most of it....

Nostalgia

2007-05-15T00:42:00.000-07:00

Seperations are wounds that none can heal, memories are treasures that none can heal. Its a classic!!!

Of colas, rains, winds and perfect strangers!!!

2007-05-09T01:39:00.000-07:00

I am not a film critic and this is not a review. Just wanted to share some things that came to my mind after seeing Perfect Stranger. Actually I wanted to see Spiderman, but catching the first show in Delhi is a tough buisness. So finally it was Perfect Stranger (tickets were available only for that movie and that too second row seats!!!) Huh, guess something is better then nothing. Reached the place at about 5 and the show was at 7.20...!!@#$!! Loads of time to kill!!!

A roadshow was on there, so decided to settle for that to kill the loads of time. The weather gods decided to show their fury that day and the poor guy who was hosting the show had to take frequent retreat from the rain. The show was a big bore, the audience was participating in a contest to see who could drink an entire bottle of cola without spilling it. One girl managed to drink an entire bottle and guess what she won. Another bottle of cola, as if the first one was not enough...ughhh!!

The wind was very strong and when I was sitting under a tree, it was so strong, Now I feel I would be swept away if I had not caught hold of the post for support. First there was a light drizzle, then it stopped and then suddenly again there was heavy rains. Huh, its only in Delhi that you get this type of rain,inconsistent with a capital I.

Ahem the movie was not bad, I mean the last 10 mins somewhat made up for the otherwise ordinary boring movie. The biggest disappointment in the movie for me was Bruce Willis. Come on why on earth is he acting in a movie where he does not have any kind of role. You dnt expect to see this from an actor who has worked in wonderful movies like Sixth Sense and Pulp Fiction to name a few. Why, why oh why!!!! If he is working on such movies in future, I dont think I want to see his movies!!!

Hmm...next is Spiderman, may be another time. keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Life in the fast lane.....

2007-05-04T03:42:00.000-07:00

This week has passed on really fast. I guess this was the fastest week, but then I feel evry week was the fastest!! Monday was dry,boring and had tons of Monday Morning BLUES. Don't know how I managed to pass the day in office, but got it behind me real soon. Tuesday was an entirely different affair and I became engrossed with work. I don't know whats with wednesdays, I have alwayd loved this day for no apparnet reason. May be this is because during my school days in Wed we used to wear white dress or house dress to be more specific. I was in Yellow House so my uniform was white divided skirt, yellow half sleeved shirt ot Tshirt, white canvas and white socks. Oh....how could I forget that I had to wear yellow ribbon on my hair.

May be that excitement is still there in some corner of my mind and thats why I have a special place in my heart for Wednesday's. Hey my house team i.e.Yellow House did not used to walk away with all the honors, but I am proud to be part of that house. Thrusday just went by because I was too excited about the approaching weekend. I and my roomie are pretty excited on Thursday nights and our only topic of discussion is Wowwww......just one more night to sleep on time and then we can have fun the next two night(i.e. by staying awake as long as we like, coz we don't need to wake up early)

Let me tell you our weekends are spent almost in similar manners. We always talk as if we will paint the town red on a weekend (wud take lots of guts, courage n time to paint Delhi red in this heat!!!!) Most weekends we just laze around at home, do some works and read books, thats all we do. Huh, we really do spend boring and lazy weekend with a capital B and L. Today is Friday night, and I am extra excited about this. Nothing new in that and just like all Friday's we will talk (gossip) till late at night and go to bed at our own sweet will. Hmm....now I am wondering what to do this weekend!!! Absoutely no plans this time as I am tired of seeing my plans go down the drain, lets see what is in store this Saturday and Sunday!!!

Cheers'

Dreamy eyes

2007-05-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

The early morning rays were streaming on her face, she hid her face under the pillow. Astha really wanted to sleep a little longer, but the excitement inside her was just too much to bear. She was full of expectaions today, full of bright and rosy dreams for the future. Today was the day when her entire life will change and take a new course. Like every girl Astha has dreamt of this day and has sky high expectaions from this special day of her life. A tall, dark and handsome knight riding a horse, picking her up and riding to the sunest is what she always dreamt about. She sat threw the covers, sat up lazily, stretched on the bed, and had a mysterious smile playing on her lips. She was so happy, and thought : "I must be the happiest girl in the whole world".

No longer able to contain her joy, she threw the covers, jumped out of her bed and started to hum a romantic number. "I will always be a romatic fool, come what may" she thought. She rushed to her cupboard and started hunting for the treasures kept buired long long ago. Had time passed so soon, has it really been that long, she wondered. All the memories came flooding back and she felt overwhelmed for just a while. Shrugging off the feeling she opened her first scrap book. The first picture of her scrap book was staring back at her, it was he picture taken with her Ma. She remembered that day, it was her first day at school and she was feeling on top of the world.

Turning the pages her gaze fixed on another picture, the page was full of childish scribblings. She had lost her first tooth and was cribbing about how ugly she looked. Ashta smiled thinking how worried she was that no one would even look at her now and on top of that one of her elder cousin had told her that after some time all her teeth will fall off and she will look like Dadi. Dadi is 70 and had no teeth, Astha could not even in her wildest dreams picture how she would look without teeth. "Can anything worse happen, I wish I would die rather die then lose all my teeth". Ma came just then, hugged her close to her heat and said "My angel you will grow the most beautiful teeth in the world in place of the missing ones" I rub my flowing tears and wonder can someone ever console me like this.

If only things were so beautiful.....

Mind Blowing!!!

2007-05-02T02:00:00.000-07:00

One of those few songs that I can listen to again and again and agian, anyhwere anytime....
Some songs are just special and this is one of them!!!

Reflections

2007-05-01T04:46:00.000-07:00

I was walking in the forest all alone, dusk was fast approaching. I was apprehensive about being there all alone, nonetheless I keep on walking. Suddenly it feels that I am back in Kohima(that's my birthplace) , and the surroundings all of a sudden seem to be very similar. I see my childhood friends and some of my school friends standing in a corner. My first thoughts are "Wow, all these people together after such along time", I approach them and suddenly I am transported back in time. The games I used to play, the silly talk that we used to have and the exciting dreams that we nartured all came rushing back, it bought a smile to my lips. How innocent we all used to be!!

I reliazed that it is not the time to stand there and brood, but rather to think of more important things that lay ahead. There is a stranger observing me, I can feel this in my bones. You always get to know when someone is quietly watching you from a distance, and you cannot see him or her. It gives you a creepy feeling specially when you do not know who is watching, but are just aware of a pair of eyes constantly following you. I am not feeling too good about this whole thing and am constantly trying to locate those pair of eyes, but with no result.

All kinds of thoughts were invading my mind, it is growing dark and my destination does not seem to be anywhere near. But in the first palce I do not even know what my destination is. This is really creepy and I decide to take all the precautions that came to my mind. No one is safe these days and specially girls. I take out my cell phone and try to locate the number of a friend. I just want some one to come and take me back home. Suddenly home seems to be more appealing and I badly want to escape those prying eyes.

For the first time in my life I feel completely insecure in a crowd. I look around and begin to walk, I look back for a moment and see a strange figure hurrying towards me. I increase my pace, keep turning back to see how far the figure is, he is gaining ground and this makes me sweat. Someone calls my name loudly, someone has caught hold of me and is shaking me, I scream and open my eyes only to see my sister shaking me to wakeup. I look around and see I am in my bed in the safe sanctuaty of my home and yes I feel like killing my sister for waking me up from an incompelete Dream.....

Quest of the unkown and unmeasured

2007-04-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

It was a pursuit, eager pursuit
Of the unknown and unmeasured....
Had no inkling about what?
Just needed to undertake this
To rest all doubts and queries
Don't know about the outcome

Never tried to anylise, how can you?
When this enriched you the most
The best moments were spent
The most memeorable moments
The most amazing pursuit
Too much scrutiny they say, robs the novelty

The quest that never will happen
Persuit that never will come again
Enrich you, enthrall you
Persuit that never will entice you
Persuit that never will
Change your whole life

Life throws quest
In your lap
Go for it, grab it
Mould it and interpret it
And understand it
Rue not in future
Grab it with both hands
Grab it with all your might

Seldom comes a second chance
The green grass
The trees, the hills, the forest
The quest, the pursuit, the journey
Never will it be the same
Sans the wit,
Sans the humor
Sans the being
Sans the presence

Hmmm.....

2007-04-24T04:53:00.000-07:00

Today I am blank again, don't know what to write on. So I was just wondering why this happens and the first answer that I came up with is everybody has a bad day and I am no exception to this. Sometimes it just happens that you do not feel like doing any work, just want to sit and laze around and most importantly don't want to do any work. I also found out that its not that something is wrong with you and thats why you have this bout or passing phase, its just that some days are like that and you just wish the day wud be over real soon.

Oh, today is the big match, we have finally reached the semis and now are actually 3 days away from the finals. Wow!!! but it really did take a long long time, seems ages ago India came back home. I hope that the guys in my cab leave office on time today and we reach a bit early today. Come on its the semis and I need to see that. Can't catch both the innings (hve to report to work tomoro) but think I m entitled to watch at least 1 innings completely. Guys please hurry up, lets leave on time today!!!

Cheers to the winner'

Gals and Sports!!!

2007-04-23T03:44:00.000-07:00

I have been asked this question many times, and everytime I am surprised by this. I love to watch sports (sadly my playing days are over, or I could still give some mean competition!!!!) and my horizon includes cricket, football, tennis and hockey. I also try to stay updated about Formula 1, but must confess I am not regular in the racing arena. I just love to see these matches on Tv, they are hundred times better those stupid Saas Bahu serials.......Yuck!!! Many people both guys and gals find it very surprising that a girl can actually watch sports on tv, but I do and I just love this.

May be this has got a lot to do with my upbringing. All throughout my childhood I have heard my elder brothers and an unlce talk and follow circket and football and other sports. I was the only daughter then(My sis came along much later) , so naturally I got hooked to that. I am not too keen on club football. Come on, how am I supposed to support one club that has my favorite player playing against another club that has my other favorite playing. Its criminal, so I just stick religiously to World Cup, but do follow the club matches whenever I can.

I love watching a live tennis match. Oh, nothing can beat the excitement, yesterday I was watching finals of the Monte Carlo Maters Title, it was an awesome match. But I did not like the result much, am a die hard FedEx Fan....come on man how long will he keep on losing to Rafa on clay court....do something abt this man, you are the No. 1. Its time to conquer the French Open....go for it FedEx!!!

Abt cricket it is not that I watch each and every match. But ya if I kno that a match between SA and Aus is taking place or say between Aus and NZ I dnt miss that. Now that the Semis are approaching I am really excited, two of the fav teams are playing. Abt India...I watch only those old matches that they keep on repeating, at least there is no risk of them losing there....:-) Watching India platying Live is just too much these days, can't even trust them to put it thru Bangla and Ireland, HUH!!!

I just love the idea of watching a live match if the best players or the best teams are playing. The World Cup Finals (football) was amazing, after all my team won the title!! I still draw glances from people whenever I discuss sports, but I don't care, coz I love doing this and I know there is nothing wrong in that. May be its just that I am a bit different from the other girls and I somehow like that.

The power to undo (CTRL Z)

2007-04-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday there was major goof up in my work, but nobody is complaining, Ahem!!! the part about no one complaining is a dream I have. For starters I did not goof up yesterday and even if I did that no Boss will is cool enough to just leave that without saying anything. But I was just wondering if we could actually make use of CTRL Z in our day to day life. Wow!! just when you realize that you have done something wrong, simply undo that. Just press CTRL Z and presto, it will be done or rather "undone"!!!

How I wish this was true, CTRL Z will become the most sought after thing in this world. Well, who does not make mistakes, if you don't then there is something seriously wrong with you. I am not talking about making blunders everyday, but everyday we do or say certain things and instantly wish if we could undo that! Think of all the things you could undo, correct all the mistakes, make up for all that you did to cause hurt and pain to a loved one.

Imagine what we could have done with our school, college and academic results, if we had this power to 'Undo'. You dnt need anything extra for this, just select what you want to undo and hit the button. Ohh...the one thing that I would LOVE to undo is that time when the nite farewell party was busted by the authorities at school. I was in class 10 and no I am not saying that I would undo the party, just the busting part by the authorities. The party was rocking, that is till we came to school the next day......

It was kind of compulsory to hold the party at night, think that was our style of rebelling against authorities. Mine was a girls school, so you can imagine how rebellious gals can get if they want to. One girl did not reach home till late at night (She stayed over at a friend's place and in the excitement of the party, forgot to call her parents)the parent called up the authorities, one thing led to the other and we were BUSTED!! Next day, the authorities gave us hell, it was very embarassing when we were asked to report to the Principal along with our parents....GOD!!!

Wish I had the power of CTRL Z then, and I wish I have the power of CTRL Z now and wish I have it forever. But I dnt want F1 in the same way. Come on I do not want to be shouting F1 F1 F1....like that techie guy who was falling from a multi storied building instead of shouting HELP. Shouting a simple 'Help Me' would have certainly saved that guy. God forbid....

Idle chatter ....

2007-04-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

Can't think of anything today. May be because today is Friday and am too excited about the weekend. Or may be because I m too tired at the end of the week to think of anything new. So thought that I will put down some quotes here, these are some of my personal favorites :

Hard work never killed anyone, but why take a chance?

You laugh at me because I am different, but I laugh at you because you are all the same.

Seperations are wounds that none can heal, memories are treasures that none can steal!!

Being happy does not mean everything is perfect,
It just means that you have decided to see beyond the imperfections!!!

Smoking is pulmonary rape!!!

Sometimes I wish life had subtitles......

God made man, said, "I can do better then that," and then made woman :-)

Funny I can't even seem to come up with good quotes, normally I have hundreds of them, but something is definately not proper today. I will keep on addting the quotes here as they come to mind. I am not feeling very good today, have a headache and may be this is why can't concentrate on work properly. Probabably by tomorrow will feel better, will have to take care of this headache thing!!

Divergent Certainties.....!!!!

2007-04-19T01:44:00.000-07:00

Birth and death
Contrasting realities they are
One is joy
One is sadness
There is pain in birth
There is pain in death

Who is born, who dies
When, where and how?
None can predict
This happens to all
None can escape its clutches
Each passes the stage
Each born must die

Tears of sorrow in death
Tears of happiness in birth
One who dies is gone
Rest pine for him
One who is born comes
Rest gather to be near him

Celebration of joy
Celebration of new things
Celebration of happiness
Celebration of life
Celebration of beauty
All accumulate in birth
Celebration and laughter

Tears of sorrow
Tears of separation
Tears of frustration
Tears of agony
Tears of culmination
Flow freely in death
Tears and only tears

Birth and death
Contrasting realities they are.....

Value your prized possessions

2007-04-18T04:51:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how important family is for an individual? Chances are most of us have not given even a second thought to this. Our families are responsible for everything that we are. The way we behave, dress, conduct ourselves, react to situations, see things and speak all depends on our family and its values. When we become used to something like say our family we start taking things for granted. Somehow this becomes a habit for us and do not realize its real worth till we have to manage things on our own. The very thought is scary.

When we start staying away from our families only then do we realize the importance of being sheltered by it constantly. Suddenly we feel that we are all alone and have to cope up with everything all alone. There is no one to take responsibility if we go wrong sometimes. Our mothers will not be there to cover up any goof ups and explain to our Boss that she can do it just give her another chance. We are left on our own and have to face the consequences of all our actions. You feel so helpless and wish you could come back home to your parents and siblings and have a blast!!

If you are staying with your family, learn to value them and try to understand their contribution in your life. Suddenly one fine day you will realize that you did not value things when you had them, and now when you don’t have that, you realize what precious thing you are missing. Do not take your family for granted, after all at the end of the day they are the one who are going to stand by you in any hour of crisis. Trust them, value their opinions, respect their decisions and show them that they are the most precious people in the world in whatever way you can. They deserve this, in fact much much more then this, they are after all the most presious possession one can have!!

Can Sanjaya go all the way?

2007-04-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

Sanjaya Malakar.........a unique name to become famous in America. This 17 year old Idol contestant has become the topic for discussion arond the country. Anyone who has seen him perform will testify that he is not a great singer. One American Idol judge Simon even went to the extent of saying that he will not return as judge for the next season if Sanjaya wins the contest. Well if there is any kind of public voting for a contest, no one must crib about the results. Come on, on the one hand you say that public will choose the winner and on the other hand you criticize the public choice.

I am no way saying that public choice is perfect, it is just that if you have given us public the power to decide the winner, we will vote for any contestant for any reason we fancy. Public mood and sympathy often works in an unpredictable manner, so if you give us the power be prepared to face unexpected results. So either you judges take over the whole thing and leave us public alone. Or simply give us the power and accept our choice.

Wow, first Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother and now Sanjaya in American Idol. It really seems to be just the right time to have your name beginning with S, have an Indian connection and be associated with a relaity show either in the US or the UK!!! So far these things has been perfect for both of them!

His singing skills may need lots of polishing, but his hair style and that infectious smile does not need any more add ons. Those are just perfect, well if he can improve on this, then we do not mind at all, we surely are not complaining. We are all for this :-) :-) Now all we need to see is how far Sanjaya can go??

Enchanting Unchained Memories.......

2007-04-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

Memories memories memories
Linger forever in the heart
Shaking this off is impossible
Diverting attention is futile
They come back all the more strongly
Memories memories memories.....

Happy memories
Thats hard to come by
Few and far between they are
Refusing to come to fore
When you want them to
They just remain buried
Memories memories memories.....

Memories shape life
Each action relates to memeories
Memories observed somehwere
Memories exprienced first hand
Memories just heard somewhere
Memories felt somewhere
Memories memories memories.....

Of innocent joys and laughters
Of tears and happiness
Of pain, of friend, of love
Of family, of ecstasy, of agony
Heart breaks, success, failure
Thats all they always are
Memories memories memories.....

That tree in the school yard
That hidden corner in college
That narrown lane in the street corner
That red floral dress
That smearing of lipstick
That first crush
Memories memories memories.....

More memories accumulate
Time goes on
But they linger forever
Memories memories memories.....

Where is the confusion?

2007-04-12T03:12:00.000-07:00

Mother Tounge :- one's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next

Religion :- any specific system of belief, worship, or conduct that prescribes certain responses to the existence (or non-existence) and character of God.

Huh, i have tried my best to come up with a good definition (Courtesy : Google) for Religion and Mother Tounge and this is the best I could manage. Now the answer as to why I have put this definition and what am I trying to say. Many of you must be thinking how stupid of me to take pains to explain something so simple. Trust me, this may appear to be simple to you and me but many people confuse the term. I am a Bengali Muslim girl and am very proud of both. So most of the time when i come get in touch with any new people the question I am asked generally is how come you are both Bengali and Muslim?? I m sick and tired of explaining to people that releigoin and mother tounge are two different things and one can be both at the same time.

Come on no one ever asks a person talking in english, how come you are a Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or from any other relegion and speak english. Its a foreign language, then why are they never asked how can you speak english and you are a Hindu, Sikh etc as well......i just can't understand why are people so confused about this? Why can't they simply understand that bengali is my Mother Tounge and Islam (Muslim) is my religion. Is it really so difficult to understand?? I don't think so, would love to know what is causing the confusion in the first place??

The funniest part is most of the people who have put this question to me are the so called "EDUCATED" people who work in big profiles in reputed companies. Huh, so much for being educated!! I have been staying in Delhi (Our capital city) for more then 1.5 years, and have faced this question innumerable time ( I have lost track of the count.....he he he he) I don't know whether to laugh at this or pity the fact that many people do not know even the bascis and claim to be educated.

Its a very very sad state of affairs, don't know if this scene is going to improve anytime soon. Personally i am tired of explaning the difference to so many people, now I just don't bother (but it makes me angry nonetheless) and wish something could be done to make people get their bascis correct. Well, i don't know if I have confused more people or made things clear now, but the idea was to clear up the confusion.

Teen Night Out!!!

2007-04-11T03:45:00.000-07:00

On the terrace at night
Its 1.30 Am
Endless discussions
Ridiclous talk about love
Sky high ambitions
Senseless wishes

Stupid fights and arguments
Free flowing tears
Promises of being in touch forever
Promises of meeting often
Of never ever repeating mistakes
Worrying sick about silly things

Of backslapping
Clicking pictures for keeps
Cooking the world's tastiest dish
Thinking of solving the world's toughest problems
Of bringing about a revolution
Of wishing things were different
Wishing life was a little more easier
Of wishing everyone was more understanding

Memories, memories and more memories
Unforgotten, pure and innocent memeories
That is all that remains
Life becomes chaotic
Everything takes a backastage
Memories often keep pleasant company
Thats all they remain
Treasures forever.....

Oh, to fall in love!!!

2007-04-10T04:12:00.000-07:00

Some of my friends have been asking me to write something on love, so I am making this attempt. Love its a very complicated word and means many things to many people. For me love is mysterious and competely out of this world. If this was not mysterious how would you describe the feeling that you start expriecning all of a sudden for someone. This feeling can be for a person who is new in your life or for someone who has always been in your life. The second part is scary and hits you Wham! on the face. Imgaine you have known this person forever and suddenly you start feeling something different for that person and when you think why am i feeling like this, you just don't get any answers.

Childhood love and teenage love rarely last and most of the times it is not love but infatuation that you feel. I don't know the difference between love and infatuation but i know that a very thin line exists between the two. I strictly believe that love must never be left upexpressed, if you love someone just go ahead and tell him or her. Believe me you will never regret this, at least you will know about the feelings of the other person and you move ahead with life. otheriwse life gets stuck, you don't know whether to move ahead or do anything else. That is scary......

I have seen many people falling in and out of relationships and that is not my idea of love. Yes, things do not always work out as the way we want them to, but there is no harm in putting some efforts and finding out if it is really hopeless as it apppears to be or not. It is better to fall in love and exprience all that is associated with this beautiful feeling. Imgaine how wonderful it would be to know that someone other then your family actually loves you so much. This can be quite a heady feeling!!!

Make love, not war,
Cheers'

If only we could go back to childhood days.....

2007-04-09T03:36:00.000-07:00

Childhood is undoubedtdly the best time of anyone's life. Some of my friends say that they do not remeber if their childhood was beautiful or not, but you must remember that since you did not have any worries back then, you do not remeber that. Yesterday i saw a child playing on the balcony opposite to my flat. The kid was all alone and he had no care in this world. He had no sorrow about anything, but only joy and was playing on his own. No doubt he was so oblivious to the whole world.

The balcony is visible to many people in my locality and many times i found people from the other flat calling out and the child was responding to them as if that was the happiest moment in his life. Imagine if someone called you or me from their balcony, what would happened!! All hell would have broken loose, specially if the person calling would have been of the opposite sex. There would have been complaints and god forbid someone could actually be sued!! So next time call out from your balcony be careful and do so only if you see a cute lil kid!!

Imagine how wonderful it would be to demand and have everything or just to get more then what you want without asking anything from anyone. Imagine no worries about what to cook, what to eat, what to wear, how to kill time, when to go out, when to take a bath, no studies, no jobs, no worries about relationships, no effort to look good for the opposite sex :-), no lectures from parents, no heartbreaks.......ooooo, how wonderful it would be to go back in time and have that life again!!!

Did i miss out anything in that list?? I am sure i missed many things, can you guys point that out to me??? Oh! if only i could go back to that time. Someone rightly said that the grass is always greener on the other side, but i would love to hop on to that other side if i could somehow get a glimpse of that wonderful period of my life!!!

Busy busy busy busy [hoping for 3 days off :-)]

2007-04-04T04:42:00.000-07:00

Today is very hectic, i have been working nonstop since morning and now i can't go on any loger.
My brain does not seem to be funcitoning properly and that is why i am writing this crap. May be i will be having three days off at a stretch, friday is off (its GOOD FRDAY) why is every friday not a GOOD FRDAY??? Saturdays are off, but some if urgent work comes up will have to report to work.....:-(

Looking forward to 3 days off at a stretch, though it can get very boring if there is nothing to do, but i m confident, will find out something to occupy my time. Well if nothing comes up, then my books are always there to accompany me :-)

Monday Morning Blues!!

2007-04-03T01:36:00.000-07:00

Weekend is over, Monday came and want without too much of a bother, well that is other then Monday Morning Blues!!! I have been trying this for along time, to be in a good mood on a monday but this never happens. I guess it’s not with me only, many will testify that Monday’s are hell, and this day of the week needs to be done away with :-). One thing that I try to do religiously on a Monday morning is to wear newly washed and pressed clothes. It helps to some extent. When you are in a real foul mood, try doing this guys, it works!!!

Other then this i hve not been able to find out anything that makes me cheerful, how i wish Mondays were off too, but then i guess i wud want the whole week off, coz some day or the other is bound to be the first day of the week......seems no escape from this :-)

The funniest thing about Mondays is that you do not even realize how the day passes away. After that the rest of the days seem to just fly and once again it is Friday night........the fun night. Friday nights are for gossiping about the entire weeks happenings with my roomie. We talk abt our offices so much that sometimes it feels that i kno all abt her office and she knows all abt mine. i hve been to her ofc only once and she has been to mine abt 2-3 times, but we have a blast talking abt office. No we dont discuss work, that would be just too much...but abt all the different people we encounter daily at work and in the cab.

Fridays are just so amazing that i m thinking why does not my ofc let me leave work at 12'noon....i can beat the evening rush traffic :-) :-) :-)

Huh, it took me a Tuesday to realize MONDAY MORNING BLUES.........it grows on to you slowly!!!

Reasons are plenty.....

2007-03-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

Everything in life happens for a reason. Sometimes we scratch our heads thinking why the hell did this or that happened to me, but at some point in our life we will surely realize the reason. Everyday something new happens and often we are left wondering about the cause. Sometimes many things happen to us and we do not even relaize the importance of it all till it is too late. We just let things happen and one fine day reliaze OMG! this happened because of this and so on.

We need to relaize to take things in life as it comes, but trust me doing this is a tough job, I am speaking form 1st hand exprience......guess all of us have such expriences :-) Well otherwise there will be chaos all around. Isn't it??

Try to make most out of any situation you face, at least you will not have any regrerets thinking wish I could have done this or that. Well its difficult to be balanced and soemtimes it strains you a lot. Its easy to say many things but it is actaully very difficult to impelement all this.

Why do we get attached???

2007-03-29T02:59:00.000-07:00

Why is it so difficult to say Goodbye?? I just hate saying goodbye to anyone.
My roomie (Debarati's) mamaji was staying with us for the last two weeks and we had a blast!! He was a complete stranger to me, but somehwere somehow we connected. Everyday after going back home from work, it was like coming back to a place where someone is actually waiting for you!!! Eating together made me nostalgic and i had that feel of being in the midst of people again.

Staying away form family is hell, but soemtimes we just do things because this is the best thing to do, not because this is what we love to do. Life has many twists and turns and someone rightly says the grass is greener on the other side......if only people on the onter side knew about this. Mamaji went back today and we went to drop him off at the airport. While coming back something was missing and by the time i go back to my den after work, i m going to feel this even more. Hope Debarati will be back from office in time. Actually she has been coming so late these few days, m afraid i will forget how she looks :-)

As a rule i never go to see off any of my brothers, when they come home :-(. Yeah i love going to the airport to receive them :-).Thats much better

Got a text from a frien (Sona) this morning that says:

Being happy does not mean everything is perfect,
It means you have decided to see beyond the imperfections!!

Well as i said before no matter what happens, life just moves on!!!
It was gr8 to have mamaji staying with us!!!

M Back!!!

2007-03-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

Its been long...in fact it seems ages since i last wrote. Hve been pretty busy and now that the team has been knocked out ot the World Cup hopefully i will have some more time for all these :-) Huh Feels bad that the team is out, but the baseline is they played bad cricket and they do not deserve to be in the nxt round. Imagine a nation of billions not being able to produce 11 players who can play at the highest levels. Anyways now i can support NZ and SA guilt free!!!

Since the last few days i have been thinking how wonderful it wud b to remian a child and never grow up. I guess childhood is the best time of anyone's life and anyone would surely love to go back to that time again. How wonderful and simple life would be without all the complications that we face as we start growing up. When we were small we cud not wait to grow up and now we wish that we had never grown up and seen all that we have seen or exprienced till date.

Ah...if only wishes were horses, we would all ride it and achieve all that we want!!! Its been a long time since i watched a movie, will have to catch up with some flick real soon. Oh, i got a hike and now m feeling pretty excited abt this, it gives a heady feeling!!! Hope i will b regular now, since work load is a bit less these days!!!

Cheers'

Huh!!!!!

2007-03-06T03:43:00.000-08:00

Today is one of those days u wish would just get over without tourturing yourself any further.....it is not that something is drastically wrong , but it is just one of those days, which you wish would get over soon.

Nothing excites me today, just want to go back home and collapse to bed....may b i m feeling too sleepy, donno. Last weekend i saw Nishabd, and when i come to office on monday get the news that my offfice has arranged for us to wtahc the same movie.....well i do agree that film is really well made, but i just can't sit through another session of Jiah's torn jeans, hot pants and never ending legs, phew!!Talk about timing, can anything be more wrong then this?? Wonder if they could arrange another movie for me :-)

Anyways i dont want to see any movie and don't want to do any more work.....just wnat to go back home. There are some days that become so boring and the funnny thing is that there is no reason for this!!!!

IT SUCKS!!!!

2007-03-02T05:21:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it sucks big time when your work is done, but you have to wait just becasue one guy from your cab has work. Just 2 days before Holi, most of the guys left early by lunch and the office looks so deserted. I have a sneaking feeling that something or someone must just appear in the office just out of the blue, God Forbid!!!

Believe me i have been sitting here for the last 2 hrs and it is not with a pleasant feeling, my mind has gone completely blank...i simply don't know what to do. I have checked my emails......i hve been reloading the page again and agian hoping i would get lucky, but no one seems interested to mail me at this ungodly hour. Sucks.....no one is even online, i take it they are all normal people who come to work and leave at just the right time@@@@

Sometimes even the web seems to be dull and boring and today is one such day. Ya i did get in touch with an elder sis of an old friend....but how long do you expect this can keep you going....the cab driver must be thinking we r not going back today and just move....God if he leaves us high and dry!!!!!

Shed a few Drops!!!

2007-03-01T01:44:00.000-08:00

Tears, simply flow,
Sometimes without any reason,
and sometimes reasons are plenty
its a wonderfeul reliever, when you are deeply hurt

Cry a bucket and move on......it is good to cry,
you do not have to shy away from it and GUYS u can also cry, it is ok!!!
Remeber your tears are precious and every Tom Dick and Harry does not deserve it,
Shed tears for someone who is dear to you, they deserve it.........its just ok to cry!!!

Can we do it??

2007-03-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

So team India has left for the Carribean Island last night, but the milllion dollar question now is can they do it? I wish i had a crystal ball where I could gaze and tell all of you, how our team is going to fare. This time the team looks to have a nice helathy balance. But so do many other teams!!!

Well the run up tot he world cup has made one thing very clear, this time it is not going ot be a cakewalk for the Aussies, many other team have entered the arena and they are all serious contenders!!!! Aussies will have to struggle really hard and who knows what is going to happen.

We are all optimistics and want to believe that The Men In Blue are the best, though our mind mostly does not agree with this. One thing is guranteed, all of us will be glued to our television sets in the hope that we will ultimately truimph this time. If only the team could repeat the heroics of '83. Only time can tell what will happen, but till then we can all live in hope.

All the best India
Cheers'

Why do superheroes have Jurno GF/Wife???

2007-02-28T03:35:00.000-08:00

Time seems to be the biggest constraint these days...the entire week I look forward for the weekend, but once sat comes, the thought uppermost in my mind is sucks!!! monday is approaching. Last weekend i worked on sat....it was hell, sun i watched a movie. Gost Rider is ok....just like any other superhero movie. Guys r gonna love Eva Mendes....she looks hot!!! Gals Nicholas Cage is manly like he always is, the person who plays his dad looks cool and dashing and the young Cage is cute!!! A treat for everyone!

My friend and I noticed something interesting.....why do all superheroes have journo girlfriend/wife? Eva Mendes is a jurno in the movie. Think of batman, superman, phantom or near home shaktiman or krrish....why why why???

Any thoughts abt this guys??

Musing and Nostalgia!!!

2007-02-28T03:03:00.000-08:00

Musings make u nostalgic.....take u back to all that u enjoy doing, but perhaps do not have the time to indulge in it any more!!!!

But on a serious note if one is passionate about something, nothing can stop them form doing that. No matter how busy you are.....you manage to scrap out some time for that. After all you have always loved doing that.....so why should you stop doing that now??