Touché

Divide your eggs

2011-10-13T15:57:00.003+05:30

“Lately I had a philosophical realization on relationships. I was baffled by the fact that the relationship one cannot live without can actually be the one, the other person can easily let go of. The realization dumped my understanding on relations and made me more manipulative on human nature. I tried searching for an answer in religious texts and spiritual lectures but this is something above the generic phenomenon. Not all the relationships are same, the connection between two people can vary despite the same genre.

I have seen, read and experienced ; people getting carried away and never returning, rising and attaining karmic connection and even staying without attaining the level in relationships.

When I could not find an answer in spiritual terms, I derived a mathematical hypothesis to reason this. Balance is the key for happy and durable living and not only does this hold for day to day actions but also for structuring our identification tree. The right placement of branches in a way of relationships is important for a stable tree.

I compare and solve the mystery using basket and eggs problem. I have many baskets to be filled with limited number of eggs I have. Basket is synonymous to relationships and eggs is the part of you dedicated to that relation. As we move on in life, the number of baskets and eggs vary but for happy living there should be a calculative distribution of eggs.

Any imbalance can lead to losing the eggs that is the greater part of you - leaving you lone and aimless. This explains how some people get carried away in a relation and other easily let go of the same. Reason, the one who got carried away placed all their eggs in one basket and hence unbalancing and risking their emotional self but happy are the people who play safe ;despite losing on the temporary satisfaction in one relation – are never lone as they always have some eggs saved in the other basket.

Moral is – Never place all your eggs in one relationship basket and always have quarter of it saved in the basket which connects to yourself. Everything is prone to change except for the connection one has with themselves. It is important to respect yourself and pamper your soul with the reserved dedication, as that's what will stay till the grave.

Just like that ..

2011-08-26T18:06:00.001+05:30

“Long time...since I wrote something - guess was waiting for a push. I watched my favorite SATC (Sex and the City) for the nth time today. It propelled me to days of friends, cafe and coffee mug :)

Awww..I miss the days with unplanned outings with friends – just for no reason spending on a cup of coffee and a non calculative life!

No wonder the movie still holds the magic to make me unscrupulous and weaned. The narration of simple yet emotionally complicated lives of four friends, closely bonded to where they belong; always clicks.

“Picture-Perfect-Beautiful” and “Ever thine-Ever mine-Ever yours” are the words still ringing in my head.

Hope to carry the feel always with me without regret!

Got Inked!

2011-04-26T16:29:00.000+05:30

“A long cherished wish of getting a tattoo came true last weekend. I grabbed a deal for a smaller one though but happy having a new addition to my body :) After investing much thought on what to needle on, the considerable options were initials, zodiac, angel and a cryptic symbol. Last dream settled me on a symbol of strength which would be like an inspiration for me to be strong and courageous for any hardships in my life. If not, would make me try to fit in the meaning of what settled on my body now :)

I got a Kanji on my nape from a less known tattoo artist in the city, took him ten minutes to put the design nicely in place. Well spent on this thoughtful wish, resulted in a well engraved-quick healed tattoo. A little pain and meager aftercare is what it took to flaunt my new self.

Hope like this one, I make all happy decisions ahead and keep ticking my wish list :)

Holi Special- Besan Laddoo!!

2011-03-21T21:27:00.001+05:30

“Out of the numerous options for delicacies, my husband voted for Besan Laddoos for this year’s holi. Hence, the holi challenge for me :) After taking the expert tips from my mom and aunt, I started with the challenge at 4 in the evening and completed it successfully after continuous efforts of two hours in kitchen. But at the end of the afternoon, I must say it was worth the efforts with loads of appreciations showering and a sweet tooth quench!

One of simplest in ingredients yet tiring recipe for Besan Laddoos require-

Ghee-Sugar-Besan in the ratio of 1:2:4 as in:

1 cup melted Ghee

2 Cups powdered Sugar

4 Cups of Besan (chickpea flour)

4 tbsp suji (Semolina)

20-25 roughly grated almonds

½ tsp cardamom powder

6-8 roughly grounded pistachios

Steps-

- Mix Besan, suji and ghee in a kadai or wok and then roast the mixture on low medium. Keep stirring the mixture continuously to prevent burning of Besan and it has to be done on low-medium to ensure proper roasting of Besan.

- When the color changes to light brown and sweet smell of Besan starts coming turn off the stove and keep the mixture for cooling.The oil would start to separate from the besan after roasting.

- Meanwhile roast the grated almonds and keep aside. Roasted almonds adds crunch to the Laddoos.

- When the mixture becomes bearably warm, pour the contents in a different bowl and mix in powdered sugar, almonds and cardamom powder preferably by hands. The mixture would become slightly dry yet binding after mixing in powdered sugar and almonds.

- Now, make small balls of the mixture using fist and keep it in a plate.

- When the mixture is used, touch the tip of each ball with minimal ghee and then pistachios to garnish.

- After the Laddoos are cooled down, store it in an air tight container. The ingredients would be sufficient for 20-25 Laddoos depending on the size.

I loved the Laddoos for the presentation as well the taste and also the aroma of the Besan which lingers around the house and the hands which binds it :)

Cooker Cookies

2011-03-19T19:16:00.002+05:30

“Another day of experimentation; this time for the urge to finish off the homemade ghee prepared by my mom-in-law, a couple of months back. With the growing health consciousness; it is a challenge to have the old belly builders – ghee and butter especially as a garnish on parathas or rice. That’s how an opportunity is built for another achievement on the ‘tried’ cookbook. I always wanted to make biscuits as my mom but unfortunately could never do that because of my unconventional microwave :( Recently, while checking one of the blogs on cooking – Simply Spicy I saw the cookies – creamy yellow biscuits yummy…couldn’t hold trying them in my old friend – pressure cooker :) No doubt, the one in the link were straight from the expert’s hands but I think the variation would satisfy the learner’s quest!

Here it goes, I used -

3/4th cup All-purpose flour (Maida)

½ cup melted ghee

½ cup ungrounded sugar

Few cashews and almonds

I started with mixing up flour, ghee and grounded sugar and making dough. I added some flour while kneading to achieve the consistency which is soft yet binding. Once the dough is ready, I kept the salt layered cooker (as in my previous post for chocolate cake) with closed lid without weights for about 5 min. This would preheat the cooker making it ready for baking. I made small flattened discs of the dough placing a cashew or almond in the middle of it. The discs are to be placed in the tin maintaining some distance among them. The tin doesn’t require greasing plus the cookie would inflate a little hence the distance between the two is must.

Place the tin in the cooker and keep it on medium-slow flame for 10-15 min. If the cooker is preheated well for 5 min, around12 min would be sufficient. The discs would still be soft when the lid is opened, here is the note – I too got worried concluding it to be a failed attempt but after 5 min when I thought of tasting it – viola! It solidified on cooling and tasted awesome. I tried in two batches, first one with cashews were a bit over baked (15 min) but the second one with almonds, kept for a little lesser time (12mins) were liked more as they were more crunchy and melting like nankhatai.

Finally, invert the tin on a plate and store the cookies in a tissue paper layered air tight container. Serve it to your loved ones just to have the hidden appreciation in non-stop cookie picking :)

Chocolate Cake Weekend Challenge

2011-03-06T20:23:00.003+05:30

“I love experimenting and taking up challenges in the kitchen, despite I am just a year and half old to the regular kitchen work. Weekends are the best time to put all my skills and resources on fire to end up a spelling delicacy. This time was to consume a half Italian dark chocolate bar lying from quite a long time in my refrigerator and p.s. my microwave is a lazy baker. Hence, chocolate cake the grandma way – yes cooker cake was the challenge. Lots of time and efforts and managed to gift a soft and spongy cake to my palette.

Here it goes,

Requirement:

1 cup all-purpose flour (Maida)

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup powdered white sugar

Powdered Sugar


Flour and baking powder

Little below 1 cup butter (unsalted)

50gms Dark Chocolate (un-sweetened 70% chocolate pref.)

Milk

3 eggs

1 tbsp Vanilla essence

Steps for the mixture:

Mix butter and sugar to a buttery consistency
Sieve flour and baking powder in a bowl.
Melt chocolate pieces with 1 tbsp milk in microwave safe bowl for a min and then stirring and microwaving it for 15 seconds. Or a double boiler method can also be followed without milk.

Melted Chocolate

Mix melted chocolate, beaten eggs, vanilla essence and flour-baking powder mixture in the butter-sugar mix.

A little milk can be added for maintaining a cluster-free flowing consistency.

Steps to be followed for baking:

Grease the tin with butter and sprinkle some flour on the base of it. I had used the stainless steel tin used for cooking rice in a 5L cooker.

Put a steel stand, if you have in the cooker or put a cup full of sand to make insulation for tin. It is necessary to ensure the base of cake is safe from burning.I had used salt as the substitute for sand (p.s. this is the best tip I have known of).

Salt layered on cooker base

Place the cooker with lid on for 2 min on high. This is like pre-heating the cooker. Don’t place the weight as we don’t need pressure baking.
Pour in the beaten mixture in the greased tin and place it in the cooker and close the lid.

Keep it on high for 5 min and then keep it on slow-medium for 35 more minutes.
Open after 40 min and prick in the knife to see if it comes out clean and non sticky.
Cool the tin along with the cooker and invert the cake out on the plate. The cake would leave the sides of the tin and circle the knife around the tin to separate it from the walls for easy molding out. Sprinkle some powdered sugar for icing, the cake is ready to pound on.

Cake in the baking tin

I bet, oven would fail to give that sponginess and aroma imbibed from the cooker and not to mention with the melting consistency of the cake and intoxicating dark chocolate tingling the palette…it is nothing but yummy :)

I recommend trying it and assure it wouldn’t be a flop, if the ingredients and steps are followed properly.

Ciao!!

My second day of driving lesson

2011-03-03T19:05:00.002+05:30

“Feel like a happy girl - couldn’t go for a second class on Wednesday but had enough of “in air” driving to compensate that :)

I had the second day of driving lesson today which started in the morning with my hubby taking a small test to see what I learnt on the first day. Hands-on demo for him as he had enough of the car driving mimes on Wednesday from me.

I drove for half-n-hour in the premises, considering the residential factor didn’t go beyond the second gear. Morning session ended with an appreciation from him, for the unexpected confidence exhibited on the second day itself.

My instructor came in the afternoon with one of his student. The student was three days old to the driving school and was having lots from the ireful instructor. I was afraid; if the frustration didn’t subside till my turn comes I would have a hard time today. The instructor lulled after making me take a U-Turn and a wrong lane due to the diversion. Don’t know how well to start with, but definitely scary :) Later, continued to drive on the highway and landed in the curvy residential lanes. I had an all-terrain drive today with lots of braking. I crossed two caution-school areas and switched gears from first to fourth. The aim was to understand the importance of maintaining safe distance and braking impulsively.

No questions entertained on braking today, press the clutch or not – baseline is to save the kid crossing the lane than judging the dynamics of the car (full-stop).

Session ended with again a comparative appreciation from the instructor this time - for being a better driver than his other student on the second day. Looking forward to work on control and better judgment now!

Ciao!!

My first day of driving lesson

2011-03-01T20:47:00.002+05:30

“After wasting much of our time on deciding whether or not to join a driving school, my hubby finally registered me in a local one. Till date, I never felt the need to learn - drive a car as I always had a way out – that includes not traveling at all and work from home :) I would not negate the fact that driving a car do add wings to you and give a feel of being more independent. That is one of the reasons apart from that I wanted my hubby to take a break from his pick and drop routine every morning.

After negotiating on the price, I am fixed up for a driving class for next 34 days and with guaranteed confidence to take my own car out after 16 days (disregarding the frustration of men watching another lady driver on road) :))

Preferred to learn the same model to save time on adjusting and syncing what I would learn in this month costed a little more, but anything to have a win over the wheeled monster.

Unlike the plan, the instructor seemed to be over punctual and desperate to finish off the class :( …disappointing for me as I had enough of counting the hours since morning, just to see the stinting teacher. He asked me to take the seat and Phew!! The nerve wrecking and tingly sensation started to subside. He started with introducing me to the three chipmunks in the machine – Clutch (Simon-Intellectual), Brake (Theodore-Impressible) and Accelerator (Alvin-Troublemaker). Being a mechanical engineer, I understand the whole engine and working of it in-spite my womanly senses are stronger and fail to get Simon sing for me thus a lag in clutch and gear co-ordination. Well, the first class was a quick one; wrapped up in 25 min, I drove around 6 km which included the main road with buses crossing by my side :) Unexpectedly, I wasn’t nervous, for the reason I was aware my instructor had the dual control :) if not for my safety but for his car, he would take care of the situation :p Finally, by whatever tactics, the drive built the confidence and had a OK experience for the first day – left me still hoping to tame the chipmunks all by myself soon :)

Ciao!!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-28T17:37:00.000+05:30

“Type---type---type---- back---back---back---type---back---delete………”, yes that’s how it sounds when I think of writing now-a-days. Almost 3 months now and still that gimpy feel of recollecting what happened in past days. All I could remember is pasting one of our Hyderabad Tourism pronounced snap in a gifted frame today morning and checking the marriage pics of one of my college friends on FB :)

Well…with all the preoccupations, I felt it would be unfair to ignore the space that too when I am so close to the new year and have all frozen up for this year.

I am just out of the Christmas freeze and could hear the New Year express coming on my lazy platform. All set in place, food stuffed for winters, no pending tasks, reserved ample time to catch friends on FB - checking them travel, party, marry :)

All well in the schedule – no balances for my soon to be ‘bygone’ year, in fact been a very successful and happening year for me. Had my first anniversary, bought a new house, explored new ventures, gained new degree, made new friends, sheltered no regrets and patted myself a ‘N’ times : ))

Yes, ignored my national awareness for a while in spate of exponentially incrementing the public awareness on FB but then - should have something to resolve in the New Year as well…so added that in the to-do for 2011.

Overall a fulfilling year for love too, though I have more and more to add to for the next year when I see my friends traveling and honeymoon-ing on FB:)

I missed on an extra trip (I think!!), would have been rocking ‘if only’ I had another honeymoon this year :p

Well, looking forward to delete all the ‘if only’ in 2011 and fall in love all over again in the next year and in the coming 100 years of my life with him.

With all the happy things in mind, wishing a very happy New Year!!!

Signing off for 2010.

Big Deal…huh!!!

2010-09-09T22:34:00.001+05:30

“It is good to have experiences – good or bad, if nothing better they could possibly add to the scrapbook. After my hibernation got over and I intrepidly decided to step out of my comfy – ready for disappointments and appointments :) Yes, I was looking out for a change and valuation for my capabilities so far. On my trail, I experienced a number of things few to mention - the pain of facing the n+1 guys all ready to hammer and the challenge to find that there are so many like you:(

Anyways, almost all the experiences were same except for one, which gave me an ultimate frown till date. No, not that someone pointed my skills registries (I handled that unexpectedly!!) but the problem was in my personal registries, to be specific my marital status :)

When I fell in love and decided to marry, I never thought this could actually be an act of disappointment for some old soggy baldhead!!

I think this a new elimination bow in the dictionaries of HRs or just a trick to test the waters :) It was definitely the latter for me as I steered through the trap chuckling – for I am diplomatically defensive when it comes to my personal front. Questioning me for my marital status would have been as obvious for him as for me to ask him to mind his own business. What say…doubting a married woman for her dedication at work saves no space for a married man as well to resist his loving wife…and guarantee his attendance in office :)

Dear Sir, You are requested to strike this contestation from your book of tricks as this no more holds for the new generation! Moreover, it might invite the brickbats as an honor to your guts :)

Difficult to believe but I even had this suggestion of hiding my mangalsutra :)) Big dealllll…being married is neither a crime nor it makes me any less competitive… Ufff…how childish and desperate can one be??? Girls, this is India and we have all rights to everything here; be it a job, a house or a husband ;)

My experience is just a message for all the girls that this actually happens!! So, be ready to face it, whatever be the consequence don’t leave the room – Remember Democracy :)

Terrible two’s & an extraordinary Sunday ☺

2010-08-08T13:10:00.000+05:30

“Ever since I finished all the seasons of my most favorite Sex and the City, life has been an unrealized crave for more…

Never imagined would get to hear the “Once upon a time….” monologue once again with the most unexpected download of SATC 2. Sunday is one day which makes me totally unaware of how the day would turn out to be…one of the reasons being the forecasters are on leave too :) I am not so superstitious but the future gurus have gained an expertise now or might be ‘m too smart to find the threads :) So, since the predictors are enjoying their Sundays, I assume to have the privilege to position the stars as I wish them to be :-)

Anyways, on to my subject – Today was a usual start with my maid ringing the bell and waking me up to do some un-messing for a change.

I added a little twist to my Sunday with trick washing my new wrinkled kurta and waiting and voila! Got the movie download complete by then. In the happiness of watching it, I ended with a faster breakfast and morning tea as an excuse to wake him up. If I didn’t mention, I hate watching my favorite movie alone (not to miss, I am missing on the girlfriends from quite a long time now!) – So the onus is on my husband dear to bear this role of being my GF every weekend :)

I am half way through the movie now – this time on marriages, very unlike Carrie though! It is a pleasure to watch her release the new book on marriage and terrible two’s in this version and always a pleasure watching the girls fashioned incredibly; well, a different story line but much easier to relate, after all its on marriages this time.

How terrible or exceptional can it be – being two --- inter‘fun’tion --- at the end Fun is till there!

With running two errands for five days, disputing on two choices for everything we might be in the cult of terrible twos through out the week except when we couple up to kick our Sunday mornings with two cups of tea and two movies in line...Can't ask for more..sigh.. :)

No second opinions, it is the best deal for an extraordinary Sunday :)

Just an update on my tryst toward simplicity…

2010-07-25T18:13:00.005+05:30

“We often come across discussions on leading simple life or the public hoardings preach, “Saada Jeevan Ucch Vichaar Hi Ho Hamare Jeevan Ka Aadhaar ….” Most of the generation Y folks won’t agree to the phrases and would call it an outdated idea. I too count myself in Generation Y and had the same opinion on simplicity some years back. I never considered myself simple because of my incorrect understanding about simplicity. I thought simplicity comes with fewer resources - when you can’t make it big, you do it simple..and you can’t make it big because you don’t have enough power. What a hard-headed philosophy!

Simplicity is not about the lack of power or resources but the power of sustainability without starving for more power or resources. It would be a misconception, if I say it is easy to live simple – believe me Simplicity does come for a price!

Lately, we decided to buy a house because of the obvious pressure from our families. It took an hour for us to decide on the apartment and a minute to sign a cheque to the manager – but it gave us a generation learning on what an asset is and what it takes to have an “own” house!

My father sustained a family of five with mere ten thousand bucks and built a house in nine years.The house, he feels proud of and takes it as a certificate of achievement of his last 50 years.I bow to all the parents on the earth for setting up an example for the coming generations.

I would have lived my whole life in a rented accommodation without a slightest regret of not having an own house. But I would have missed on the experience of sustaining my next 15 years on half the income for a secured future – a step ahead to achieve a simple life. I feel wise to have invested the same way as my father did 20 years back.

Simplicity is the most hyped and craved adjective - the more we think it as outdated, farther we move from sustainability.

I feel inspired by simplicity and the experiences of it - just like I had this Saturday. I went to visit an acquaintance to my uncle in Delhi and a courier service for me in Hyderabad. I had to collect my education certificates which my uncle had handed over to him during an external audit at his bank. Now, this is a beautiful skill rarely found in today’s generation. The art of holding the arm when you extend a hand for a hello! It has its own advantages – you gain an acquaintance, you add another non-native contact, you gain trust, you add to your learning of staying formal during such audits:p and also you save on the courier cost.

Anyways, I had a good experience yesterday - thanks to Mamaji :) I visited Mr. Nokkaraju, a retired Bank Manager; after various failed appointments this week. It was difficult to reach his place, despite the simple explanation of the route given by him (blame on us!). Mr. Nokkaraju was a man with simple and modest look. He was humble to an extent that made me feel guilty of calling him repeatedly for his address. Our plan to collect papers and not go upstairs to his flat was vain once we faced the old man. We clammed up by his relaxed look and obvious way to lead us upstairs. His wife, a beautiful lady in her fifties welcomed us inside as if she knew us from years. The house was big and we could feel the home by the earthen wares on the dining table. Mrs. Nokkaraju served us tea – flavored expertly with elaichi. Meanwhile, Mr. Nokkaraju started interviewing us on our job and income and our new home and future plans and……etc. At the end of the long interview we were well aware of his banking career, his daughter’s service and even his son-in-law’s income. He had a veteran career and a veteran life. I wondered if the proud ex-bank manager ever violated the rules of universe :). The only thing I could confidently conclude was that he was content with his unadventurous life with wife at home, no vehicle to risk his life, no complications of running to RTC offices and happily breathing-in all the services which the government could offer from the public buses to e-seva booths. He paid a heavy price of isolation though; to live the simple life but saved on his bus ticket by asking for an anticipated lift in our car. We listened to the old man’s experiences en route till his Nokia 1100 buzzed the nostalgic Nokia tone and he walked away thanking us for the lift.

The bank manager went inside an old government building and I was left pondering over a beautiful thought -

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.”

So true…so true…

20th page in the Diary of a woman.

2010-06-29T12:50:00.006+05:30

Secret corner in my house

June 29, 2010

“Hi Diary,

Congratulations! Today we have completed twenty years of sharing and bonding.

I don’t know your gender but I know you understand my feelings, just like a woman – the feelings, I am inking on since my childhood are safe in your heart. You hug the deepest and the intimate secrets to your soft and gentle breast just like my mother. It never happened that a bad thought stole my dreams...because I had you - to share my problems with just like my sister. I never miss deadlines or forget the important dates in my life because you are my backup - to calendar each moment I cherish, just like my girlfriend.

I am a woman now and senescent to understand my wants. You know, how significant are the rise of adolescence and the setting of teenage for a woman? That is one reason, I never forget birthdays. The stripling period is over for both of us as we have counted twenty today. I am not considering the initial seven years of my life as I don’t take them to be humanly. I was just like a dog then, getting trained to the ways of the world. But my seventh year brought me a sense of individuality and then I befriended you. I remember how close I was to ma and the first thing I shared with you was an essay on momma:) I loved the way she played with me, dressed me up, taught me, pampered me – I confess she is my best friend till date. I want that motherly care to be with me forever.

I was not so good at making friends in school, though the boys were smarter in this regard. It took me quite a long time to find a best friend. I was 12 then and very emotional for my relationship with Nidhi, my bestfriend. I never realized this till the day; my class teacher changed my seat:(

I wanted nothing except to sit with my best friend in the class.

My 13th birthday taught me another lesson, I didn’t know the onset of thirteen would turmoil my inner self. Experience of puberty is the most substantial period for a woman. This is the time, when you know there is something happening with you but you don’t know what!

Ever since, I understood adolescence around my 18, I wanted to be respected for the pain I go through every month to be more feminine and ripening to bore a child.

I have seen myself pimpled and ugly. Though, I always wanted to be the princess on earth and …more beautiful than the girl next door. Yes! It was the first time I experienced ‘jealousy’ in my teens. I wanted to be the best in looks, studies, sports and everything that a girl can do.

The jealousy factor is the most dangerous attribute of a woman. It is born when we are girls and dies with our funeral. It is a fact that if there is a woman behind every successful man, there is jealousy behind every successful woman.

Jealousy drives a woman to achieve her wants - good looks, striking boyfriend, successful relationship, amazing sex, loving husband, laddering career, healthy children and proud death.

The point to be noted is that I never craved for more money but more jealousy. More jealousy because I know it is the fuel for my satisfaction.

This is the most realized want and the most unrealized secret of mine and for that matter - of a woman. Despite the fact that woman’s wants are far above the stature and understanding of a manly head, we want the men to understand us.
Phew!! Let it be! The world is anyways alive till now. It would be futile and not advisable to explore this deadliest secret for the well-being of the human race.

Let the lady breathe her freedom and be the ‘Janani’ – creator of the world. Let us not poke her pride for our selfish reasons to understand what she wants!

After-all who wants the world to perish so soon (leave behind the Mayans!!) – hope you agree with me dear diary:)

So, moral of the story is – better not ask a woman what she wants and even if you go a step ahead and raise this question – remain the happiest person on earth by accepting the sweet “Nothing” and thus saving yourself from confronting the womanly wrath and discombobulating the rest of your masculine life:p

Sigh......

I shall be off now, have a long day and lots to do before I sleep.

Ciao soon,

Love

A woman…

(Leaving a small memento for every woman )

p.s. The blog is an entry for this week’s contest called ‘What Women Want’, conducted by BlogAdda, in partnership with PringOO.

‘Frittata-n-Omelette’ life

2010-06-26T22:06:00.001+05:30

“Someone said that inspiration needs no ‘muhurat’; it can come from literally anywhere. There are thousands of things, if not million which could inspire us about some of the most incomprehensive aspects. Color, Shape, size and smell are the abstract terms but even they can derive a meaning out of our lives. For say, a sleek mobile can inspire me for a size-zero or a cleanly bound book can even change my way of living. Why not? Sounds weird but if we ponder on science of aromatherapy or color therapy it adds substantial support to the statement. There is range of perfumes in the market and they sell because we believe in power of scent. Similarly, though we understand the thermal physics behind black and white - we can’t help relating the colors to aggressiveness and peace. All the colors hold a meaning they give us the sensation when we see them. There are many examples like a red wrap can race heartbeats whereas; a pink coat can enhance the femininity. I have even read that eating in a purple plate could limit the appetite :P

So, if red could inspire us to love, feather could inspire us to fly, and music can inspire us to dance – moral is anything under the sky could inspire us even a fragile little egg.

Don’t blame me, but weekends inspire me to imagine and thus the analogy -

Egg could just be a breakfast relish for many, but if given a thought it is more than just a protein-bag. Unbroken egg indicates conservation and potential but on the other side it exhibits instability as well. Broken egg on ground indicates destruction and haphazardness but when poured on a hot skillet it is a different entity. I see life as a blend of frittata and Omelette. I would tell the difference between the two condiments. Frittata is an Italian Omelette which is fluffy-stuffy with vegetables and thus colorful. It is a vegelicious treat to the palate and the eyes too. Omelette on the other hand is nothing but a beaten or non-beaten egg; cooked on one or both the sides on a skillet – a well set and slim treat. Both Frittata and Omelette tells a saga on life. Frittata shows how colorful our life can be! It is a beautiful story when the reds and greens blend with each other showing love and prosperity nesting together, resulting in a self sufficient outcome. It doesn’t require a bread support unlike Omelette which is thin, crusty, touchy and light.

But it is always Omelette for breakfast and Frittata for dinner and even I prefer that way.

Philosophy behind is that I get a good sleep when I am pampered and assured that I have reds and greens in my life just like Frittata.

But mornings are meant to be fresh, thoughtless and light just like Omelette but the one ‘WITH SUNNY-SIDE UP’ for me :)

Wordless Wednesday / NPL

2010-06-16T10:52:00.000+05:30

( Pics are the publicity hoardings of the teams in Finals of Nesari premier League (NPL)- clicked in the village chowk of Nesari, Maharashtra)

“Need I say more on the impact of IPL and cricket being religion in India?

Wordless Wednesday / wordless love

2010-06-09T11:02:00.001+05:30

( Oil Can housed to shelter the pigeons - Clicked at my in-laws’ place in a small village in Maharashtra, India)

“Mahatma Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

Proud to be a citizen of the great Nation - Proud to be an Indian.

Wordless Wednesday / Gods & Goons

2010-06-02T18:23:00.002+05:30

(Pic clicked on no special request on my trip to Kolhapur)

Wonder how God is reincarnated in India for daily wages!!

I saw a peacock flying

2010-05-26T10:10:00.007+05:30

“Ever since our gym membership expired and my husband decided on natural way of being fit i.e. ‘right food at right time’, I have been abstaining from food itself. I don’t remember when I hogged the last time. Simple philosophy – high inflow and no outflow could inflate and ultimately burst the pipe especially when you are a ‘made in Punjab’ product. Continuous gentle marketing reminders from our gym on renewal of membership pumped me at times but our decision of pouring bucks in a piggy bank than siphoning out on hi-fi gym pulled me back. I knew that for my working hours and lifestyle the philosophy doesn’t fit in and I was left with no option but to diet hard to escape the belly popping out of tinee-tiny tees.

After a week, when I was still on a low fat diet – my better half couldn’t resist rice in dinner as he ate in the office (thanks to his philosophy) and the fact that rice makes the main and base course of Andhra messes. In the fear of gaining waist, I spent my weekends exploring possible options of blubber shedding like swimming, yoga, aerobics, dance classes etc. We went to various spots near to our place just to find an amazing walkway for morning walkers one day. It was an instant happiness for me to have explored the place which was green, specifically a walk-way and free-free-free :)

But a bigger challenge ahead was waking up early in the morning. The habit of gymming kills the ability of waking up early to work out and especially in the city like Hyderabad we don’t race with time but the sun.Everyday morning when I peep out of the window even at 6.30, I see the sun smilingly wishing me “Good Morning! You are second again” and I sadly go back to bed :(

It happened for a week even after the place was explored and adding to it my second shift made me even more helpless. But lately I realized, what was missing was the inspiration to wake up not the hapless working hours. I found my inspiration yesterday and finally made it before 6 in the morning.

(I would rather not reveal the inspiration now)

Anyways, the place was a natural treadmill with sandpits, inclines and stairways in a distance of 2.5 kilometers. I really appreciate the initiative of Hyderabad Municipality to open up an all-terrain walkway with a noble aim to shed those extra kilos off - the biryani belly. Though reaching the place and finding a parking 5 Kms away from our place was a tough competition with Sun but I won this time :)

I know the craving for chicken biryani is a gluttonous and sinful inspiration but it did favor to my eyes with a rare sight. I saw a peacock flying high across the road; it was then that I found that the walkway is adjacent to a national park. I have celebrated almost four years in the city and how illiterate of me, not to have explored this place earlier. Anyways, my new inspiration came from the flying peacock. I never saw a peacock flying so high, I know it sounds stupid but peacocks might be aware that though they look beautiful on ground – they are a scary sight in air, that is the reason they fly so rarely. I was appalled to see a big creature flying in air when I realized it was a peacock. I always thought peacocks are the most beautiful creatures – but today I got a lesson that beautiful things can be scarier too at times. To fit in the lesson – I have to be beautiful and not scary on the ground at the first place, flying high scares me anyways :) Factually, Beauty doesn’t come for free – not necessarily money but it requires a lot of investment in terms of will power and SWEAT. I am ready with my laces tied up for a new fitness regime of sweating out a very natural way.

Good Day!

Pain of facing the Managitionary

2010-05-08T16:36:00.002+05:30

“Head bogging for nine hours daily on the uncreative and unvarnished stuff never reminds of the lack of creativity except for when the appraisal bell rings in the mid year. Many of us would have goose hairs by even the thought of appraisal discussions especially when you are aware how inexorable your manager is!

Whatever, I am not going into the much manifested part of the appraisals and performance evaluation but the comic yet peculiar side of the two hours spent blithering, all the insatiable words of your life. Unbelievable - but I find it the most creative and printable part of the year. It is an opportunity to add on yours as well your manager’s dictionary with anagram-med yet natal and brow-raising terms :P

I happened to have my discussion yesterday which was quite predictable but interesting as I could spot the intelligent vocabulary from my appraisal form, being brutally raped by my non-grammarian manager. I am a person who loves to explore and enhance my vocabulary but hardly get a chance to be an exhibitionist at my workplace. I had penned my work in the wittiest and ornamented way I could, for the reason that it would be a maiden over for my managers as most of it would bowl over their heads :)

With such a presentation – you can easily win a crown of Miss. /Mr. Best Communication skills for obvious reasons that we tend to appreciate things that are difficult for us to understand. I am happy that I added to my manager’s plain book but I am even proud to explore the variations of the terms used year over year in such annual appraisal discussions. I swear- it would have been a task for the managers to list down the words to be used with the employees and then confuse with the examples to explain what they mean. I shall give an instance on same lines – Say,

If in the last year's appraisal you were aimed at with paintball words like ‘Proactive’ , ‘Consultant’, ‘initiatives’ et al , this year you will not hear those words again- ideally. But, if you have to - your serious bad luck. You should get a hint the appraisal would be the same this year too. The assessor found no new words and the blame is on you-you and you – suffer now with the monotonous, uncreative and tortured lecture (would not call it discussion as you just have to contribute by saying ‘agreed’ at the end of it). Poor Managers couldn’t use their jargon - take the onus…phew!

The basic definitions of the ratings makes the introduction of the discussions even if you say you are aware – you can’t escape it because it forms 40% of the word bank for the assessor, so sympathize with them and accept an assumed self-obligation for wasting your time. ‘Expectation’ forms the conclusion of the discussion – means as a next step if you were staying in office for say 9 to 10 hours – now it is the right time to invest in an ultra light Korean polyester camping tent to set up a second home at your work station. Apart from the confusions among the terms ‘proactive’, ‘initiatives’ and ‘mentoring’ – the new words which found the place in the top list this year are ‘alert’ and ‘next level’.

The words are tricky and dangerous as there is a very thin line between being ‘alert’ and being ‘proactive’. I am not aware if some sensor is being launched to have a transition but the point is - words should not be repeated next year. ‘Next Level’ is a newbie you can take in any way you want - as it can be used in many ways from the other side. Mind it the word ‘promotion’ is outdated now- it is replaced by the newbie. It could be tricky too as what you interpret might have a hundred variations in your manager’s book.

Well, this is the trend for current year – the ‘lessons learnt’ is: it is important to spent appreciable time with your colleagues cum victims to mock at the discussions in a way to understand the difference and the variations of the terms used in the current year. Even though if you try and fail – there is another way out which is to use synonyms and new words in your appraisal form to help the managers grab some. I assure it would ultimately save your soul this time but shoot up a weird ‘expectation’ for the next year. Ultimately these annual discussion ends up with a new expectation each time but a greater challenge to explore and update the ‘Managitionary’.

All the best guys! Happy Reading!

“Happily Married?” - Version 02

2010-04-23T00:09:00.003+05:30

“I don’t understand, how can people comment on something- they don’t have a grain of clue about? Surfing on net, skimming through some non-fiction books and importantly considering the regular cribs of folks around; will never-ever make you knowledgeable enough to twitter on a subject. You really need to be in the system to comment on the system otherwise it would just be like a dissipated airwave…shush! Shush! Shush!

There was an article by Karan Johar in the colored supplement of times – ‘Happily Married?’ (www.itimes.com/public/karanjohar/blog/Happily-Married).I shall not blame Mr. Editor for granting him a column on page 3 for his unanalyzed personal opinions under the block ‘Karan Affairs’. Shobha De and Pritish Nandy are others who get this privilege on weekdays. But I personally like their blogs for they are quite pragmatic, social and the subject is justified to be written about.I don’t follow any of them but would prefer following Pritish Nandy. I love all of them for their writing styles but I felt the need to drop Karan Johar for his not-so-trustworthy post this time. Shobha De would need to scribble more subjectively for the print media (newspaper) to gain the trust - so far I find her quite saucy in her writings.

Talking of the latest Karan blog: ‘Happily married?’ – I can’t convince myself even on the single sign he mentions about the cracking marriage. Let me justify what I feel, for the reason I am in better position than Karan Johar on this because I am Atleast married. Though, he has put a disclaimer on his non-marital status and it is modest but not reasonable enough to justify why he still continued writing on the subject. He claims to be keenly observant and quite instinctive – I am sorry Karan Johar but the subject is just too out of scope for your observation and you would never know the truth about-what happens between the two individuals in a spousal relationship, when they are not in gym or attending parties. I doubt if you have a married couple in your circle, who is sassy enough to confide in you about their wedlock details :-/

Disclaimer: I have no grudges with Karan Johar. I love his language and writing style. Just as a checkpoint that his blog doesn’t send out a pessimistic message to the spouses across the globe, I am publishing my piece as ‘Happily married?’ Version 2.

There are hundreds of relationship tests on net and magazines. But the point is, don’t take them seriously as they are all defend-able if you realize to be on the murkier side.I shall consider 10 signs (same as advised to be dangerous by Karan Johar) which doesn’t prove that your marriage is cracking-

First: If your husband owns both I-phone and Blackberry for no reason but liking and carries them everywhere including the bathroom. Probe!

The fact is that most of the guys are gadget freak; they love having not two but many freaky widgets around their necks. But playing mafia in the toilet doesn’t mean they are cheating on you but I am sure if any of the female population follows the obvious advice; the husband would prefer marrying a new gizmo than hanging the suspicious gimmick (you) for the life time.

Second: As the evening plan, your guy plans a movie instead of candlelight and be thankful to the IPL season. The reason could be that he is avoiding talking to you. Probe!

Again the fact that guys love watching IPL and Gladiator is globally accepted. An action flick or the IPL season would be a trivial reason to conclude on the future of a relationship. Yes, if you can’t give him company then that is not his fault. You can keep cribbing about cricket or action flicks for rest of your life- God forbid you!

Third: Your girl becomes extra conscious about her figure and be regular to gym. Her efforts might not be for you but someone else. Probe!

I am not aware of a man on earth who doesn’t like to see his girl in shape? So, please don’t publish an advice which could lead to crashing of gym business in India.

Fourth: You both plan girl’s/boy’s night out frequently in an attempt to have drinks with friends and crib about each other. This could be escapism from sharing in marriage. Probe!

Before people started writing on sharing and marriage stuff; there was a search rage on the topics like friends and marriage or tips on sustaining friends after marriage. The reason being friends are the first thing you miss after you get married, so if you understand the need, it should be a pleasure seeing your spouse freaking out with buddies rather than analyzing the reasons of his/her doing that.

Fifth: God save me! This is the stupidest of all – if your husband is having frequent business trips on Fridays. Probe:)

Shucks! Karan, please come on the public lanes and know what the common man is facing. I have met folks who work in opposite shifts to survive the city inflation. They hardly meet on weekdays and still call it a happy family. No doubt! It is a happy family- being happy is not about staging your spouse till you find him clear - but understanding the small crunches and still calling it a trustworthy happy relationship. So, please strike off the point else India would be next America-in-making with maximum number of divorces registered.

Sixth: Planning a vacation is a chore and you fight on when-where-how-how long. It seems to be not a vacation but a signed trip as both you doesn’t like to go out together. Probe!

If someone has ever planned a trip with a female friend would never raise this concern? Ask a couple what happened next – when they boarded the plane for the ‘signed trip’ and you would understand it was not a chore but a significant effort to plan the best.

Seventh: Your girl is seen crashing in every party in the city. She might be trying to shun her pains in a lush way. Probe!

Now with this advice you have taken all rights of woman to freak out and enjoy drinks. Drinking is not always about hiding the pain but celebrations too.

Eighth: Your girl starts confiding in her mother and speaks for hours with her. As mothers should be a last person to be aware of your marital affairs, Probe!

Grrrrr…I feel like blasting on this one. Now you want to restrict on my talking to mom as well. I won’t take that from a person who cries to be with his mom on all the award functions. Please ask for an opinion from your mother on this. And I don’t know who said that mothers are the last one to know of marital affairs?

Ninth: Birthday parties prove to be a curtain raiser for what you can’t see. You try avoiding each other in public. You don’t talk and hide from each other and get in the gossip lists. Probe!

Not talking on birthday parties and getting counted on the gossip list of the guests is no sign of crashing marriage. It is an individual’s personality-some could kiss in public, others prefer it behind the doors.

Tenth: You have nothing to share or talk about. The gap increases not only on communications front but in bedroom as well. Probe!

You have pasted all the reasons possible and evident of a broken marriage. Still defendable, a city housewife will not have much to talk about but Ekta Kapoor’s soaps and if she understands her husband’s taste and mood; she will not blither after her husband comes home after a long day at work. If it is about a working wife- it is understood and preferred not to talk more but save some energies for the intimate moments :)

So, the bottom-line is that I am a working wife and very happily married. I neither agree with Karan Johar’s opinions nor would I advice the spouses to count on his advices. My message for the spouses is –“Please work to dress your marriage for keep and not undress it by playing a bare-all test game.”

Julie & Julia

2010-04-16T12:55:00.001+05:30

“Lately I have come across the scenario of quitting job for writing. I understand there are many aspirant writers. But the point is, what is ‘that’ which makes them one?
Passion, laziness, easy money, unemployment, boring life, frustrations, pocket money or just like that? I am referring to the folks who are siphoning a requisite amount every month and are in to a 9 to 5 toil. I am one amongst the crowd the only difference being that I realize the fact that my non-passion offers me far more than what my passion could earn me. It would actually be a riskier investment because there are not many known writers- not counting on the unknowns as it would take a life to dig and add.

I am not denying; the passion for writing is incorrigibly pure and deep. A successful deliverable to my client is a pleasure for me but a mere duty. But a successful delivery of my thoughts on paper is far more satisfying than the former. It is at times, nourishing to an extent that I start considering the 2 hours of writing to be the most fruitful effort in timesheet over the 9 hours of servility in the air conditioned cabin.
‘I am’ anytime my most important client :)
My message is for all those pink pajamas like me who are ready to dump their creased trousers for their passion- Think again! Life is not too rosy as we think it is.
But there is a middle way which is riskier but not more than the option of quitting the job.
The idea is to resume the passion along with the servile necessity. The bet would be on the personal life, love and relationships. As a fact, true love never goes unpaid it will stay to support till the last moment irrespective of whether you win or lose.

I am pursuing my passion every day and night with my love by my side constantly supporting me in whatever I do. There are hiccups many a times because of multiple deadlines and I run short of my personal clock. But, since I have my love still there waking up whole night to keep me awake to stand on my commitments; it is a cake walk :)
Just like my life and many others, there is a movie on the same plot called “Julie & Julia”.
On one side is Julia of yesteryear who spent more than half of the age in nurturing family and then took up passion in the last few years. On the other side is Julie of today who balances family, work and passion betting on every important aspect of a woman’s life. Both have a supporting partner by their side but Julie is more aware and a bohemian in everything she does.
Girls! We need to dress up in Julie’s wardrobe and achieve everything we deserve out of our passions-nurturing our family and dreams hand on hand. I really recommend all the ‘to-be Julies’ to watch the flick to let the hidden passions fly.

Hyderabad-Indiblogger Meet 2010 – The first hand account!

2010-04-11T19:57:00.002+05:30

“Finally the most exciting event in Hyderabad city came to an end- an hour ago(FYI : I am writing at 7:00 pm IST).I have just landed at my place and thought it is the right time to report as the memory is very much fresh now. In three words, “It was Fun”, do I need to write more?:)

First of all, Thanks Indiblogger team for conducting this one!

The event started at around 2.45 pm after the attendance was appreciable to begin with. The first thing we saw after entering the hall was warm and welcoming Indiblogger team in black tees. That is the attribute of a good host…kudos!

We registered ourselves and took our seats. I could see many familiar faces from Indiblogger portal like Renie, Anwin, Anoop, Balaganesh et al running around the hall to get the things in place. The set up was perfect to make the whole event interactive and fun-filled. The projector screen showed the attendees status and continuous twittering from the fellow bloggers. The event triggered with the introduction of the Indiblogger team from across the map. Not to miss the burqa guy running out part and the small petty teasing added a spice to the meet making it a perfectly garnished attempt!

Univercell guys stood at the back of the hall were indicative of a good monetary backing for the meet—food was of course a bigger indication though :)

It was surprising to find the varied blogging crowd in Hyderabad. There were hairy to grey-hair to no hair bloggers across the hall (this was one of the twitter during the 30 sec of fame session too!).The hall was for once full of grey matter unaware of the big things happening outside the venue. Scratch the back-live and let comment part was fun too- I was reading my sheet and remembering the faces who scribbled and I have bookmarked the blogspaces already!

I won’t write about the snacking part—that’s personal I would not like to count on the contribution to your checks. After we were stuffed with food it was very clever to have Riyaz waking up the crowds with the weird quizzing session. To confess, I didn’t know the answer to even one question or should I say, I didn’t understand any :(

After realizing that people around were 100 miles more updated than me—it was a limelight part. Renie decided to have a group pic kind of thing. It was 10 mins and the full picture was on the camera rolls. I bet the most memorable one!

I missed out a small but important detail-apart from the open forum and Univercell-official blogger event- there was a presentation on blogs for charity (contributed by ad4good guys) and a discussion on setting up an official Hyderabad Indiblogger group to make it a standalone fun from next time. The news can be caught soon on Indiblogger forums.

Lastly, the most awaiting part (after snacking though!) of collecting our tees happened and we left the place stuffed and dressed :)

I hope I don’t sound too selfish but Thanks team for giving us ‘Roti, kapda aur Makaan’ for 3 hours in the scorching heat of Hyderabad!

Cheers :)

Soulmate, Lover & Companion

2010-04-07T10:46:00.000+05:30

“People spend half of their lives searching for a soulmate. They find lovers and end up feeling lucky finding companions. They are three different terms with different roles and shelf lives. I know, Shelf life is too lifeless a word to be used for relationship. But, relationships can be easily categorized that way.

I don’t know which one is short lived or for a lifetime. There are 3 videos from my favorite soap, which are the most touching and make me even more confused about the three terms-

First Video is about Carrie’s life being sand-witched between ‘shoulda’ and ‘woulda’. Carrie shifted to Paris for her new boyfriend leaving her friends and job in NY, Later, when she feels lonely because of the busy schedules of her boyfriend - she is on a swing, ready to consider Mr. Big even after three painful break-ups with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJgsdMuQF8I

Second Video is when after being heartbroken by Alexander at Paris. She finally believes the no-foul cry of love from Mr. Big and finally finds ‘the one’ for her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rdTt5jIops&feature=related

Third video is about the unrealized love between Samantha and Smith. Samantha is too far from the soulmate talks and has materialistic feelings for Smith.

Smith on the other hand is in innocent and pure connection with Samantha.

Samantha is suffering from breast cancer. She is aware of the horrendous effects of the disease but unaware of Smith’s support for her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-UCQJiZNpg

The last one is the video which sings of the friendship saga of the fantastic four.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLOmvYE0sQE&feature=related

I have completed all the seasons of SATC and am left with the question which messes the three terms. What is more important looking for a soulmate, winning a lover or finding a company?

Power of 'Restart'

2010-04-03T16:48:00.001+05:30

“The idea of going crazy in the middle of the week is real fun only if there is no *conditions apply. I did the craziest thing on Thursday night - having a no-sleep; full-night time pass - all with myself.

Thursday was the busiest day this week lots of high issues and to-dos on the list. In such a horrendous situation, I really pray my clock sprints faster. I wished I could crash at that moment. Finally, not so fruitful but the day winded up as it would have been inhuman to myself and my husband to keep waiting for dinner later 10.The only relief was I didn’t have to do any home chores as my better half had already made a better plan for crashing at his friend’s house – it was an abrupt and assumingly approved plan. Reason- it was Easter next morning and a dear friend of his didn’t want to enter the 3 days moan unboozed ;) (I simply can’t beat guys; they have a million silly excuses for partying).

Anyways, I had a whole night to myself…initially I thought I would straightway hug my bed and sign off for the day. But, then on a weird thought I decided to be awake the whole night scrolling and clicking the mouse over the whole earth. I had in a way— ‘Restarted’ Thursday - differently- with no busy schedules and nothing in the to-dos- every minute at my command.

Till the time my husband was busy refreshing with Chivas Royale, I had refreshed living a second Thursday instead. He started Friday in a Friday night way (actually his way!) and I restarted the last day just to discover a new myself after a whole night of nothing.

Friday morning was a good start but I was lost in thinking of consequences of my last 6 hours adventure. I believe there are after-effects of everything and in this regard what happened was actually something. No sooner the question popped, my browser CRASHED!

Poor thing…it had an untiring schedule last night (my entire mistake—I ignored it for my selfish restart thing!!)

I squatted – dabbed- erased – copied – pasted - downloaded and played with all the settings to spin the Mozilla globe but in vain. My Mozilla had signed off for the day and it took along the Norton security as well. My lappy and I felt unsecured, lonely and shut down with no connectivity and security :(

I started for the Friday office with the obvious grin and concern. Because of a sleepless refreshed night and sleeping browser, I was lost in thoughts and then I got the big news. The internet had started working again and on more conversation I found that the browser too needed a ‘restart’ just like me.

I wondered on the power of ‘restart’…does it work for all tangibles/ intangibles like it did for me and my lappy? The experience helped me coin a footnote to be action-ed each time - ‘when things don’t go the way it should and all hopes are lost – It is advisable to RESTART’.

Phalke chaar aana

2010-03-28T00:58:00.004+05:30

“Films and Cricket are the religions in India. Cricket originated in England and was adored by the Indians. Films were also introduced by English but it took a while to be adored by Indians. Both of them are the key to the door which leads to ‘Hindustan ka Dil’. It can sound out of league to talk about films when the Indian premier league is driving the crowd today.

Motion pictures have an amazing history in India. Dadasaheb Phalke holds the honor of adding this feather to the golden peacock, India. ‘Dadasaheb Phalke is not just the honorary memento but womb to the biggest Indian achievement in the world.

A Garrulous magician turning to a factitious filmmaker had a past of an unsuccessful printing press business. He travelled from riches to rags to riches back. His hobby of enchanting kids by his petty magic tricks brewed his passion to surprise the world, leading to the setting up of biggest ever film industry in India. The way he lived his dream to show Indians what he saw in the small tent theater for two aanas is a true experience to explore. ‘Passion of Christ’ might have scared away the crowds who just couldn’t imagine beyond a photooo, but Dadasaheb Phalke brought the same folks on the screen to surprise the English.

Trivial English vocabulary and ten thousand rupees lent against his life insurance landed Phalke in London. His straightforward approach and modest nerve gave him chance to learn the lessons in motion pictures. With the motion picture camera which he had bought from London and his studio in a bungalow in Dadar, which he referred as ‘karkhana’, he gave India her first film ‘Raja Harish Chandra’. The movie made a turnover of 57 tickets in 5 days and later a series of housefuls till the 23rd show. The ignorance of Indians about motion pictures was the key to success and establishment of film industry in India. As there was no provision for audio at that time, the movies were only motion in the literal sense.

To buy a new business from English, he sold almost all his belongings to learn about motion pictures. His aim was not to earn money but to establish the first ever motion pictures industry in India. Money was of course his priority but with a supportive wife and two children by his side, he never felt the pressure of being a bread winner of the family. He shaped his dream to be a pioneer in film industry in India at the cost of selling the vessels in his house.

Industry which started with hardly 10 actors and zero female population employs more than 1 million people and over 900 movies produced in a year. Motion Pictures became a synonym to Phalke that even the ‘char aana’ motion toys were called ‘Phalke’ at that time.

The Mayasabha group has produced a first ever film named ‘Harishchandrachi factory’ dedicated to the father of Indian Cinema Dadasaheb Phalke. The film is an official entry to Oscars and tells the story of Dada Saheb Phalke’s journey to establish his karkhana of manufacturing films.

It is an experience to watch the struggle in producing a film in the country like India where the Drama Company ruled and people were bound by superstitions and beliefs. Dadasaheb Phalke was a magician to make the emotions speak for the characters in the initial mime motion films.

‘Harishchandrachi Factory’ is a Marathi film (also available with English subtitles), a must experience for all who are a part of film fraternity and for all who love to explore the Indian History.

Four friends a girl must have!

2010-03-19T10:34:00.001+05:30

“It’s been a month that I had nibbed, crashed, boozed, gluttoned….instead the last month was an absolute crib and skull bones dig. What and how much it takes to come over the rejections and the disheartening hullabaloo? A night-out, vomit-all-out session with your boyfriend, a vacation from the work or just a small gossip session with the girls:)

The big question had turned me from ‘confused’ to ‘Confucius’ and in a month I ended up in serendipity of realizing what I need now. The magical potion was right in the corner of my lappy’s brain and I was searching for it everywhere.

To confess, I owe to the mind behind the four amazing characters in the soap called ‘Sex and the City’. I am a big fan of the soap though it is just now that I realized the magical side of it. SATC is one of the blasting inspirational boost for every girl. A word of caution though! You might need to reconstruct the thinking lane to widen a little more, to let pass the concept :)

If I analyze the story in a way to help ease, the hundreds and thousands of pink brains struggling with the same situation as mine, I shall not say it is about four single friends but it is about four personalities traversing a long way together to conquer the big bad world of ado.

Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha alphabetically, that’s because I love them all, are the four centre characters. They are the four must-have personalities that the girl must be surrounded with whenever in depression. I mean fashion & relationships; work & motherhood; love & marriage and sex & guy-get-over are the areas a girl might occasionally seek counseling in.

The hour-long coffee breaks, harmless gossip sessions and limitless shopping can pump your adrenaline levels to get over the depression wall. We just need to pick a right device or a right company I must say, depending on the phase we are passing through.

I shall detail on the four angels who can club a full package to burst free any situation-

First angel is ‘Carrie Bradshaw’, she will be the one who will work you out on the most difficult decisions like What to wear, what not to wear? Where to bump your head, where not to? Got stuck in a relation, feel like a difficult chewing gum—run and shun or crib with a bib? ‘Carrie’ type girls make the most adorable and needed lifestyle friend for a girl. Her company is most craved for on the frequent basis. Better she be an available and genial person, else you might land up in an endless loop of troubles. Not to miss out, apart from the lovely foursome, a gay friend in the life just like Carrie had Stanford Blatch who gave classy girl advices; brings an assurance that you have a harmless man to party with. An entirely exquisite experience of being with a man but minus the unfeminine oddly masculinity.

Then comes, ‘Charlotte York’, I understand girls are the most apprehensive to fall for and vice-versa they too easily fall for. Charlotte is one character who is an Indianite New Yorker. She believes in love, marriage and happy ever after fairy tales. After a manly face away in the office and out, she can give that soft and tender girly feel. Atleast once in a week, you get a feel you are the fairer sex (just to elaborate fairer but not weaker). She firmly believes that a girl needs a man to complete her life. Please don’t catch up with charlotte if you are having an ultra feminist mood swings. You might end up apologizing to the lovely lady for the rest of the day.

‘Miranda Hobbes’ is the hybrid of all the characters. She is strong, subtle, affable, feminine, intelligent, motherly, wifely and confused J She is a single mother, sorry Single working mother capable to handle work, kid and as well enjoy the single women boons. She is a commendable advisor except for when it comes to issues like love and marriage where even she seeks for Charlotte. She is a responsibility manager at all fronts. Her experience bag can get you out of all the legal and illegal troubles. Only caution- she is allergic to the soft craps, so don't let your lovey-dovey girl out. She can be a best phone friend and better counted for opinions.

Ah, this is the most true but bitter ‘Samantha Jones’, spit her or digest her she is always there—inevitable and insatiable. It is impossible to let her hair loose because she already looses it before you think she should. But to note for her own reasons and whatever happens then is on her terms. No dominations for her Atleast! She gets hurt once in four seasons and comes over the pain in the very season itself. She is aware of anything and everything that is important to boost ‘She’self and ‘He’self ;) She is the most carefree girl in town, takes pride in whatever she does or wears or even thinks. Samantha is a road smart girl, if you find her you shall not lose her, if you didn’t it is your luck-- be ready the grapes might taste sour in 90 ‘o’ 100 times might be.

The fantastic four will be the amazing company for any girl, when together it can be for fun or gossip or for sharing a crib story but with no conclusions. Solutions are not expected when in the group because the diverse personalities could strike debates, better have all around but dial a right number when in trouble.

The foursome can be helping elfs only if you can find them to be a part of your girl’s gang. If you did…I must say,

Who cares then if you don’t have a boyfriend ;) ?

2010-02-20T09:10:00.000+05:30

Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar

Do you really want to vote again for, " who would be India's new national animal?" ?

I can't..!! No other animal can fill the space or match the majestic roar of our vanishing national animal.

Let's unite and raise a roar now to save the king rather than voting for a tentative candidate throughout the year.

National Animal is Nation's pride and identity.

Save Tigers, Save India's identity.

Join the Roar at:

http://www.saveourtigers.com/JoinTheRoar.php

Luck out of a chicken wing!

2010-02-18T10:05:00.001+05:30

“I had a few inceptions which made me believe that I am a blessed child of Arden. It is recently that the spell broke and I was rejected an opportunity. Anyways, that is not more important than the story of my lady luck shining. I have a habit of putting conditions on events and then taking the decision on whatever the consequence is. For say, I have a deadline in an hour and I don’t have an intuition. I shall put a condition, if I get a call from a customer care in this one hour; I shall make it else not. Or even worse, if I make it to this deadline, I shall make it in my next interview as well. Funny yes—but riskier too!

I have made payments, filled forms, applied for different opportunities, made critical decisions just like this…it worked mostly.

11th Feb. had a significance this year—first, it was 3 days prior to the big V day; second, TGIF; third, I left early for home; fourth, I did not went home empty handed but had the advertisement of a new chicken outlet in the city ‘ Texas Chicken’.

It was a well folded airplane in our bay which landed in my handbag and to my husband’s face finally. No sooner that he saw, the lip smacking chicken wings on the glazed airplane he felt like ordering one. We are from KFC clan basically, but the font of this new eating joint ad resembled an anonymous but mysterious white castle burger outlet on some far away US highway. Though, the franchisee is actually from Texas, Dallas but the first one in Hyderabad. In a skeptical vein, I called on the delivery number ordering 4 chicken wings. The guy on the other side was obliged to take an order but compromising to deliver only if we make the order of at least 250 bucks. We settled on an order of 270 bucks.

I was scanning through the menu that I saw some flashy offers on the ad—“ a romantic dinner for 2 at a 5-star hotel on the 14th Feb” , “ win your valentine a dessert with the combo meal” and “ win the movie tickets on the min order of 500 bucks”. I was ruled out for the last two offers because of limited budgets and first one sounded too dreamy to me.

“How can they make a dinner “romantic” yar?” I said. “Romantic is not a noun, it is an adjective. Romantic just can’t happen with 2 humans dining with a candle on the table and a power cut :)” , I mocked. Since, I had no plans for this v day because of the high credit limit; I dropped an entry for this offer. The participation was looking for a write up of 250 words about love and the best valentine gift, you have received yet. It was easy of course with the delicious chicken wing in one hand and pen in the other ;)

Second and third day before the v day did not go much well between us. It was because we both found each other too low in response to the v day plans. Eight hours of no talking on the v day and my cell buzzed at 5.30 in the evening. I missed it for the first time, as I was sleeping. I got it the second time and viola!! It was a call from Texas Chicken informing me that I have won the so called “romantic dinner” at Novotel. My husband was wandering in our 2 BHK, when I gave him signals that we were not supposed to waste the important day sleeping and watching TV but we deserved better like a dinner at 5-star hotel. It was in no time that we exchanged a laugh and got ready like a perfect couple heading to the 5-star hotel for free food and a “romantic” dinner, of course!

13 Things that are ours.

2010-02-01T09:15:00.002+05:30

“Anonymous documentary amazed me of the country I am born in. There are 13 inventions which were already born in ancient India before it created furor all over the world.

Jantar Mantar’s Sun dial is not a joke even after we had a concept of time being a continuous cycle of birth and rebirth. If water clock could judge the motion of the earth, Maurya dynasty gave us the concept of perpetual machines. How amazing could be the concept of weaving 45 yards of Indian culture on a non-perpetual machine delivering a basic necessity ‘Kapda’ from cotton plantation. We already had the Madame Tussauds born from the Indian art of sculpting which dates back to 16th Century. Who can forget the bronze dancing girl in our History books? The method of making bronze statues using wax is till an amazing chemistry. Wax replica were modeled and covered with clay followed by heating in the furnace allowing wax to melt down leaving a cavity. Later, the molten Bronze is poured over to get a live brazen Gandhi cocked out of clay.

Woody iron is the Indian stainless, standing high in Sarnath. Commendable science of carbonated iron came from jungles in India. A little bit of wrought iron and the wood when burnt in a kiln, gave birth to a simple yet revolutionary Indian innovation of non-rusty metal.

Loads of international beauties would have saved bucks only if they would have dug the Indian history. Yoga and Chiruta’s cosmetic surgery were born in India. Health and beauty lied in the religious roots of the country, unadvertised flourishing in the jungles. Indian culture always aims at health and spirituality. That is the reason we never had let small pox finish our community. Flushing away the ills in the first commode drainage found from Dholavira excavation, we have set a seat for millions of bipeds to relieve every morning.

Zero, which changed the face of mathematics, was also on our invention card. Being the arena of warfare and kingdoms, we have always scored a plus zero be it in global canvas or on the chequered canvas of ‘Shatranj’.

Wonderful concepts of physics were born in the religious roots of India. It is the Indian philosophy which does not make us good marketers. The inventions were totally a different scope of work, it aimed at necessity rather than prosperity.

India has the achievement of being a ‘Zero se Hero’ with the discovery of revolutionary nothing to ticking the world with a sinking bowl.

Proud to be an Indian!

Diamonds are forever!!

2010-01-10T19:34:00.002+05:30

“I believe everything on earth comes with an expiry date. Fortunately, most of the commercialized ones have a shelf-life tag to identify the burial ceremony. As long as I can see the scientifically tested date, I am not bothered exception being the food I cook :) Who would be a better person than myself to tell that my culinary products expires the moment it feels the palate of the victims? (I am NOT serious Mind it!!).
Keeping aside the obvious, talking of the foreseen like machines will have a determined life depending on the way it is used. There is an optimum course to be followed for an optimum shelf period. More usage is not always lesser life, but a non-efficient usage does decide the factors. Stagnancy is death- another anomaly which stands parallel to the theory behind the machines. On one side where kinetics reduce the life other side high potential and no kinetic conversion is a factor leading to extinction. The best example could be humans and fruits. An apple is better off eaten than refrigerated, similarly as humans are the best working. The life of an apple is unpredictable till it is plucked from the tree; similarly lifestyle of the natal decides its demise only after the umbilical cord is cut.
Another aspect is complementary and approximately virtual like ‘man’ and ‘woman’, ‘diamonds’ and ‘girl’, ‘salt’ and ‘soup’ et al. The terms are complementary; they hold no significance without each other. It will not end the life but deteriorate the rest of life, if isolated. So, considering this; if Diamonds are for-ever for girls, it is just a lifeless stone otherwise.
Tagged, non-tagged, standalone, connected are the four possible categories of absolutes on earth; I am aware of, for which there is a determinable shelf life.
Giving a thought, if there is a shelf life for all the absolutes; does love age or love isn’t an absolute yet?
It is on us to shape this diamond for our lives to make it last ‘forever’.

A trip to the land of low cost brands

2010-01-04T11:38:00.001+05:30

“Starting the day with betrayal from a fixed up cab driver, we were almost at bay with the idea of traveling on board to the neighboring country, Nepal. Fortunately, we met another cab driver though he was not known to us but was experienced enough to tackle the casual custom checking. After being relaxed on the checking part, we had a concern on the measurement of how far would the Naxalites allow us with safe shopping. We settled on traveling till Bhairva which was 15 Kms away from the Sunauli border located at around 90 Kms from my native. This was the safest periphery according to our cab driver.

We started for our destination quite late in the early afternoon.

After three hours of traveling, we realized that not withdrawing enough money was one mistake which could delimit our shopping budgets; not only because there were no ATMs on the way but also it would be a cross currency trip.

Money crunch was resolved when I came to know that mom had enough cash to facilitate shopping for both the couples, but there was another welcoming. There was a huge traffic waiting for us at the Sunauli border, which intimidated me with time crunch as well. But luckily, the cab driver had good connections at the border which got us way in sooner than expected.

There is something weird about the cross border trips. Every security guy would take you in suspicion provided you act smartly to blow them off. So, the cab driver was constantly asking us to behave normally and keep talking. Being extra smart at dramatics, we managed entering in the foreign country without hassles. No longer that we entered the border; the scene changed, the dogs were unchained and they were free to run to grab the bones from everywhere. We were like dogs, chained by security checking and the cab. Cab stopped for permission ticket and we grabbed on the cheapest deal on the nearest available selling product – apples. We moved on with the plans of bigger bargains and entered the Bhairva market covered with jackets and shoes and cosmetics and gadgets. The plan of approximate shopping with no list was a bad idea. Shopping in Nepal is like a monopoly, planning could get you good bargains and a very satisfying shopping experience. We wasted first hour wandering and window shopping for good jackets. But subsequently, the hunger increased and the mad rush begun with grabbing three jackets at stretch. The clock ran fast, leaving more constraints on the time left. Market in Nepal is amazing; it is like a mini China not to ignore the fact that China is an adjacent neighbor. The Chinese impact is high in Nepal esp. on electronics goods. Every chink-chi brand can be seen in the market. Where else can you get Reebok and Nike for 800 bucks? Oh…the furry jackets for 700 bucks, Denims for 400, shaver for 350, stylish handbags for 450, all branded cosmetics at half the price. A complete transformation of the looks with chink-chi brands in 3000 bucks only. Yes, Xerox no doubt but as my personal experience, I still have the childhood Nepali paraphernalia being inherited by my smaller cousins.

After a tireless and thirst less shopping for four hours, a sense of happiness lingered in me, firstly because I have invaded a market of dreamy brands at much lower cost, secondly I have no idea about how was it possible and thirdly…I am a foreign Return now ;)

Diary- December 25, 2009

2010-01-03T23:15:00.001+05:30

“Every city has a story to tell. Every animal has a story to tell. Every social animal has a story to tell. Everything has a story to tell. With a natal year on the way, We all have stories to tell so that we start a new year with nothing unspoken.

Andhra…errr…Telengana!!! My city has also a very confusing story to narrate. My work state has got into an identity crisis. Though, born half a century back, Andhra is still in a fix to decide on its Namakaran ceremony. Andhra is a forerunner in the literacy race in the country. But, the deadlock created by the dear Andhraites made the world doubt the fact.

Tied in the political dilemma, the mother of state could not do a baby sitting properly when baby KCR created tantrums by refusing to have his cerelac. Babies cry- a fact, babies demand- a fact, it is babies’ very innate nature- a fact, I understand that, infact many of us understand that. But the point is why this is still an undeterred fact for the Congress. Did the Andhra crib shrink to accommodate the twins or the babies are now big to get into different beds now?

Moving the focus, the month brought tremendous luck to me instead. I would not say that I really want the month to repeat itself as it would be wickedly selfish on my part. But yes I really wished to end the year with royalty. As with my company hitting a bad crisis, lifestyle was something first to catch the flu.

With an unbeatable temptation of sumptuous meal with wine, my mom managed to get us book a trip to home for New Year celebrations. My excitement was blithering with my no reason smiles and lower efficiency at work :)

A daily discussion on the plans for celebrations was always on my lists. Tensions and unannounced shut downs in the city didn’t touch pass my plans for shopping. Little planning here and there, the last installment shopping is done.

The bags are packed for a long trip to excitement and amazing food.

I shall break the nib as this is all in my story for the year end and would actually like to hear,what is yours?

How Indian is the business of ass-kissing??

2009-12-05T20:30:00.001+05:30

“This is the question about the most followed ancient trends in the service industry, sycophancy. I can guess that the trend of bootlick would have originated from the time of kings and emperors. When the poetic dedications in praise of the kings gave monetary and status benefits.

No longer has this been realized, the golden rule is written in the books of easy success, “Fawn the boss”.

My analysis would say that the F trick is not of Indian origin but inspired from the west again. Unlike in the west, because of certain cultural constraints in our country we have slightly modified the F trick.

Otherwise, Fuck and Fawn are quite similar in their final outcomes with just the different flowcharts.

I had planned an observation week to track down the rules to grab the boss’ flick and in a way defining the Indian ‘F’ trick-

First rule; never try to show smart in front of your boss. Remember you are a dumb-ass and will always be, when he is around.

Second rule; since you have now accepted you are an ass, act like one. Ask the boss for every stupid hitch in the work I know you might be capable of sorting the issue but forget as this violates the rules.

Third rule; the only way to gain credit is giving it all. Praise your boss for everything, even for the things you did. If he is modest, he will give you yours back.

Fourth rule; never ever show your thunder on his face. The glitches are better in the deepest chest; never let them out for your own good.

Last rule, all the rules above follow the “*conditions apply” clause. If your boss is a type ‘A’ who expects and rewards sycophancy, give him to the brim till you are servile but make sure that you kick his ass before breaking the cage. On the other hand, a type ‘B’ boss is worth a hundred job switches; never leave him without sharing a toast.

I understand Indian algorithm to F trick is quite time consuming and dangerous but it promises the returns for a longer period, infact till the management changes :)

Whereas, the western trick is a repetitive effort for bigger gains in smaller time frames.

Wherever you go or whatever you do, when there is a top, there will always be an easier ladder to climb up. Though I am not so expert at the toady way of getting the things done, but definitely patient enough to wait for the ladder to break off the summit.

Oops! I can hear the twang in the ladder; I think the ladder is also fed up of the overcrowded steps.

The crowd is a step ahead, but I am happy, disparaging, climbing and still twinging my rope, proudly portraying the original Indian values and with no F tricks written on the good books yet…

Half way to go Girl!

Cheers.

Just an Update.

2009-11-25T12:31:00.001+05:30

Hi
This is my final day in Lonavala for the marriage of my husband’s college buddy. It wasn’t an apple pie to get there but had to travel for the full day. We hooked in the bus from Hyderabad to Pune and thereafter a local to Lonavala.
The marriage was grand as expected, but some how the weather at Lonavala didn’t turn out to be as imagined. There was nothing wintry about the place as I surfed on relatives and web.
Despite the disappointment from the weather, we enjoyed and captured our stay in the amenable resort.
There were friends pitching in hotel-chatrooms, night-long mimickery, old day’s discussions, professors, hotties, dudes, air hockey sessions and everything else on our mongering list.
Not only that I got to explore my husband’s cranky college crushes, but the two days was more of nostalgia, memories and FOOD: D
Marwari shaadis is only about hospitality and Khaan-paan. We were stuffed with loads of sweets and delicacies every time we grabbed the chairs in the pandaal.
I am feeling after the last meal at Lonavala that I had enough to make myself jog for another 3-4 days.
With a very heavy heart of not willing to leave the place, my bags are packed and laces tied, the good time has come to an end.
We are starting for our pavilion with an increased baggage of memories and new friends.
Ah…I can’t end the trip without Lonavala Chikkis and ofcourse Wada Pav. Got to carry some back to Hyderabad.
In rush now,
Cya ,

Take Care
Garima

Bad day and new neighbours!

2009-11-05T22:45:00.000+05:30

Lately, while reading the cover story on bipolar personality in some health supplement of a magazine, I realised that I am caught in the symptoms of the disease, which I mistook from long as mood swings.
The idea of becoming a bipolar patient on the full proved basis, made me even sickie.I didn't accept the fact till, my husband read the article and mocked at my weekly depression problem to be actually a beginning of bipolar disorder.
Late in the noon, when I was busy in kitchen, there was a knock at the door.I generally don't entertain knocks to the door bell. I take that as the sign of some service guy at door, because no nonsense guy would ever go for the stairs just for the reason he doesn't know how to operate the lift!
I yelled to confirm who was at the door for the reason that the eyepiece was too high for me to check and my shorts were not too impressive to be exhibited.
When nobody answered, I peeked out from the half opened door to see a girl, supposedly my new neighbor who wanted to know, if there was a power cut.
Then I realized that actually it wasn't her non-sense that made her to knock but the power cut.
After the inquiry was shut, I found my husband all ready to complain about my yelling..pheww not another lecture please..not at all in the mood.I will take care..
He is intelligent to sense the temperature , so he kept to himself.

Late night, when we were in the mid of scrabble session, the thumping outside my door alarmed me.
On checking, we found a big family shifting at in the adjacent flat 'This neighborhood is confusing..'
We couldn't sleep for another 2 hours because of the shifting sounds.
For some 4-5 days I could hear kids, aunty, uncle which was a different feel as I have been living here for 2 years with not even an echo from neighborhood.
"It is good...the floor is no more haunted", I said.
"yeah..we should talk to them ..", my sociable husband said.

He didn't miss a chance till today morning to peak in and find what is in the neighborhood.
It is always fun to know about others private lives esp. when it is your neighborhood. Following the rule, I am supposed to know my neighbor more than they do :)

But today afternoon, I heard the same thumping again, ignoring to be coming from the road. I continued to do my chores.
It was when I went out to take my dustbin in, I saw a whole lot of guys from movers and packers standing out. "Oops! Another shift....but where is my dustbin?"
,Oh my God! those shitty guys had gulped my dustbin under their cartons. I had my bipolar evil coming out till I noticed my third new neighbour with his grandson stood smiling at me.
what a cost of making good neighbors! I have no worries but difficult to cope with my bipolar disorder over multipolar neighborhood.

Who sells Who?

2009-10-26T11:30:00.000+05:30

“Is this about advertising and endorsements??”

“Might be!” I replied.

I continued, “I had a dream. I was in an extempore among executives in a business school…and I struck a concept to be discussed...”.

“Baap re…bata kya dekha”, he mocked.

I bounced back some 5 hours back in the dream sequence.

“Hello Ladies and Gentlemen…my concept is coined ‘Who sells who?’ ”.

Suddenly, there was a Huss-fuss in the hall.

“What is it about Mrs.Bhatia? Can you specify the category please?”

“Sorry Sir I didn’t decide the category for the concept, it is just an observation and some physics…I tried applying a Newton’s first law between marketing and HR”. how???

“Sounds innovative please go ahead”

“My speculation is the value which an individual adds to the service is directly proportional to the value, he adds to himself…Say for instance, a proficient sales man Rocket Singh at an Auto show impresses a group of individuals by promoting his small scale 2-wheeler and at the end he is offered to join a 4-wheeler multinational. In this case, what will you say?

Did Rocket Singh sell a scooter or did the scooter sell Rocket Singh?

It is vice versa, his proficiency sold scooters and his scooters were the justification of his proficiency which sells him to a larger net. Someone’s marketing boost is other’s HR advent.

Another instance being Phuket Singh who delivers a service to his client and he presents the work as a justification to his proficiency to a third party.

There is a thin line between both the instances. Both provide service, one works at Marketing level and other one at Operations.

Visibility for Rocket is more because of obvious reasons being profile and level.

Rocket Singh does not need to justify his work to a third party and he can even sell a bad service to the customer.

On the other hand, Phuket Singh has to justify his contribution and service and he is not in the position to deliver a bad service…”'

It was no sooner that the long discussion struck between me and my husband. He is a MBA and ever ready to discuss on esp. topics like these.

“See, I am not a MBA, neither do I have a management hands-on, reading a few books and daily observations might have shaped my dream. I am not attempting a thesis, it is just a view dear”, I said.

“yeah...yeah...yeah...it is good you thought…”

It would have gone long but suddenly, there was a knock at my door…my maid was there to provide her services.

I was upfront thinking about retaining my resource and shunning any chance of third party grabbing my proficient and optimized paid maid :))

7 days of hell and ‘m alive on my proteins again.

2009-10-10T09:58:00.000+05:30

I believe in a glamorous lifestyle and really tried hard to incur one.

That’s absolutely for no reason and justification to my family for why ‘m I killing my immunity day after day. I was around 34” in waist before I joined my college. That was all the love and nurture my mom and granny bestowed on their lado.I am a Punjabi girl, there is a typical weird problem in our families that they stuff their kids to the extent they are ready to obtain a new merchandise from VLCC after around 16 years of hoggy investment. If you draw stats for obese percentages on type of families, Punjabis would definitely top the list.

I remember the embarrassing day, when I went shopping for my first day of college and couldn’t find a costume which could fit my size. Later, addressed as aunty on the first day of college by some rowdy group of ragging seniors. It was hellllll!!!

That was a day and after 26 months, when I was flattered to date on most weekends.

This time it was my hostel mess which won the crown. The package wasn’t for free, I had a serious immunity attack for my unhealthy slimming down.

I went on; it took a good 3 months for me to gain a 2” in waist after almost 1 year of engagement with my BF. On his continuous disbelief on the girl, he proposed was 2” slimmer got above head and I fell to dieting again. I didn’t want to lose a tentative husband for good food. If you ladies don’t believe me, you will be at loss; your weight is inversely proportional to the speed of the dating vehicle. And no guy would like to have a low mileage bike except it is designed so like Enfield.

I lost a good 6 kilos in 2 weeks before my marriage. I was on my custom diet plan of flax seeds and green tea to carry my day, followed by loads of salads. I cut down on rice and chapattis totally. Family as usual started to point on my diet which I would never understand. They want the stats which are impossible, 28” would be too thin and 29” would be too fat to stand. But why listen to others when it is your body??

Recently, my husband and I fell to the pangs of viral. It was hell each day, as if some bad omen fell on my happy family. Both of us bed ridden, checking each other’s temperatures every now and then. We lived on milk and apples. He took 4 days to recover and I am still recovering. Everyone blamed me for the viral as if I air bourned the virus of my dieting. I am tired to explain that it is not the salads which caused the viral, but it definitely didn’t help recover soon. In verge of having a good physique, I lost on the stamina. I had a 6 minutes backup. This backup made me capable of making tea and lemon-honey daily. After constant stuffing by Aayi from last few days, the backup has improved considerably to sit in office for 7 hours. I black out after debugging the code for 20 mins continuously.

I am on my way to be fit but I didn’t give up on my protein diet, as I understand not to blame my diet for viruses. But, I understood that this viral thing is hell—God forbid you from viral. Smaller the microbe and it can suck you out of energy and confidence.

But hell which I faced on my first day of college was anytime much painful and non forgetful than the 7 day viral I faced now.

And I blushed...

2009-09-23T13:45:00.000+05:30

Ever since, I came into the interactive mode, I am known for my ‘bindass’ style of living. ‘Bindass’ in terms of my college-mates was being tom-boyish and carefree. I never cared for how I look or how I can impress a guy. Subsequently, when I entered the corporate world, this tom boyish attitude transitioned to a feminist cave. Next, when I fell for my husband, the feminist fire became very airy-fairy. We mostly discussed everything on earth with no insecurities, suspicions or hesitations. A very thin but strong wall of faith and frankness stood. One day, I found I never blushed when I was with him; rather he had so many times. When I discussed this aspect of my nature with him, he was as normal to confess that he is already aware of it.

I wrote a Rule in my diary with little doubt in my heart though: “I can’t blush”…hmmmm
“Is it!!!...do guys like blushing girlfriends???”

Ever since, whenever he looks at me I start thinking...” Do I need to blush...Oops! I am dumb...stone hearted completely...unromantic collegiate huh”

Whatever, I am married now (shameless still!) and we are having a good life…which means I am happily married :)
I have stopped catching my blush-y instances.

Today, we were off for a Royal Enfield treat in cakes n amore that it just came out during casual talk. I was pointing to my husband on being an atheist as he was having a chicken calzone despite of my telling him about Navratras. Anyways, it wasn’t that he was doing it for the first time; he had made up fake religious stories during Ganapati just for having an omlette.

As for my habit of blustering, I continued and told about his being so shameless that on his engagement, he barged into my hotel room to get groomed for the evening.
It was that sentence...and I smiled. I was kind of blushing, thinking about my engagement day...…

(Flashback)
After many communications between our parents, we settled on Belgaum to be the ideal venue for our marriage, as it was convenient for our guests to land in Belgaum than in Kolhapur. We were staying in a hotel with all our guests and the baraat was traveling from his place which was around 40 kms from the venue.

My Father-in-Law is a principal and as expected very disciplined and punctual. He had instructed both of us not to meet or step out before the engagement. Though, I took the advantage of the distance and had a trip in Belgaum in search of beauty parlors. It was around 15 days that we had not seen each other.

On the engagement day, I was already an hour late for the beautician’s appointment and was rushing to leave for the beauty parlor. I stepped out of my room with my paraphernalia that I saw a big crowd of my relatives rushing out for lunch in the restaurant downstairs. And suddenly I saw him…taking the advantage of the mob gushing towards my room…and hush-h-h...my mom encountered him...he bent down to do a learnt exercise of pairi-pawna and moved on..he rushed in our hotel room and got the room vacated to get ready..
Oops! The whole thing happened but saved to get attention because of the hunger pangs. After a minute, someone realized that he was the groom. But what is he doing here...he was supposed to be with his family at the venue.
Without wasting a second, I rushed out to save myself of the looks my Tayiji and Nani would give …I don’t know, what they thought..but I heard my Tayiji murmering..’ yeh yahan kya kar raha hai…yeh aaj kal ke munde..kudiyaan..raha nahi gaya hoga..dekhne aa gaya ..” ;)
And before I could derive something my cell phone tinkled...” 1 message received” -- ” was missing you..you looked beautiful..:) love, Pravin”. I blushed and couldn’t hide my smile even infront of my beautician..who was desperately waiting for me..leaving her a challenge of grooming me in 20 mins :)

What should I do...Grrrrrrrrrr?

2009-09-14T23:18:00.000+05:30

I had a wonderful life. Waking up on door bell’s discretion, starting the day with my fav daily soap, surfing, blogging, chatting, mongering, eating, experimenting...But lately something happened and it sucks to have this wonderful life!

It started with a call from Jo (my best GF) that they were planning to meet our old training friends as some of them were moving out of Hyderabad for greener pastures.

I was pretty excited about the idea except for the thing the meeting was planned on Sunday..WEEKEND. Weekends usually leave me in fix and I hate deciding between my spending time with husband and friends.

So, I set up a rule, that I will spend one day with him and could spare the other with friends. The day was going well, till he got a call from his friends and he went for his session which they address as “Baithte hain aaj phir?”

I spent around two hours watching television, one hour surfing and rest two hours chatting. I was totally bugged of TPing and was swooped in my vodka glasses when he entered. And as an expected reaction of his, I was an object to be pitied. Obviously, lone drinkers are to be pitied (that’s what he used to tell me, when I bragged him for not visiting his buddies every weekend!). [I bounced back]

The trauma of the last night was reflective in the next day too.

Sunday, I completed my wifely vows of cooking and cleaning and left for the reunion with old mates. It was raining heavily, but since I was determined to go, not because I was dying to; but my devilish thoughts overpowered my senses and I stood on taking a revenge on my husband.

I caught an auto and reached the old lanes of Sindhi colony. I used to stay there when I was a newbie in the city. I really want to cut down the days and memories spent there. As I find them the most lonely and wasteful. Anyways,

I reached the friends place, was welcomed on a note which was much chillier for Jo than for me. As one of the guys was working with her earlier, so it was an obvious excitement. But somehow, it got freaky and obsessive, actually can’t blame him, it really depends on how expressive you are!

But, the point is I still felt the pinch of hesitation from them, might be because of my marital status. Burrrrrrrrrr…I really had something which was boxing me hard inside to say something. But in vain, the conversation and obsessive-ness was on and on and on. Hats off to JO! She really amazes me sometimes by her capability of handling freakiness so easily. She finishes her sentence and it goes in my mind “---With Love, Jo”. She is too sweet to be ignored actually. They discussed technology, work, friends, CAT, MAT, GMAT ete etc etc…burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. And I discussed “ “.

I had nothing to discuss frankly. [Grrrrrrr why me!! ]

During the course, I had my husband hovering at the back of my mind. I realized that I have become over possessive and docile about my marriage. I feel nauseated, if there is any incongruity between us.

Till I accepted the fact that I am a difficult nut now, no words will fruit out from my useless mouth, which is just good for cribbing than adding some substance.

By God’s Grace, another friend of ours joined, Arun. I had met him around one year back when he came to see off her GF to office. These committed crowds are always hibernated in their commitment phase. As we talked, I found he has developed an amazing sense of humor in this one year time and it took no time for me to derive, he is out of the hibernation now. I feel sad, when I see many of my old friends had the devdas phase after training. But they came up to be amazing people later on. We talked about almost all of our batch mates and the doomed crushes during the training period.

I felt above all those crushes and breakup stuff. I take myself not less than Lady Alexander; as if I have won a quila after marriage.

Whatever, I had a good time there and I left for another challenge back home.

I had to pep up my dear husband who was inflicted by my weirdo vodka-affected- attitude, for no fault of his of course!

Later, I reached home with a rose in my bag. But unfortunately, I am not so good at it actually, so the weapon failed because of a bad usage.

Ultimately, as usual I broke down and blithered, blithered and blithered and SILENCE!!!

He understood my tormented mind. I was back smiling in his life again :))

Then, later post dinner we had our friend and boss with his better half at our place.

Just for some lighter time after a heavy dinner, my husband tickled my mood by mocking on my career aspirations and stuff. I had once said, I want to do something which is one in lacs if not billions. It is very stupid for a B.Tech-IT professional to say that though, because the loop in his life goes endless with every thought of getting out of that buggy coding work. Why not! I thought, I am actually doing something one in millions – when everybody around me is talking cats and dogs, I am not even talking…[ I bounced again]

After, the guests left, we just took a small stroll around our building at 11:30...oops! True—I have really stopped thinking even. I was lost in thinking about my one in million works, that my school friend came. He had two special things today-a new switch and his IIM status that will always be.

He gave me his card and left.

He left but his card spiked me. It said “Mr. Khetan, COO Alumuns IIM, Ahmedabad”.

Oh Good God! Wasn’t the day enough to pump me; that this came...?

My junk memory thought what would I write if I happen get such cards printed—“Mrs. Matkar, Consultant...Burrrrrrr...Engineer...Burr whatever, Alumnus MIT “... :)) MIT stands for not Massachusetts but Mahila hehehe.

Not Funny..Not Funny Garima, I thought. I retorted to my husband, what the heck ‘m I doing with my life..watching TV and cooking is that all???

Frustations gets you speak these things, but the problem was, I wasn’t so serious; when I said that…but some one really was!!

Next morning on my normal routine, I was enjoying my daily soaps “Mile jab hum tum…” ...”Love ne mila di jodi...” till he stepped in and switched off the TV. Oops! Twist in my story…He reminded me of my frustrations yesterday night. I was stoned.

He left and I started thinking, what is that one in million I want to do..is it

journalism..management..writing..Teaching…what what what burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I picked up a paper, but surprisingly not hyd times but edu times.

The first word I saw was Why Management? Oops! The notice was out today for CAT-2009. I really felt I discovered something today morning apart from the new releases and bollywood gossips. [I bounced badly]

I called up Jo, as she had been a CAT aspirant and blithered out my frustrations.

She as always gave me a promising reply and asked to think on what am I interested in? Whatever I say and it can be done in 10 lakhs.

Business investment decision hai kya, I thought.

I have developed a belief on signs today morning after the newspaper incident. Signs help at times when nothing helps...

My electric insect catcher sense dominated and I started for catching signs—

I boarded my cab and started for office—

“Loans upto 10 lakhs –Contact Mr. Shetty for more details” read on an advertisement on the yellow auto ran passed my cab.

My thoughts bounced back to my discussion with the Cat aspirant Jo, she said something about career in 10 lakhs..

[Its working. Is it?]

I crossed Madhapur..and turned to left side of road and saw “ T.I.M.E institute for CAT,GMAT bla blah”. Oh my God... I never saw this before, has this recently been opened. Education is for sale! , I thought.

[ It is actually working! Pinch me ]

“Wipro Applying thoughts” made me stronger on my newly found belief.

I was heading to my office that I saw ISB—ISB—ISB written on so many electric poles and till the time I landed in front of my building and looked up. It said “SATYAM- What business Demands”.

Business to pata nhn...I had to go back to my business for another 9 hours of the day.

But I didn’t lose my stand....’’m still open to Signs...Oops....’’m (mistakenly typed) reminds me of ''m—IIM...

[Is it working still…?]

SaasuMa's Khazana..yummy!!

2009-09-01T09:06:00.002+05:30

My Saasu Ma was in Hyderabad lately. Her 2 weeks stay was more of cooking classes for me.
As I am a Punjabi by birth; married in Marathi family, it was a challenge for her to change my taste to Marathi Cuisines. Struggling with her Marathi lingos like tikha, kandha, kothambir and batata, I feel-I have satisfied Aayi that now I can very well handle her son's Marathi taste buds.
I will be posting in recipes which are quick and easy for people who couldn't try much hands in kitchen because of studies and work.
These are direct from Aayi's books, tested and tried.

Sengdaana Chutney powder

Required
peanuts- 1 cup
garlic- 5 cloves
curry leaves - 1 stick
salt
red chilli

Procedure
Roast peanuts in a wok without oil;then rub and remove the outer rind..similarly, put the garlic cloves and curry leaves in heated wok.
Put garlic and curry leaves in grinder and juice it for secs and pour in peanuts and atleast 3 tbsps of red chilli and 1-1 1/2 tbsp salt.Grind it coarsely not too fine else it would be sticky as peanuts might lose oil.
Store in airtight container and have it with chapatis, rice and watever u feel like..good for working women who could'nt manage a bhaji in night..can very well go with chutney and roti.
Enjoy :)

Kopra chutney powder

Required
(Dry coconut, mostly available at grocery stores. It is vastly used in Maharastrian and Keralite Cuisines)
grated dry coconut - 1 cup
garlic- 2-3 cloves
Turmeric
salt
red chilli

Procedure
Put garlic in grinder and juice it for secs and pour in grated coconut and atleast 3 tbsps of red chilli, 1/2 tbsp turmeric and 1-1 1/2 tbsp salt.Grind it coarsely.
Store in airtight container and have it with chapatis, rice and watever u feel like..good for working women who could'nt manage a bhaji in night..can very well go with chutney and roti.
Enjoy :)

Coconut Chutney

Required
Fresh Cocounut - remove water and shredded - 1
mustard seeds
green chillies- 4
garlic cloves- 3
turmeric
cumin seeds
salt

Procedure
Grind coconut, green chillies , turmeric and garlic in blender. Then in another pan, put some oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When the fluttering starts, add the blended mixture to the pan. Add salt and mix it properly and take off the heat before it starts boiling.

Serve with dosa, ommlette, wada pav or anything you feel like having it with.

More to come..Toor kandhyacha pattichi bhaji,Toor bhaji,Drumstick toor,Chicken Curry..

Jan 7,2009 and Now - A journey A learning??

2009-08-14T09:47:00.000+05:30

One afternoon when I was busy in my non-routine socializing business, as it was my engagement for a change, I got a call from one of my friends. The call had foremost shaken my fiancée, as if he was told, he will be fired after he returns. But the news was even more to leave gasping, it was a dirty magic trick which happened over years and vanished the 94% of cash from the company’s account books.
Unlike his reaction on the issue, I was quite in a normal pumping. As it was in “politically correct” terms, was going beyond the letter ‘Z’ of law in verge of maximizing the shareholder’s value by making a prudent use of minimal organizational resources.
Ever since the tide got out and the corporate honcho Mr. Raju along with his team were found swimming naked in the ethical pool of business determinations, left the decision makers; striving to find a swim suit of right size for them. As a side effect, it kept me wondering what kind of audience am I.
On a deep analysis, I found there could be three kinds of audiences, one who are “politically astute” and prefer taking ethical high grounds when it comes to dripping ink on such issues. Second are the insecure section, they will rather not participate, other one are those who will express what they thought, irrespective of how “politically incorrect” it may sound. I fall in the third section, so this makes me pretty justified to take a stand of my choice with an assumption of no personal or professional grudges.
As a simple rule, when employees, accountants, lawyers intend to do wrong, no amount of legislation would stop them. It would be a wait and watch fodder for the affected community that is politicians, press, competitors, future generations, lawyers and courts.
Everyone in the affected section benefited, it turned to be a burning coal for the political campaigning; good amount of fodder in winters for the Press; ah! more of mud slinging and snatching deals by competitors; preferable time to pick up case studies in B-schools and earn visibly in short term investments; a big FAT case to indulge in with more briberies and magisterial parties for lawyers; Courts were lesser of law and more of a football blame-game.
There were enough signs for the day to come; attempting a highly controversial merger deal with a non-related, non-profitable Maytas was no ‘good’ action to be justified as utilitarianism. It was a sheer selfish universalism for Rajus, who tried another blindfold to justify their $1 billion non-existent cash. Unfortunately, it’s when the nature of law overcame in a miserable way, the government woke up from the sleep where everything is condoned till corporate pay taxes and the social responsibilities are carried out.
Then started the dirty game, which started from “What the Satyam auditors were up to in past few years???” to “Will the Government be sustained??”

After howling highs and lows, from 500 to 6 and to 100 now, we were stuffed with different views by x number of articles and discussion forums happening daily. We just had facts in mails and curiosity for tomorrow’s headlines. Agreed! It was a scam of one of its kind which happened in an Indian IT industry. But Enron, WorlCom, Arther Andersen, Tyko, Sunbeam, Qwest, Xerox etc partying in the same hall of shame were also one of its kinds. A SCAM is a “scam”, violation of financial accounting rules, internal control rules and executive ethical conduct rules; in short Sarbanes-Oxley was badly raped!!
Thinking on the learning at the various bands in the company, there is nothing from S to BI. I still go at 9 and come back at 6, addressing the technical issues as before. Nothing happened except for some projects went out, which was obvious! The talent pool in the company is strong enough to keep the show going. The company has given enough footage for the VPP guys to fish outside the company.
Good God! The company is not orphaned for long and it got the Mahindra cradle.
All the drama till today has NO LEARNING to be frank. It would be a waste of time and energies if we sit concluding on Dos and Don’ts from here on. The management was weak in their fundamentals, if they were not, the renditions above and old geezers will make them weak in knees. They have been snapped of their thinking power by the owners for the well being of their offspring. Mishap.. Can’t Help!
I feel the scam didn’t reach at the levels of workstations; it cropped at the final levels and rested in peace. So, workstations guys should not be in the position to comment, and if they do, that would be a copy-paste. Not as learning but a reminder that we, the people at the code level should not move by any of the management disturbances and continue giving our part.
Post Jan 7th also, we were on our benches coding for the clients and that is one of the reasons, we are not as much effected as the top management guys. Obviously, we will never be till; we are individually implicated in the decisions of the company.
Violation of laid regulations is rightly agreed, which indicates that a redo of the management books is required prior to taking decisions for the company who runs the bandwagon for hundreds of families. Lastly, for the people like me who are more expressive than thoughtful, as with any controversy, it's no surprise that some of the scammers are being unveiled. It certainly doesn't mean that all companies are scamming, but it is a learning that unless you're personally involved, it's pretty tough to take a company's word on what it's actually been doing with its money.

At the end of the day, I would still like waking up to come to the office for my chores…that’s What Business Demands!

GoodMorning India!

2009-07-02T08:47:00.000+05:30

Post Marriage mornings are usually the craved one for every girl..as we use to see in our masala movies..wife with a cup of steaming bed tea, almost drenched directly from the bathroom manages the pooja ka thal in other hand enters the living room to wake up her last night date "her Husband".
But that looks good in the 21" screen, with changing generation..and fast racing thought process..guys don't expect their wives's to be a lovey Davey pujarin anymore..
Holds the same for my hubby as well..we have quite a bachelor morning!
My maid wakes me up and the tea craving wakes him up :)
Just a very regular morning..we lied on our TV side couch with all the entertainment stuff around..and a cup of tea.
Surfing through the numerous channels offered by the cable industry is equivalent to fishing in the dirtiest pond, till the time I fish one good bandwidth the office bell rings...and the rush hour begins.
As always..I was swimming through the saas bahu sagas that I caught quite a mature lady dancing ; visibly putting in best of her efforts to make it happen on stage in front of millions of audiences!
And for obvious reasons, it called for a discussion between us.
I found the lady to be a daring image of an Indian grandma, unlike my husband who is badly infected by WCS (Western Culture Syndrome) had an opinion of her making a fool of herself as well as Indians.
I could understand, the performance wasn't up to the mark to be presented on stage but to be enjoyed in some birthday party or a baraat. But,I really salute the enthusiasm of the 54 years lady who loves her grand children, which made her measure a 500 Kms to Mumbai from Hyderabad just to make her grand children feel proud.

I hold a strong opinion that we are no less than any Blondie individual be it in mind or body.
If Pamela Anderson could run her way on beaches in bikini and still mesmerize the audiences in her 50s, we have a enthusiastic Pamela in every Indian grandma ;)

Trust & Love!

2009-03-19T22:52:00.000+05:30

I have experienced a lot varied emotions from when I was big enough to understand how it feels when you dont find your dad around..
How it feels when your mom made you your tiffin box and you were not ready to share it just because you think the sandwich is the mom's love you are so possessive about!
Silly..I know but that is what something you couldn't define in practical terms of selfless relationship..
The feelings matures though as we grow up and learn the world beyond our pa-aayi affection.
There are many more emotions just as same..in love!
But more painful..shattering..unbearable...
Investing the best of your life for someone,you can't imagine your life without.

Phases of Getting..LOVED!

2008-12-23T22:54:00.000+05:30

I had no intention to publish this write up..till the moment, I realised some 60% of the females need my experience to prevent any of the juxtaposed situations they could create to amaze themselves up ;). If you could quantify the risk 'm undertaking now which counts some nasty expressions of my boyfriend (don't mind hh..love u) and overly inevitable hits to my blog on presumption of some search engine on LOVE,SEX..phases..and blah...blah.
Its well written than said that Love is a journey..but I would like to edit and rather say getting loved is a journey :O
Hold Hold Ladies!! you(excluding the experienced gals, you might have already won the battle, I assume ;> ) will realise that..

Lets start with PHASE I; it is the most beautiful phase of getting loved..thats because you are not aware of it!

They are the days when you pluck the petals to take the most riskiest decisions of life, your world is mostly in reds and pinks, the efficiency at work is as crested as the share price of my company..

Phase II, is the time when you become self dependent to decide atleast your dating spot..there is lesser of DOs and DON'Ts but a feel of freedom together..to note the guy is still a phase back to when he is indifferent to whatever happens around him.

Phase III, the time when you are over confident to conquer the whole world betting on the confidence; your guy holds in you.. This is the best time to fight/convince/negotiate with your family for granting a NOC to your guy.

Phase IV..is the one when you are the part of someone's life to the extent that you are indifferent to him.

Now, if you think it is the fault of the guy,,then a small correction please..poor guy has a null idea on why aren't you talking to him...

So, to summarise; Ladies kindly accept the facts that-

1. Phases are irreversible.

2. Phases can neither be created nor destroyed; they are as inevitable as our age.

3. and lastly, Phases can NEVER be transformed from one to four without any loss of peace.

N.B. Write up doesn't point to the dedication of your guy,you can still feel the shimmer in his eyes when you cry :))

Xtrasense...bah! Not now!!!!

2008-12-11T00:00:00.000+05:30

Weekends are kind of special occasion for most of us..if I say.
Not because its a rest day..but it peeps only twice in a week..I could find no better reason..
Its one day..I could have a long hours of no common sense chats..longggg hours of uninterrupted sleep...and my very dear cup of evening tea...heaven hah !
..just another weekend..when I was on gmail..hope to find some good old buddy buzzing in green in the corner....

Professionalism...possible???

2007-09-17T11:27:00.000+05:30

Few days back..I was reading my Mentor's blog..Mentor because he taught me which would have taken years for me to implement..i.e.being politically correct..
The blog was good in a way..it talked of big terms..the managerial stuff as I call it!!
I felt it to be inspirational till the date, I am a free bird..I think practicing the big words like professionalism, leadership, proactiveness...in your own independent world is no big deal, but to make it happen with the people around you is a bingo!!
I am talking of teamwork ofcourse..Its futile being professional in your own terms..because it will just leave you a slogger than a winner...but if you can survive the discouraging unprofessional elements around you and still make the world go your way..nothing better than that..lets work it..and see whats in hold for us..

Ode to the nice guys!!

2007-09-03T14:12:00.000+05:30

This is a good article..forwarded by one of my buddies..
Dont know who authored it..but very interesting...

A Tribute to the Nice Guys

I received this in my email, a very touching "ode to the nice guys". It was apparently written by a woman, and has been slightly edited to make it more family-friendly.

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and complaining about what jerks guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl's every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.
This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they're at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don't end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.
This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn't worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best run you've ever had in your favorite computer game to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn't have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing "serious" between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: "oh, but we're just friends!" And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you're nice like that.
The nice guys don't often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don't seem to get girls as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can't. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative, cruel people. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as "oh, he's too nice to date" or "he would be a good boyfriend but he's not for me" or "he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn't possibly ask him out!" or the most frustrating of all: "no, it would ruin our friendship." Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can't figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I'm going to sleep with this complete jerk now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn't last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.
So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you're sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.
Send this message out if you are a nice guy, or a girl who appreciates guys like this.

OOps! was that me??????

2007-01-16T14:26:00.000+05:30

Life always moulds us in its own absurd style (absurd as I call it!! ) because we rarely understand it :( ... and its futile to reason for that matter. In the unending run for happiness..we seldom get time to feedback our past..we garbage our mind with wat we call frustations...we have so many stories to tell its just that we run short of a tic..

Dont talk to the STRANGERS.

2007-01-09T10:44:00.000+05:30

Have you ever talked to a stranger for more than you talked to your mom last week?
Ever given a thought why you did so...infact how you managed to do so..?

you shared every bit of crap with him/her,which you will never ever share with your close ones even??
I tried to think....and I concluded that actually its always easier to confide in a stranger...
Taking for instance, when you are on some travel esp. a long one and that too alone...
what will you do to kill time????
Read some book...listen to your fav music....eat;)....peep out ( worse if the panes are tinted!!)
and the most preferred resort is chatting with your fellow passengers..
you always do that..isnt?
Just spare a second and recall the chat on your last travel..
you will be surprised that you shared something, which you will definitely not tell your close friends or your mom..for that matter.
Despite of the fact, that the guy didnt even know who you are?-- he definitely came to know that you will oppose the upcoming offer in the office, if some enemy of yours say Rakesh supports it..or say you will try on some collegue of yours this weekend..lucky if you win the date etc..etc..
The point to be noted is that you are not at all bothered about what you spoke to that stranger because you know he/she will get down on the next station....then who cares??

Waiting for the end....

2007-01-08T13:39:00.000+05:30

Phew!! I think a tough attempt to float the bitter reality of life in plain terms!!--Ya--I agree tht we always look for an end tht too a rosy one-- for every task we start wid--When I ws in school, I always thought my education ll end after I pass my boards--when I got an Alumni Title--struggle even increased.Firstly,Because my conception about life after school proved to be a myth and secondly, I got to realise that there is something called 'career' which is to be made,before that rosy end is met ( :-) So,I jumped into the arena where my opponents were none but my old school friends ( or fiends!!) --my fat mathematics and science books...ya!!CET is the term given to the nut, I was desperately trying to crack--I,somehow cracked the nut and became an Engineer. Life seemed beautiful, after I got my degree..and for the first time, I got a feel of acheiving something..out of my efforts(Thanks to the CUT-Copy-PASTE tool) . Since,every good thing has got to end..my life seemed tougher, when I found there is something like 'money' which is the ultimate goal (:-)--my struggle began --I managed to get a job--I was happy, because I was nearer to my rosy end--I found that I was still struggling for fame--promotions-- transitions--but this time my opponent was the person, I daily faced in the mirror--The end didnt exist!! I was getting submissive day by day.. struggle got my frustation levels higher...
I almost concluded that frustation is the end...
Till I found a loop to get over-- I reasoned everything--
I found there is a reason for everything and to be a winner..I should never lose the reason for certain things.

why cant struggle be the start for every good thing rather than being the way??
why cant I use the rules to make my life easier rather allowing them making me submissive?????
Why cant I decide the end rather than waiting for the time to decide it for me???

I tried it--I assured my acts never violate the rules..that became a checkpoint for me..which would have been a breakpoint, if I would'nt have realised it!!
--you might very well be aware of the quote tht u need to be in the system to change it--and believe me its fun struggling with the constraints to resolve the constraints!!
--All The Best Friends!!