The Prelude- Kahaani poori Filmy hai (With due liberty from the author- Neha- For making it even more special with her version..)

Limitations: The authorial voice is that of the girl’s friend so it might concentrate more on her and also may digress.

He was a boy and she was a girl. It doesn’t get more obvious than that. And when they first met, sparks flew. The boy talked to his freaks about the strange connection that he felt while the girl couldn’t stop raving and ranting about this meeting to her loonies. And both smiled non-stop.

Now those who know these two already know that they are incapable of a straight conversation- and so the bickering lingered one conversation after another, and these conversations lingered in their minds… The long distance couldn’t erase the effect of that first meet- and they kept reinforcing the charm through stolen conversations, time and again. And just like cosmos had it planned, they met again.


The girl had long waited to be complete always knowing something was amiss- never once denying that dreams were for real. She cautiously oscillated between denial and delusion while the boy stayed innocently confused trying to come to terms with his feelings. The made for each other bit extended to the fact that both our protagonists were commitment phobic people. But in the city of dreams, they met over movies, dinners and coffees. The closeness, the comfort, the charisma…and Candies transformed into the Lovers paradise, a nest, a refuge.


And while they kept bickering, taking two steps forward and one step backwards, all friends waited with bated breath to see it happen…because everyone knew the girl had irrevocably fallen and the guy’s friends could vouch that he was taken. Like an unsaid bond, like glue they stuck- His work took him everywhere- out of the city and sometimes the country, but he kept coming back to her, while our poor love-sick girl waited much against her own nature, patiently.


And just when I was in doldrums, because of the baby steps these two were taking, I was scared for her- knowing she had pushed herself for him beyond her capacities, loving him like she could love no one else. But as usual, (pardon my cynicism) my fears were misplaced. Yes, dear readers, I saw dreams transform into reality- thanks to these two.


And what less would do for our starry-eyed girl than a proposal more beautiful than any scene shot in any movie simply because of the fact this wasn’t reel. I must applaud the guy’s guts and gusto. He had transformed into a Hero, ladies and gentlemen. He single-handedly purchased a ring beautiful beyond words. He conspired with friends and common friends and went every length to make the moment just right.


And when she got down the car, oblivious of how this was going to be day she would never forget- he stood there, her knight in shining armour- dressed to kill, suited’ for the occasion. Oh what old world romance! The quaint tape recorder played their song in the backdrop with the love soaked picture scrapbook in a corner and flowers strewn over the bench. And a classy bottle of wine to celebrate that what he was confident, God had meant for him in the first place.


No less crucial was the place- Sunrise point, Kasauli. Meticulously chosen, painstakingly located. And here he went down on one knee and proposed to her. And in that moment, we all knew he could die for her, would die without her- eyes brimming with love and a prayer on his lips- He Loved Her.


She could not believe what was happening to her- the world had halted while her emotions moved- all at their peak- smiling nonstop, holding back a tear, turning red, turning numb, being supremely shocked, being acutely conscious, being alive. This was a moment she had waited for without even knowing. Maybe her dream Guy showed her dreams she could not even see for herself. And Dreams do come true. It was a Yes, out and out.


Finis

Special Thanks to:

Valmik Mirani: the best friend, the brother because of whom they met. The one who relentlessly took care to execute his part of the plan and also tolerated the girl’s constant yapping throughout the journey.


Samdisha: For being a great moral support to the Boy (read Man after this achievement) in the crucial final hours- for bringing her effervescent giggle into it all.


Ashutosh J: For rescheduling his flights to fit in with the plan, and more so for his awesome (dangerous) driving on the mountains to make it on time before the sunrise (though the clouds never really let that happen) and lastly for bringing me along to witness the MKP (as they called it) executed, to witness Love take over.

Read on..

This part of my life is called-The Proposal !!

Well here it is..my own personal account of how it happened!!!

Yeah after screwing my brains for quite some time now, typically me..even though I knew it was meant to be from the first time I met her in Delhi in February 2009 in TGIF. I had called my friend Girish the same evening and told him something.

We fought over 2 LITs sponsored by Valmik (her best brother/friend from school) whose head I had eaten all along that I feel there is some cosmic connection with her, so he should take me along, I need to meet her , universe is conspiring something and all bull shit..out of just no where.

Actually, infact I had just seen her Profile Pic on Orkut and dats what got me mad about her. Something clicked between us, over 2 LITs we fought over Delhi & Mumbai , of course I was defending Delhi, which city is better. Nobody won but we were too high to keep pulling each other and parted by saying on each other’s face that we hated each other- All this the very first time we met :)

In between there were occasional Gtalk and Phone calls when I used to drive around Delhi in night wandering in my free time before joining RB. It was kept alive somehow-The spark. Then came September and I moved to Mumbai- I had to literally force her to meet me and take me to Leopolds – I dunno it had been a while I had done that. Those were the most amazing moments we had in Mumbai- The INITIAL phase. She took me to my favorite place in the city now-Candies- Our Love Nest :)

It’s the only place in my memory which I have frequented almost 5 times a week during our peak dating period and still not get bored !! It has a life of its own, its evolving & growing at its own pace. It always surprised me with something I had either failed to see before and had just grown up there.. Most beautiful moment was our Kiss ..yeah we had one in Candies..On a raining day in Mumbai monsoons under the canopy over Hot coffee turned cold !!

It had now been almost a year and a half since we were together through almost innumerable fights, hitting each other , swearing on each other- All our friends were troubled but still we were together. I dunno why were we delaying the realization or may be it was just me.

What were we fighting over- It took me a week of solitude and thinking and counseling from bloody Mankey,Singhi& Chummi( 3 of the most un-romantic people in the world-suddenly turned Gurus of Love and cheesy stuff) to make me realize what I was doing and screwing my life for. It suddenly shook me and I realized what the hell am I doing- how could I not realise what’s right there in front of me and just let it go like a fool waiting for dunno what!!!!

I dunno any one else who can be as stupid as me. But may be it was not like filmy magical love for me but a subtle realization of what I had felt the first time I met her and called up Girish and how over this period of time I just locked those feelings somewhere controlling them too much, holding myself back to just be 100% sure of god knows what!! I guess sometimes we just get too blinded with own perceptions that reality becomes hazy.

Anyways enough of my foolhardiness so here’s my story of how I pulled it off to seal it forever- Yeah and I dunno from where but I was super confident about it and dint feel jittery or had second thoughts again. I just had it in my mind.

I have to have to mention Mankey here again ( I knw lot of people would swear on me fr this and even I hate it as much- Kidding :) But it just could not have been had it not been his inspiration to take it to THE NEXT LEVEL- something totally un imaginable in my set of people and something that would be remembered forever ). So here’s how its happened. I like to call this part of life as – The Proposal !

After I had decided ,we needed a moment together with each other, but somehow it was not working out..So It just struck me that she had a trip planned to Kasauli with her school friends along with Valmik the coming weekend. It could not get better than this. We were introduced by Valmik, he got us together (For the first time.. !!) in Delhi so this had to be it. I had to get everyone and I mean evry1 ( my gang, her gang) on board for this one. Every one was a part of the plan and in that week had some or the other role to play.

So First things first, I got 2 hotels booked , 1 for my night stay, a night before they reach near to the destination and another for 3 couples for weekend :) There was a small hitch, her friend Ashutosh was arriving late in Delhi, this would have screwed the plan as they had to reach Kasaulli before Sunrise, come what may! I included him in plan and he was too sweet to oblige and take the same flight as Mona to reach Delhi together. Now about the second glitch Valmik had to pick his girlfriend from Patiala on the way!! This would have delayed them by another hour which I could not afford at all. So a brain wave struck Mirani ( as I fondly call Valmik ) and we decided that I get down at Ambala instead of Chandigarh from the train, take a Cab to Patiala , pick her up and both of us drive down to Kasauli…Grrt plan !!

So here I am landed in Delhi on Saturday morning, clandestinely, Rajat( my bro) came to pick me up and we headed to CP for Lunch in the afternoon. My train was leaving at 5:00 pm so had a lot of time to catch up. We went to our usual hang out Castle 9 in CP for cheap beer and okie food. Soon to join me was my gang-Mirani, Chummi, Mankey and a very special guest Natty, who rarely gets his bum out- All these people came specially to wish me luck, share my zeal and be happily amazed at what I was going to do !!

I showed them the ring and the cheesy yet nicely made scrap book :) It was really awesome as if I was going for a war on the border or something with all of them wishing me luck and all. I somehow enjoyed it a lot. By the end of it Rajat handed over the tape , his second task for the day after picking me up. Well about tape, he had arranged an old Boom box with a cassette inside with an hour duration of recording of “our” song- Fade into you by Mazzy star. ( A must recommedation for anyone getting together with anyone)


I had pictured this song in the background, so it had to be. Yeah I carried the boom box in the train with me, trying to pull it off. I reached Ambala after trying really hard to keep myself awake to avoid missing the station and called up the taxi guy already booked before to pick me up.

It was a nice drive through the interiors along the country side to Patiala as the driver avoided highway. The full moon was quite bright and I was thinking to myself, “What the hell am I doing ?”. I realized I have never been so impulsive and done something like this ever, u know like just gone ahead and done it !! So this was my moment. I have to mention Mirani’s sweet, kiddo girl named Samdisha..who was even more excited than I was about the whole plan and was a tremendous sport throughout the night and was like really really chirpy to not let me develop any cold feet . So thanks Sam.

Well it started raining on the way and drive got just amazingly beautiful while listening to “Fade into you”, having a smoke, and driving through the rainy starry night in the hills of Kasaulli. So we reach at 12 at night, even before checking in the night stay hotel, I took the cab to the “Sun Rise” point- My destination for the moment for which I had come.




But amazingly neither the driver nor the locals had a clue where it was exactly. I mean “Why are you kidding me, is it a conspiracy??” I mean seriously how the locals could be so oblivious. And you know where do we land up? - The Sunset Point. On the top of it locals tell us this is it- it’s the same sir!!! What on earth was going on? Though it was also quite beautiful but it was not a spot as such as described by Manky (My inspiration who had been here before). So soaking in the super winds and rains on the Sunset point I decided to go back to the hotel and let it be the Sunset point only if not Sunrise Point.

I was trying to convince myself it might just be better incase these guys get late and Sun is on the Top so it might just be okie at Sunset point!! We let the driver drop us and let him go after he told us there’s a short cut in the hills from the hotel to reach this point on foot early in the morning! I mean seriously, nor once did I doubt him. I dunno I would have believed any one that day. By car itself that spot was good 5 kms distance and any goddamn hilly shortcut would also be 3-4 kms through an un known, wild path!

I spent the night on net searching for the real Sunrise point as locals turned out to be of no use, finding the right address and catching some sleep as the power went off in the hotel. And yeah through out all this Sam was constantly locating Mirani and updating him and pestering him to bloddy better make on time or else I had threatened him what I will do to his girlfriend, who was with me :) Kidding, she was constantly directing Mirani and the story as known to Mona was that Sam had already reached Kasualii by a cab, and she’s gonna meet Mirani at Sunrise point. So he better make it on time along with Neha & Ashutosh in cab.

At 5 we were both ready, it was still quite dark in Kasauli and we thought we might just climb that natural path told to us by the bloddy driver!!! There was no body at the reception at 5, ofcourse why would they be. I was about to panic, I called for a guy who seemed helping & genuine the night before when we checked in and arranged something to eat at night. His name was Vijendar, I told him “Yeh meri zindagi aur maut ka sawal hai, please kuch kar”! The guy was really a genuine soul; he called up the whole Hotel staff to request them to drop me off on Bike to the point as it was impossible to make it in time on foot.

He went outside and stood on the road. I went after him, he was stopping passing by cars for help. One obliged, a “Fortuner”, (It was perfect-I think the car had a purpose) he agreed to drop us. I thanked Vijendar and sat in the front seat with Sam in the back seat with the tape. The ring was in the pocket of my blazer, yeah I carried one, on the advice of bloddy Mankey again, to be all dressed up while I do it.



So we are heading upwards. I was just thinking to myself how it’s destined to be. From where on earth did this guy come to drop us and Vijendar standing at 5:00 on the road to help us? Some thing was quirky about all of this. Wait, so we were thinking we will drop off at Sunset point only as we dint have time to find the right spot now. We had already asked Mirani to slow down his car a little bit now.

But the Fortuner takes a left turn to the lower mall instead of the right for the upper mall where the sunset point was! Driver told he was going on the lower mall- How will I manage now? But suddenly in a split second it ringed a bell; the Sunrise point is indeed on Lower mall. So I asked a morning jogger thinking this time he would know. Guess what he did, he told us the spot was just a km ahead of where the driver was actually going.

The driver was kind enough to drop us till there exactly. Man my belief in destiny was getting only stronger. After much cajoling he accepted some money as a token of his sweet gesture. The first sight was BREATHTAKING- I can rechristen this place as the official –Proposal Spot for every couple.

It can’t get better than this. You take a few steps down in a courtyard with a small hut, a bench in the open surrounded by railings, looking towards the expanse of huge valley and just Blue Mountains running parallel to each other in so many rows. It was sheer Bliss. I kept the stereo on the bench and played it. I was so moved at that moment- I thought I can come here bloody every year to propose my love. It was just as if some one had created it for this moment.





It could not have been better than this. So now the twist had to be communicated to Mirani- He now had to actually come to the real Sunrise point instead of the purported one and that too fast. As sun would rise in like half an hour. So we were there at 5: 45 am. I was told by hotel staff whom I was frantically calling for last 2 days about when does the sunrise actually happen in Kasauli?? !! So I had actually 15-20 min for Mona to reach there for it to happen as I had imagined it to be.

I and Sam plucked some wild beautiful flowers to shower them on steps, on the bench, near the tape, on the scrap book for her to walk down. Being a public spot we had some unwanted people- CRPF personnel for their morning exercises. I was a little thrown off, man it can’t be spoiled now. So I actually went up to them and told them “ I am going to propose here for my marriage, if you don’t mind can you please hurry up and leave a bit early!!!”.

Well as I said something was working for me that day- They were just so nice to leave in like 5 min flat. I asked them before leaving about the Sunrise time again and he said “Its not going to rise today!! “, I was like what? He told me it usually does by 5: 30 am itself but it was cloudy so it won’t be like a full sun shine. I actually felt numb for a moment- Is this really happening- So I have more time now.

And just then I could see at the turn of the road down the hill a White Swift climbing up. So the tape was on and I took my position, standing at the railing, facing towards the valley. There came my baby, stepping down in surprise and shock, and so I turn around as I had thought like straight out of a bollywood masala movie and hugged my baby. It was the most beautiful moment for me.

And we just looked into each other’s eyes and were so happy. I was actually laughing and was truly happy; she was trying to believe what was happening to her. I had not prepared any speech or anything- So it was just my spontaneous best at that moment- Things I had never told her and should have done long back. While the whole gang was sitting behind on the road trying to record us in the camera!

So finally I had to do what I gotta do- The moment a boy became a man!! – I bent down on my knees and popped the ring with the eternal question- “Ms. Mona Thakur, will you marry me?”, and “Yes” she said. !! . This was it. The Sun had risen in the clouds and it was still very beautiful and the song continued to play. The group popped opens the Champagne and I pour it in the valley. It was surreal. Me and my love – Finally together in Kasauli- We sealed it forever in our memories for our entire lives.




Some how I believe that something was playing a very important part in making it happen. You might call it destiny but there definitely was some intervention to make it happen and happen exactly as thought-each and evry moment.Just like the saying- when you want something too much-blah blah conspires for it to happen !!

It was just so beautiful; we sat there for an hour, drinking champagne. Oh wait a minute, how could I forget the story of the ring. It was one of the most unusually beautiful one’s out of 40-50 odd that I had seen. It had a heart shaped figurine of 3stones stuck like a hook from the ring- kindaa my story.
And I was not sure of the size of the ring. But like everything else it just fitted perfectly well. So this is the story of my Proposal- As I call it- The most beautiful morning of my life.

I am not a Football Fan..still though..

yeah people have been acting surprised on my g-talk status off late regarding FIFA-2010 updates or my reactions to the matches I watched. I think have no qualms in accepting that am not a sports person and don't know much about most of the games!!! But still I would maintain that yeah I do enjoy Football world cup for more than the love for the game. The sheer history, passion, scale involved in it makes it the biggest event on this planet. The most watched event on all the mediums put together. But equally fascinating are the anecdotes I have gathered off late which makes it kinda more intriguing for a non-sports guy like me.

Vuvuzelas- for starters. I mean i was wondering what the hell that noise was. The guy has a patent for it and has launched the new version with ear plugs fr self!!!!
I mean this is true innovation.

Jabulani- Official match ball of of South Africa 2010. It shares the name with a town where apartheid regime built hostels to house unwed black males in 1970!! They are now converted into low cost family units since 2002. Adidas has attributed the word's origin to Zulu Language- meaning "To Celebrate".

Death Match- In WW II Kiev was one of the first Russian cities to fall when Hitler marched towards Soviet Union. In his zeal to establish the true Moral victory over the Allied POWs a Football match was played between Aliied POWs famous football team and the best players from the NAzi army on commands of Hitler. It was kind of first instance of match fixing as well as the directive to the POWs was either "To lose or Die"!! By first half the scoreboard read Nazi-3 & POW-0 and by the end of the game it read Nazi-3 & POWs-5. In front of 50000 odd Ukrainian population the players upheld their heads and stood against the Nazi oppression leading the crowd to raise slogans of "Victoire". Their fate was pre decided and the team was executed in concentration camps eventually. But they chose to Live before they died. The players have become legends in the town of Kiev and the stadium still stands testimony to one the greatest match ever played in the History of the game. The movie "Escape to Victory"-1981 is based on the incident.

Paul- How can anyone miss the Psychic Octopus- the Star of SA-2010. Only if he could solve my dilemmas of life.

Yeah so all these put tghtr and ofcourse the love of the game during World Cup has got me following the game somehow guys!!!! Enjoy the Finals to see Paul getting right or wrong but am sure Punters would be the ones laughing all the way to the banks..My prediction is Netherlands- this is the world cup of the underdogs!!

Malegaon Musings

Okie this has been due for really long now, I srsly dunno why I keep delaying thots in my mind, may be works as a sort of filter...from July actually...the second month of my job and I was sent off to Malegaon for my rural stint. That’s the learning bed of FMCG, being close to your consumers and reaching out to them :)

After getting over the initial apprehensions of remoteness of the place, availability of veg food, the communal tensions and terror strikes the reason for which the place had come in lime light in year 2008 I finally take this road trip. My guide accompanied me to introduce me to the local team and the distributor of the town. It felt like a kid being taken to a hostel in a remote hill station for being too naughty or what.

Yes the journey was long and arduous especially the stretches between Sangamner to Shirdi and Shirdi to Malegaon..Pune to Sangamner was still a smooth journey. The total travel time was around 6-7 hours. The place itself is quite well connected though; a fact I realized when I started working from there and I was supposed to make trips to all the near by towns and visit the markets, visit the local DB of the town, clocking 150 kms of average travel per day.

The road trips were always fun and adventurous. Traveling in rickety state road transport buses for 4 hrs on avg per day with people looking at you with amazement used to be fun and tiring at the same time. I also had hens and trays of eggs stacked over each other as my co passengers under my seat or besides me in the ally sometimes!! The landscape was the savior; lush green fields laden with fresh produces of the season, the neat rows in vineyards around the Nasik belt, huge dams and small hills dotted with the most brightly colored houses I have ever seen in fluorescent oranges & greens were overall quite exhilarating.

The problem of staying & eating while in Malegaon was solved by this awesome newly built small hotel with amenities comparable to any 2-3 star city hotel but at throw away prices. It was like the jewel of Malegaon named Sukh Sagar. I would seriously recommend it to anyone for a very comfortable stay and good food who is visiting Malegaon by any chance!! During the travels to nearby towns the food mostly comprised of the most eatable and clean food available. It consisted of bananas, dal roti at road side dhabas, gujrati thali at some places and for once it was tea and biscuits in one godforsaken place called Ghoti!!

There is another good memory of this place called Ghoti, of almost tipping off the highway downhill due to very strong winds and heavy monsoon showers as the bus conductor had rightly told me that this belt from Igatpuri to Ghoti is called the "Cherrapunji of Maharashtra"!! It was absolutely scenic: a nicely washed dark tar colored high way running through this hill overlooking a small village down from the highway with a long train passing behind the village making the quintessential Indian Railways sound.

The list of the places visited in itself generates enough curiosity amongst the listeners with exotic names such as Sinner, Niphad, Ghoti, Ozar,Devla, Yeola, Kalwan,Satana, Devlali Camp,Pimpalgaon, Nandgaon, Chandwad, Manmad,Laslagaon..

In terms of learning also it was quite amazing to understand the psyche of a rural customer, the influential power of the retailer against his counterpart in a city, the art of selling by the local team in such areas and the importance of marketing and distribution in remote places where what is available is what sells.

Malegaon also holds the dubious distinction of having the largest Spoof Movie Industry with a remake of every Bollywood hit in its own style and flavor. You could not stop being amused at the posters of "The return of Ghajini" & "Mummy ka ilaka"...There is another funny incident of sneaking into a Govt School of kids one after noon. As the kids left their Science Lab class they funnily put the hand of a skeleton in his mouth looking it was suddenly shy of something!!

I think all my apprehensions were nullified by the end of the stint and in fact I think I have some very vivid memories of the stint apart from what I have just recollected: Me clicking pictures of my shoes at evening, kid shepherd boys grazing their flock, the courteous hotel staff and a reckoner with the fact that there's a long long way for us to go before we can truly boast of India coming of age.

I think I can cook.....

Yes..to my utter surprise I am not a bad cook..it started with the Euro trip. There it was the question of survival ( being a veggie), but today I have personally achieved a new landmark..It was a small party I threw for my old NSIT gang before I leave for job and also the wine from Bordeaux that I had kept for them was long due. So while looking for Vegetarian options with red wine on net I discovered its considered an "Oxymoron" in the gastronomical world!!! After searching hard I came across a few choices and Pasta Arabiatta was one of them. Well, so I thought why not cook it myself to add to the flavor of the party :) After receiving dreadful warnings of "don't dare attempt that" , " what are the back ups" I decided to go ahead.....Though I have to admit that it was quite an unnerving experience and I was quite tensed but thanks to YouTube..it saved my day...and to my pleasant surprise my pasta did really well and was quite a hit :) They loved it and whole wok with 1kg pasta was completely empty....thank you guys :) yey i can cook!!!

I miss the discounts on my voting mark...

In this off season it came as a pleasant surprise and I realised that each vote matters in more than one ways :) It was indeed an innovative tactic and quite responsible at that one...But besides the discounts I am genuinely missing the whole excitement now.

After all it had been my saviour in last so many days, well almost a month when the bore dome and the "un bearable laziness of being" had decided to kill me, it was the election fever that saved my days. I was hooked to it all day, skipping through the channels but it was CNN- IBN only at the end for most of the time..No particular liking for Rajdeep and his gang except that my cable guy sucks. But yes the guy did work hard for all his aggressiveness. I can't recollect the kind of excitement I had for 16th may in a long time now.It was as if my CAT or Engg or Board exams results were due or something...And then I was happy and the happiness increased by the end of the day..Firstly for a clear verdict for a National Party and secondly coz of the party I voted for (I should have no qualms in confessing that this was my first exercise of the suffrage and hence may be the anticipation..)

In fact I was happy and amazed at the same time. Democracy indeed has great power and we are amongst the fortunate to be a part of the world's largest which probably we don't realise and tend to neglect in our routine. So the reason I was amazed at was that there existed a National Consciousness amongst the electorate to do away with the regional factionalism/horse trading/cheap bargains and vote decisively in favor of a National party to take care of issues that concern the whole nation. I had not done any prolific analysis unlike some of my friends and predicted some of the results on my own but the few people I knew and talked to had given me a sense that there was a conscious effort to see some one positive, with a clean image, efficient and capable at the center and hence the choice was same for all of them. In fact more the rhetoric and negativism got louder , more people were determined to go against it. It was simply heartening to see the mood being reflected in the results across the length and breadth of the nation. This is the power of democracy where every vote does matter...I would also confess here my allegiance to the First party and First family of Indian politics as in the present times in my livelihood I consider them the lesser of the two evils. There is no denying the fact the sheer charisma in the name and also the conduct lately of the matriarch and the scions( both the son and the daughter) is an un deniable factor in the wave of support. But there's some thing more than just the charisma, its the sheer sincerity in their outlook and a desire to change the system of which they are a part of and often blamed for is working in their favor.

I see it a great moment for the Nation to decisively usher in the era of its own for once with out a single excuse. We have the power, we have the mandate .. there should be no stopping now. And I am hoping people concerned do realise there's no room for complacency and a mammoth task ahead which if accomplished shall change the destiny of this nation for ever...Till then I hope the " SALE" sign returns soon :)

I have become so numb!!!

I dunno what has happened to me..may be this is me as well that I had never known....I always knew I was lazy but this lazy!! man never thot so...so much has happened in last so many months...many old chapters have closed, new about to begin, have regained lost friends, parted ways with some. Life is poised for a new turn, times are the at their dramatic best..change of guard in US, world economy in doldrums, Pakistan- a failed state?, LTTE on fringes of extinction, and world's largest democracy smitten by election hullabaloo...well indeed quite a lot...
At personal level I have resorted to solitary confinement...nt exctly..am just sayin this...a lot is goin in my mind and yet it feels so empty...It feels am raring to go at something..but why have I held this time as hostage??
As always made a huge list of "TO-DO' things..but you only do what you gotta do..in my case it was just dance and some abstract readings on Net...Susan boyle, Loyalty programs by German sex workers, Roman history, Zoo Zoos, Obama completes 100 days, How a drag queen named Varun Gandhi swore on Gita, and all the election related diggings...

So I have become numb..nothing was compelling enough?? strange it is..thoughts arise and then they die....some linger on which I have just re collected..but in the end it was the lethargy that set me thinking, the penchant to break free from its grip, the realisation itself was the most compelling reason to get me back...

I just hope these are small phases that other mates also go through...and then they look for reasons to break free...for me it was the reason itself...So i guess I have a lot to catch up..
The completion of my Euro trip
Naukri Naukri naukri
MDI- End of a journey
Election Fiesta
The issue is there no issue in these elections!!!
How I learnt to be comfortable with my laziness and overcame my guilt...
so lets c how i manage to do so...

When was the last time you checked your contacts in your Cell phone?

Well I just did so yesterday and junked 66 contacts…multiple entries, some non existent and some I wanted to forget….so today when I was just sitting alone and still coping with my stupid cough I was just going through the contacts and saw this number. It’s an old friend’s number…well very old for that matter…lemme count…our friendship dates back to 1996!! Yeah it seems ages…when we were in VI std. and it was the time for all those childhood crushes...committing all the stupidity in the world you can possibly imagine.Things you just cant stop laughing at as you talk about them today or while telling to a third person. I mean... imagine sending a letter via mail with rose petals inside :) phew…I must have been really crazy then…

I’ll call my oldest (I claim so) friend “S” for anonymity but yes it still rings bells and just makes me feel happy that the number still works and the person at the other end of the receiver is indeed the person from the pages of history!!! Really...I guess so…just a disclaimer... of course the number does not date back to 1996…it was again a beautiful surprise what they call “serendipity” when we just bumped into each other more than a year back and somehow never called each other…that’s a different story..
So the moral of the story...go and dive in your contact box and just check if it still rings the bell !!!

Song stuck in my head phenomena!!!

Is it just me or I hav pals suffering ( really??) from it too...I would seriously need your comments on this.

How many times has it happened that you wake up with a song playing in your head..u go to give your exams and the song is still playing ( not necessarily the same one)...worst u r giving not juz any exam but one of the most important exam of your life say, CAT or CEE and mind you.. it was still playing in my head!!

Man I am one of those few chronic sufferers of this phenomena. It has always been there except that it peaks in situations when you juz cant afford it.

I always asked people if they have it too and guess its a bit common but the degree to which it affects u is different.Was really happy to read an article on it in Hindu few years back.Would you believe its actually a subject of research and studies are on to understand why this happens.It said that auditory cortex in your brain is responsible for it.Usually it needs a stimuli like a context for a particular song to play in your mind.They even have a term for it , "earworms"!!

But with me...I dont see any context when the moment i get an answer sheet in examination hall and it goes" dil kabootar khana hai..har kisi ka aana jaana hai.." and by the end of it, its like "i tried so hard and got so far but in the end it does not even matter..."

The worst part the harder you try to suppress it just does nt buzz...Its something with the songs also as some are more sticky than others.Hey guys please lemme know honestly how many of you are in the same category as I am...may be we could all volunteer as subjects for the on going research and earn some easy bucks out of it :)

Here is the link of that article in Hindu for an interesting read-
http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/23/stories/2006062302391100.htm

So what song is playing in your head rite now...its "kabhi kabhi aditi zindagi...." for me. You are wondering about the timing of this piece..no prizes for guessing... my examinations are on!!!!

Intern at AmEx-I dont know what I did this summers!!!

Two weeks more to go and here i am in office writing this piece. Well it all began on 7th april 2008.My first day in Amex.After boring induction ppts and guidelines about security and blah blah am called in my department.The guys seemed cool.. my OG and his senior the Diro. My first impression about them..well chilled out guys!!! That just set the mood of my intern.Infact thats the culture here...."Little work and more play"..its fundoo to have such a life when u r 30 and have accepted the terms and conditions of life.

Did i like the work or not..its not about whether its interesting or not they say...its about whether its important or not!!! point taken....bt how long can you sustain,what drives you-money,work life balance!! watever....as my diro told me the first day "Its only 10% of the learning that you will have from your project and for the rest 90% keep your eyes and ears open" well said again.

I took the advice literally and henceforth words juz started beating my ear drums helter and skelter. Ohhs and Aahs of gals meeting in office..."hey u look great in this dress"...."wow u have got idlis today"..."look at my wedding snaps"..the constant chit chats while working......man there are all the varities there.

The swashbuckling sophisticated, the smart guys, the doods, Mrs.India runners up(circa. 1976)...nd all.In the end it was mostly about Googling,shortcuts of excel,ctrl C,ctrl V,Ctrl Page up,Ctrl Page sown,Alt Tab,Alt D,Alt V nd on nd on. Good thing i got hands on excel,attended the Board meetings..infact dat was great..and Gyan sessions with my manager and Diro.Hats off to these Guys.

How can i forget to mention the hour and half long lunch breaks followed by another hour long Coffee breaks. The experience was a paid Summer vacations with brief spells of work and loads of vellapanti!!! The D day awaits when i'll present my googling and ctrl c.. ctrl v skills.But u missed it again...there's more to it than meets the eye.. A very apt remark by the diro" u get hired because you are smart,you get paid because you can tell stories and you are paid even better if you make other people around also tell stories"!! hmm..food for thought.

So it wont be a plane jane ppt bt it will have a story..a scoop ..filled with pretensions and claims of doing great work :) I guess my first brush with corporate life has taught me that there are three types of people in an office:

One who are happy with the work

One who are not happy

One who dont care

which one is you??

Teachers- More than that (To Mam with love...)

I dunno how many of you who read this will identify with it.But it's been an important aspect of my life. My teachers right from my alma mater have always been more than that to me.

I have had the luck of being in the good books of my teachers especially during the school days :) My LKG teacher Miss.Lilly still remembered me and i used to meet her till i was in 8th std in that school.She had got a novel for three of us who were in touch with her ,only that i was too shy then to accept a gift from her . Miss.Mini my class V teacher threatened to stop teaching the class for making a lot of noise and i being the class monitor almost had tears!!

We had planned to decorate the class for teachers day as a surprise in class IV. In evening the 5 or 6 of us i dun remem the names exactly except for a gal Ashima ( i remem dat cause my cousins teased me a lot with her name!!) gathered in skool and did the classroom. It was a pleasant surprise for Miss.Perpetua and she loved it. Only for once in my life i had acted when I had participated in a shadow play was playin freedom fighter in it. This was in 6th std.Our show had to begin and we were all standing outside the curtain in the room.Philomina Mam who was directing us she just entered the room and was furious at the sight.She just slapped somebody without seeing the face in the dark room. It was me!! I got stunned for a while and after a moment cried and howled!! Man she consoled me so hard. Even till the day she left the school finally for Kerala she treated my like her younger brother.When i last went to meet her she said she was sorry for that slap...i remember it so vividly,wonder how some things just stay with you.

I think its simply great to share a camaraderie with your teachers outside the class room interactions. This is about when i was in class XI and I had a special chemistry with my chemistry teacher.I think there's a thing about Chemistry teachers!! She was truly a friend ,philosopher and guide. I dunno somehow but she had come to know of my ongoing fling in school and my whole chemistry viva was based on that!! She gently warned me not to lose focus on studies and handle things maturely.Anjali Mam ,my chemistry teacher I was in touch with her for a long time after I finished my school. I used to phone her on her Birthdays every year..but am having difficulty now remembering since when did i lose touch with her... When i met with my only accident in class IX and had broken my caller bone after being hit by a geep ,it was my teachers callin my mom and consoling her not to worry.

I have not taken all the names here Mrs.Maina,Mrs.Deepti,Mrs.Rita,Mrs.Shakuntala....and many more...i feel its a great feeling to be loved by your teachers and we can not deny that almost everybody has had their slip of tongues in calling the teachers "mummy" rather than "miss" in kindergarten..i thought it would be just an occasion to remember our second moms on mothers day today!!

An inspiring one-How suddenly a drive in an auto can inspire you!!

I just could not resist the thoughts that this should make an ideal opening of my blog...How I percieve life to be..nd how small things like this tell you that life is so meaningful....

It just so happened that I missed my company cab to return home on Friday night and had to hitch hike with a friend upto a point and took an auto from there. It was a usual day with a bit of extra work and as usual i was contemplating about a lot of stuff while sitting in auto with all the mad rush of weekend on the roads out there..

With no incoming calls and no messages on my cell..just started the conversation with the Auto Driver.I just asked him about his where abouts. The first reply seemed obvious as we all think it to be..he was from Bihar. I then asked how long he had been in Delhi and has he been driving auto all the while? I have forgotten his name but his initials were D somethin..I'll call him 'D'. He said its been 3 years bt he has been drivin auto for only 3 months now. He had lost his job in an industry where he used to work. Next came the impromptu that he was also studyin and had juz given his class XII exam from IGNOU. It just struck me as i found it interesting. I asked how was it like studying nd he was pretty candid about it how he screwed up his Political Science paper nd did well in English grammar , History though. I asked him about how do you take out time to study and all...Obviously with all the hard days of work and supporting a family with 4 children he had no time left to study daily..But then came the most startling revelations.

He said he was actually a B.Sc Honors graduate from Bihar and had been a teacher in primary school there.It took me by surprise what would have led him to drive an auto here with his qualifications. As the conversation went on and I was all ears to this interesting account it was getting a bit difficult to listen in the blaring horns all around. He then said "He was a murder convict"...Okay i was now in an auto with a Science Honors graduate Murder convict auto wallah from Bihar..dats interesting...There was a bit of silence from my side bt he went on and narrated his account..He told me how he was falsely convicted as the murderer had hid the weapon- the gun in his house. And while he was going to dispose it off he was caught by the police!!! Now you can either believe it or just junk his story..but i just believed him. He faced trial and had to spent around an year in jail,his documents seized, his identity kinda erased..I was not really interested in the law and order system of his place..he had suffered a lot..But i was more keen about his present how was he coping with it. His zeal to get back to life to study was inspiring in a way.

He talked about he ensured that his 3 daughters and 1 son they all went to school. His wife he told me was teaching in an NGO for aged people. The man's commitment to follow the right course in life and how he had made education his calling in life had some or the other lesson in it.
It seemed all this was just churning inside him and he wanted to share it and I was more than interested in his account.I asked him finally what exactly he wanted to do after completing his education and D replied he was planning to join a 3 month English speaking course very soon and wanted to learn computers to earn a descent living for the rest of his life. I must admit I was overwhelmed by this man's account and while paying the fare i gave him my Card. Its my first card i have given to any one since we got them printed for every student in our B-skool and had find no good use of it :) I just told him that hopefully when you will be done with your pursuit of education and i would have completed my MBA as well may be I could do something for him..I was just remembering his quotation from his English lessons he had learned in school that summarized the mantra of D's life...i have tried to recollect it but the essence is intact " He who has lived death faces no fear in life"....Hats off to the Human spirit !!