Three months and no way!!

Dear Readers,
I just cannot believe that its been three months since I updated my blog. So unlikely of me, never knew time could pass just like that. And so much has happened too, which is yet to sink in….


I got married!
I got married to the love of my life.
Finally, I left the metro I stayed for the past two years
I left the metro, the place I never really liked.
I got promoted.
I am in based in Toronto now.
But of course, home sweet home will always be Kerala. :p

I got married on June 24. It is definitely going to be 2 months since that day, but I still can’t believe it.

Bound together by love!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

But I guess my freedom is slightly limited now. :p

Way to cheer!!

This post is the continuation of the previous one.

The broadcast read somewhat like this:

Hi All,

The much awaited Sports Day is being held on 21st April 2007.

The venue remains the same, Nehru Stadium.

Venue: Nehru Stadium
Periyamedu
Behind Rippon building, adjacent to Chennai Central, Chennai - 600 003

There are certain changes to the schedule and timing of the sports day.

In order to compensate for the bandh on 31st March 2007, we will be working on Saturday, 21st April 2007, from 9 am to 1 pm.

In order to escape the heat and save you all from getting sun tanned, the sports day has been scheduled under flood lights. We will commence at 3.00 pm and will go on till 8.30 pm. Those of you who do not attend either work or the sports event will be marked off for the day.

In order to add to the Spirit of the Game, we cordially invite your spouse and children to join the first ever sports day of ( ).

Note: Parents/friends/siblings not allowed.

The house keeping staff will come around with a new list. Please sign against your names and also confirm the number of people accompanying you for this wonderful event.

The house keeping staff did come with a list and I obviously signed none in the column which asked for the number of people accompanying me. I felt that the whole sports day thing would end up like a flop show and didn’t really wish to get embarrassed by asking anyone to join me. One look at the mail and yes I had decided to go for the sports day. Of course I couldn’t take off and needed to save every leave of mine for obvious reasons which I will explain later in the forth coming posts. Actually I wouldn’t blame my company for making a rule that if an employee misses the sports day attendance, he/she will be marked absent for the whole day. After all the HR dept knows how much the ( ) ‘ties would like to escape and enjoy the afternoon after attending office in the morning. For instance, I would never even have thought of attending if not for that stupid clause.

The D day soon followed with me cribbing to my own glory about how much I hated the whole sports day idea and the fact that I have to attend it. Anyway, the morning passed after which I hoped out with my colleagues for lunch trying to ease our minds of the sports day function. I made sure we went to my favorite Chinese restaurant in the town. After all, I needed some incentive to feel ready for real sports. :P

We enjoyed the scrumptious lunch and drove to the so called stadium. Now when I first read about the stadium in the mail, I never realized how big it could be. I was wonderstruck when I entered the Nehru Stadium.

Thats the view from where I was sitting

I could see a lot of red tee shirt audience....

All preps for the 100 metres race!

Isn't that snacks he's carrying? Thats me wondering what could be inside the cartons. :P

Its getting dark, time for the flood lights!

The stadium looked rocking with the lights on...

All I could say is WOW!

Here are some videos to get a hold of the fun I had....



Women's Backwalking


Women's 100 metres-heats


Women's 100 metres-Final

There was this girl (K) sitting near me, who was very enthusiastic about 400 metres race. She went on talking about how she could have done well if that item also was included for the day. Finally when the time came for the 4x100 metres relay, one team was in shortage of a girl. Seeing the opportunity, D (another friend) and me persuaded K to participate and pushed her so hard onto getting into the track. Finally, when she told us that she was wearing floaters and she couldn’t run, I chuckled to myself. I really thought she was just making excuses. I soon offered her my running shoes saying that I will wear her floaters. After a while she agreed and she really did prove me wrong. Her team won the relay and whoever saw her running that day would have agreed to all her boasting. Just take a look.


Relay 1st Part


Relay Last Part

The winning relay team

So what if I did not participate I cheered for everybody. Also, didn’t K win wearing my shoes? :P

So all in all it wasn’t a bad sports day, don’t you think so?

After all it was the office sports day…..

Its been a while since I updated my blog, and blah blah and more blah. I can give 100 reasons for not having done it. Let me save my reader’s time from all that, since I firmly believe on the blog update being more important than the reasons. :D

So last Saturday was my office sports day. Now one month ago, when the HR sent this whole sports day broadcast, I got really irritated. I was getting stock information from Yahoo finance(Thanks to Yahoo for having such a informative website, I don’t know what I would have done without it.) for some Chinese company, when the mail reached my inbox. Finding information on a Chinese company is one difficult task to accomplish even with the help of Yahoo. I wish they had an option to translate the contents to English. Anyway, before the mail could reach me, I was busy translating with the help of Google translator. It is a very tedious process wherein I end up putting each and every word into the translator, to finally arrive at the company’s financials. I knew I was close to my goal when a dialogue box jumped onto my computer screen and announced that I have received a new mail. I don’t remember what I was thinking but I ended up clicking on the ‘open inbox’ option of the dialogue box. What follows is a summarized portion of the whole mail of course with the special effects it had. :))












“Hi Chennai ( ) ties,
On 31st March Saturday with clear skies and the warm sun the FIRST EVER







ANNUAL FIELD DAY/SPORTS DAY OF ( )CHENNAI
will be conducted.


As Sports Day is a day to promote sports, physical and mental health, we have a range of physical events ranging from traditional track-and-field events to more uncommon events which are listed below. Some volunteers have come forward to co-ordinate and conduct the games for us. We also welcome atleast 2 more members (please contact the co-ordinators directly) to join the co-ordinators in conducting the game.

Venue: Rajaratnam Stadium
Timing: 10-5 pm

Lunch and refreshments will be provided on the field. So gear up, wear on your caps, spikes, shorts and join us for a day of non-stop excitement and fun.

Note : This is an Outdoor Team Building Event for all employees of Chennai and therefore employees cannot shy away this activity by choosing to work in office.”

I laughed reading the mail, had a discussion with my teammates on the same funny mail and finally got back to the earlier yahoo finance webpage. The break in the flow of work totally made me forget the last line I had translated. Ultimately, I had to repeat (it only took 2 more hours) the whole page to get my work done. That moment itself, I hated the whole sports day idea.

Some of my colleagues did take the sports day seriously and I heard they had begun practicing for the BIG event. I was least bothered, not like I am against sports day or anything. It is just that I was too engrossed in work to think of anything else other than that. And, there was added excitement on the important due diligence consulting project I was engaged with, for a private equity firm (first time!) Anyway, my prayers were answered momentarily. 31st March ended up being a holiday for the whole of Chennai because of the so called Bandh which took place in protest of the Supreme courts stay order for the OBC quota. :D. The previous day, there was a HR broadcast which is again given below:

“Hi All,

On account of the bandh announced by the ruling party tomorrow 31st March 2007, our SPORTS DAY is being postponed, and the new date will be announced later.

Chennai office will remain closed and nobody will be allowed inside office tomorrow.”

At least, the above mail had the usual special effects missing. Maybe, they were just too disappointed. :D The two day weekend was a big relief to my hectic work schedule. Another week followed with mostly work happening. One fine day, there was another broadcast from the HR department.

To be continued…..

Music that is soul stirring!

Recently I had watched Guru and in the entire movie what struck me most was the music, especially the background score. There is this song sung (shauk hain) by Soumya Rao (I think) which keeps playing in the background during Vidya Balan’s scenes in the movie. Check out this feel good song. It is short but sweet. :) A.R Rahman really rocks!

Sometimes too much is just not enough…

It’s been a while since I took off sometime from office, not to go home or to meet my sis but just to give time for myself. Hmm, I know it might sound a little weird as most people would not find it difficult to take out time for themselves. For me, life has become too mechanical. Wake up in the morning, go to office, come back home in the night and sleep. The same routine has been continuing for the past few weeks. It is not that I have started disliking my job. I still love and enjoy doing it but sometimes when it becomes too hectic and totally stressful, of course anybody would need a change. So what did I do yesterday to change it? I woke up late. Mmm, that long sleep and the dream felt so good. I took my bath very leisurely as against the normal half an hour bath. Since summer had arrived here early this time, it was quite rejuvenating standing under the shower like that. While getting ready for office, I listened to my favorite songs humming along with it. All of the above easily resulted in me being late for office. :)

I walked in the office slowly without any hurry, a smile on my face, as against the normal urgency with which I rush to check office emails. I never knew how the day was going to be like, but I still had that smile while signing the late register too. I felt so relaxed and eased out that I finished quite a bit of work. Getting relieved of stress really gives way to a wonderful feeling! I wanted more of that feeling. So, on the way back home, I went and shopped. :) Some way of making use of the bit of the performance bonus I received last month end. Talking about the bonus, I suddenly remembered. I need to get back to work now, lest my next quarter bonus will get affected. Back to work, work and work!

P.S. To all my readers, I have a request. Please take sometime off just for yourself. Do the things you love most, be it listening to music or writing out your mind, just do it and feel the difference it can make in you.

Is anyone wondering what the title has got to do with the post? Don’t worry, even I am doing the same; I really have no idea why I chose that title. :D

Dreams Unlimited…

Alpine Path had tagged me so, here's the post about my bizarre dream.

I love dreaming, be it in the daytime or night time. Sometimes it can be beautiful ones, and otherwise also, I never bother since they can still be altered to seem beautiful. :) After a long time, I had a bizarre dream last night. So much in detail I could recall that I thought of writing it down before it vanishes into thin light. Yes, in my case most of the dreams I have, be it good or bad stays in my memory only the next day morning after which it totally gets erased for whatever unknown reasons. When I tried to remember the earlier bizarre dreams I have had, I was at a loss. I still went on thinking and thinking and maybe that was the reason for the last night’s bizarre dream. Well, sometimes you need to think of good stuff to dream about the same. The mind is very powerful that it can make you do what it actually wants. Wow I liked that line, isn’t it true? It is not my sudden discovery since S had just given me that along with a good piece of advice on something related to the above line today. She’s very good at that, wonder where she gets all that wisdom from.

Anyway, it goes like this. I was this entrepreneur traveling in my own helicopter (wow wow :D) to make it for some important meeting in another state. There was a tall dark handsome guy (Tdh) sitting next to me apart from the pilot in the copter. (I liked this part :) .) All of a sudden, the pilot looks at me with fear and tells me that there is a fuel problem and he needs to do emergency landing. I began to panic, thinking that I would be late for the meeting (when I should have thought that my life is in danger). Soon enough he asked us to wear the safety gear and tried to make an emergency landing. Half way through, he opened the door and asked both Tdh and me to jump. Without even looking down, I yelled at him for not landing. Tdh pushed me out, and with fear I opened my parachute only to realize that the ground was so near that I fell on the rough surface before my parachute could even open. (I actually felt the thud while I was sleeping.) I rose on my feet, and see a huge truck coming towards me in full speed. In a second, I pull tdh and we start running to the other end of the road. We reach the edge of the bridge and see the sea below. (Where did the sea suddenly come from? This is bizarre.)

Anyway, I realize that I am falling into the sea along with Tdh. (Here I felt the splash of the water and the sudden rush of chillness). Knowing swimming, I try my best to swim. However, I fail to even move a bit and I start panicking. (This is even more bizarre!!). No longer able to hold my breadth, I open my mouth and all the water rushes into my mouth and my nostrils get heavier. Frantically I start getting the pang of pain which electrified my body from head to toe. It lasted for a few seconds after which I started liking the feeling. I felt good and was drawn towards it (wonder what was it) more and more till I sensed some force pulling me from behind. I fight to go forward, till I give in to the force that was pulling me. The next moment, I open my eyes and realize that I am lying on the sand. I look up and see Tdh staring into my face with fear. (Dirty minds, well it is not what you all think. I just had a near-to-death experience in my dream.)

That’s when I woke up from my dream too. Maybe that opening eyes part in the dream made me do it in reality too. Anyway I was too tired to react to the tiring dream (come on, wasn’t the swimming incident in the dream tiring?). So I went back to sleep thinking who that Tdh was, trying hard to remember his face. :)

Here’s the tagging part. Please note, only bizzare dreams allowed. I am definitely going to enjoy reading the same. :)

Abhi
Meera
Cuckoo

From where to where?

I just came back from a visit to my hometown. Normally, on such occasions, friends at office come to know that I had visited home after one look at my face. They say that the freshness and the happiness really show. It’s like I thoroughly enjoy the break from work and prefer to be taken care of than the other way round routine. Today they actually asked me if I had really gone home watching me sulk repeatedly. "It was a wasted trip", I exclaimed. I lost my mobile, my precious Motorola L6 slvr or rather the ‘good’ looking guy who sat next to me in the train, filched it leaving me in total despair.

I am not very friendly when it comes to strangers in the train, especially with guys. It is merely the feeling of laziness which prevents me to actually continue a conversation initiated by a guy. A vague answer to his question and I am back to what I was busy doing. I mean, I have my own ways to pass time in the train. My Mp3 player and a recent copy of The Week or Woman’s Era is something I ensure before boarding the train. Apart from that, I sleep a lot so there the twelve hour over night journey comes to an end in no time.

This time, out of the ordinary, I actually blabbered with this guy who was going home for vacation. Maybe, I was too bored to even do the normal stuff like sleeping, reading or listening to music. Pretty much amused with his flattering talk and funky dressing sense, we talked about work, our home towns and finally landed up discussing about mobiles. Fascinated by my mobile, he took it and examined it for a while after which he approved the beauty of the slim handset. Soon after that, I asked him for his mobile and he showed me a very basic Nokia model. We chatted for some more time till I was bored of talking too.

Time passed by, and feeling sleepy, I climbed onto my berth and adjusted the mobile’s alarm (vibrate mode). Then, I realized that I have no pocket to keep it since I was unfortunately wearing a salwar kameez that day, contrary to the normal cotton pants I wear when I travel. Aware that I wouldn’t be able to feel the mobile vibrating in the bag, I kept it in the gap between my hands and my handbag and slept off. Well, anyone can ponder on the possible reason for me ensuring that I keep the alarm. Once on a similar train journey, instead of getting down in my hometown station, I woke up totally in a different city because of the simple reason that I slept off. That day, I had to come out of the AC coach of the train and catch a normal crowded local bus and travel another 3.5 hours to go back to my hometown.

Morning, I woke up frantically thinking that I again missed my station, but somehow I was lucky and realized that I got up just in time but to my utter dismay, I found out that my mobile was missing. I checked the whole area of the berth. Thinking of asking that guy for help I looked up at his berth, only to find him also missing. His station was to come much later than mine and I just couldn’t comprehend where he had disappeared. I sat there finally, exhausted and quivering not knowing what to do. The station I had to get down came into view and I slowly rose, took my bag and came out of the train with tears trickling down my face. It was the first time I was in tears reaching my home town. I was in a shock and it took me sometime to realize that he had stolen my mobile. The first prized possession, I bought with my own savings. :( I really couldn’t believe it even after I reached my home. One look at my phone’s charger and I felt very lonesome all of a sudden. The mobile I cherished, which was with me for 14 months was no longer in my hand. I was coming to terms with how much it was a part of my life. It was not only that the mobile’s gone but I also missed the appeal of how it looked and how I felt when I used to hold it in my hand. I mean, I was the first person to buy the moto slim phone in office and the phone itself was very famous over there. I bought it much before Abhishek Bachan started endorsing the phone too. Ok I guess that’s enough of regret for keeping the phone near my hand and not in my bag.

I really did not enjoy my holiday and I came back all irritated and sad. Last night, I bought a Nokia 2310, which is a basic model. From where to where? Moto slim slvr phone to Nokia basic model? I was so used to a slim and light mobile. Those days, I used to check my pocket umpteen number of times atleast, to make sure that my mobile is still inside the pocket. A smile lights up my face on the feeling that it is there.

Now when I slide the new phone inside my pant pocket, I can easily make out the difference. :(

Where are you, my moto?

A feeling like never before!

I am back to what I love doing after a ‘small’ gap. Writing, or rather expressing myself. I have been getting calls from few friends asking the reason for not posting regularly. They seem to imply that I am turning out to be very lazy. Now why did it take me so long to update my blog? For one week I pondered on that question, seriously. I admit I would not totally blame my hectic work schedule but definitely it was not laziness. There were tensions outside work. Like, I was expecting my new year to start off with something really special. Did it really start with a bang?

Oh no it didn't, in fact all my hopes went down in the drain. I am at the moment, totally distraught and sad. Sometimes, expectations can really reduce joy. It was not like I actually believed in the teachings of “Art of Living” (AOL). I mean no one would ardently believe on something and do the exact opposite, right? At least I would definitely not do that. The only sad part is that after seeing all my hopes crash, I could very well relate to the first teaching of the Art of Living Ashram.

‘Expectation reduces joy’.

Art of Living Ashram, beautiful isn't it?

Back in college, neither did I like the teachings of the Ashram nor the attractiveness of the place. When I was there, I totally was out of place and never felt attached to the Ashram though many of my classmates did. Compulsion from the college authorities to attend the three day seminar (basic course) as part of the orientation program witnessed me joining the others in the 1.5 km march towards the ashram. I remember the dean promising that he would definitely not award MBA certificates to all those who would escape from the basic course of the AOL, even if they end up being toppers. Hmmm, but later the attendance of the AOL course was never really an important criteria when the convocation actually happened. The course was tiring, that was what I felt during the first day. I mean waking up early in the morning at 4.45 and assembling in the terrace of the ashram to do the Surya Namskar and then on till 11 pm in the night, attending lectures, yoga, meditation, pranayamas and Sudarshan Kriyas made me feel like I was in a totally different world. Of course, the gates of the ashram campus were bolted in order to shut the desires of outside world. Everything was a big NO in the ashram. No tea, coffee, chocolates, ice cream, eatables, cigarettes, drinks were served in the ashram shops. The food served was really bland. The reason elucidated was that all of the restricted food and spices increased the level of toxins in the body.

The person who took the lectures surprised us when he revealed that he was earlier a successful entrepreneur, IIM A pass out who left his business in order to serve the ashram and to propagate its teachings. He mentioned his profit he used to earn during his entrepreneur days roughly in one of the lectures, an amount close to 40 lakhs per month. Both he and his wife had donated their savings to the ashram and now stay there happily. The three days food itself was a torture for me and I really used to wonder how anybody could stay there for more than that. The only part I liked in the whole of the course was the ending of the Sudarshan Kriya session, wherein you end up lying on the bed in a resting position, eyes closed for a few minutes. I used to just sleep off till somebody actually woke me up, since it was considered a relaxing position. :)

The Satsung was another fun moment, wherein all the people danced to the ragas and bhajans sung by ardent devotees of the ashram. My batch danced like as if it was a dance party and not like devotees in any way. Then there was another hilarious moment, which everybody enjoyed equally. At the end of one of the lectures, the full batch was asked to hug and say to each and every other person the following line, “I belong to you and you belong to me”. This exercise was thoroughly enjoyed by the boys since they could loaf around saying it to each and ever girl around, without getting bashed up. :) The girls too enjoyed it since it brought in a comfort feeling and helped them to come out of their coyness.

Looking back, I guess AOL was a good learning experience for the batch in a whole. It made all of us familiar enough to start slogging together in a very comfortable manner, devoid of stress and sadness till our Dean acted. I mean he totally believed in preparing the batch for facing the worst in life and constantly strived at increasing the amount of stress in all the students. Of course, the later part of the MBA even saw romances getting rekindled in the ashram. It was a place where the batch had free entry since my college was closely associated with the AOL ashram. The only reason my friends and me visited the ashram later after the AOL course was to enjoy the cool breeze and also to play hide & seek in the terrace of the ashram. If the devotees would have seen us like that, definitely they would have thrown us out. It’s interesting to even remember that we have had several sessions with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (founder of Art of Living), who actually knows some of my batch mates very closely. Later when there was some talk about AOL after I joined my work, I simply mentioned that I have seen him and used to visit his ashram in Bangalore, all of the listeners actually looked at me as if I have earned my salvation. It was very funny for me though. :D


Coming back to what I started off with, I am done with simply going on expecting and expecting and seeing all of them crash. It is sometimes hard to take the sadness frivolously when you know that inside you are heart broken. Nevertheless, I guess I am happy since I try to find happiness in small things especially my loved ones’ happiness.

Moral of my current state,’ Expectation reduces joy’. It really does!

Dance party-Wow here I come!

I was away from town for Christmas and was not able to update the continuation of the last post. All those who waited for the second part, please bear with me for the delay. Even though there was only one comment, it doesn’t mean that I have very less readers. Most of my readers don’t believe in commenting. :D Here it goes.

This post is the continuation of the previous one.

Now when it comes to parties, what enthralls me most is the dancing part. I would literally be the first one to hit the dance floor and the last time one to come out. That shows my craze for dancing. In December every year my company hosts a party for all the employees, like a custom in one of the prestigious pubs in the city. This time it was on Friday, the 15th. Not that it was much awaited considering the fact that I already attended one of those ‘not so happening parties’ last year December time but I was just looking forward to some masti to cool down in the work front. C’mon who doesn’t like to get some time off and chill out? Be it unlimited beer for those who would like to drink or the scrumptious dinner for those people who would like a quiet evening. My intention was nothing but to go out there and dance till I could feel fresh enough to get back to the new project at work, which I will need to finish to go for the much awaited vacation in January end.

So, like I had mentioned in the last post, I was kind of looking forward to the evening, thinking about what I should be wearing, how to reach the venue etc etc, and the outward effect of which I was getting distracted in my work. I guess mostly all the girls do the same thing. I mean think a lot about what could be the most appropriate dress for the occasion, go through the entire wardrobe in the ‘mind’ trying to figure out how to look the best, at the same time decent enough for an office party. Anyway, I had kind of set my mind to something trendy and left it right there trying to get back my attention to work. My sister was to accompany me to the same party and that made it all the more exciting since she works with Accenture and sometimes it’s good to show off that you have siblings who work in reputed companies like that. :D

Time ran out pretty fast and before I knew I had to leave for home to pick up my sis as well as get ready for the party. We reached the pub by 8pm and were ushered inside by the stares of all the people in the hotel lounge as well as my office colleagues. It really felt good to be the center of attraction for all the right reasons. The crowd was huge and I could see numerous unfamiliar faces only to realize that there were quite a bit of new joinees and some others not from my office basically. Most of them were holding a bottle of beer with the actual poise of holding champagne or vodka or rum; stopping it right since I am not familiar with the names of the other hot drinks. We made ourselves comfortable in one of the tables and I turned to my sis to ask her something and realized that she was all blue. The neon lights had turned her white top shining blue like a total glow which could draw attention even from far area. One of my colleagues came near me and suddenly remarked, “Hey, you look so thin and beautiful today”. I was like “Oh really, thanks but I always look like that”. I introduced my sis to him and the next thing he asks me is my coupons. I never knew this was coming. Unlike all the annual parties, this time my company made it ‘one drink for each’ instead of the unlimited beer policy. So all that buttering was for the coupons we had.

After all the formal introductions of my sis to my teammates and other friends, I was just waiting to hit the dance floor. It was pretty much a small dance floor for 400 employees but I believe in the policy that you need to create your own space for dancing. So, I pulled my sis and entered the dance floor, with the song “hips don’t lie” playing in the background. We whirled and rocked the dance floor with the increasing beats of the song. Couples were enjoying their private moments right out there in the public since those poor people would not have realized that the dim lights in the dance floor were deceiving them big time. I wasn’t surprised to see some of the men totally out of control, drunk and all high ready to fall; some of them trying to take advantage of the closeness of girls in the dance floor. It happened last year too. You know what I mean. It was like you get a guy drunk and his character can easily be assessed. :) I saw this industry manager falling over a girl repeatedly, pretty much amusing sight. Anyways, if the girl doesn’t mind, who should bother? I am sure she must be one of the girls out there having very strict parents, who forbid nightclubs, boy friends and drinks. Devoid of freedom, when they get a little bit of it, they really are unaware on how to handle it. So, on the reason that it is an office party, the permission granting also becomes successful.

The music stopped all of a sudden as there was some problem with the system. So, we all walked back to the lobby. I mean I even ended up telling my sis that normally my office parties aren't so boring. My thoughts suddenly drifted to my MBA College dance parties. I guess there was something different in those parties. Check out the snaps below, those days were really something!

Dance dance!!

Dance time in the college farm house...

The Christmas cake cutting part!

All set to rock the New year party!

Now coming back to office party, I really am not able to comprehend on what was amiss. Maybe, it was just the ok type DJ’s music or the crowd or the fact that my close friends were missing on the dance floor. Nevertheless, I did have some fun moments in last year’s office party. Check out the snaps of the same one.

Everybody in tiny winy dance floor

hmmm...rocking first and

Rolling next...:)

Dinner time!

After an hour, the music was back but we were having our dinner. I relished the Gajar Ka Halwa with ice cream though I was too full. We walked back to the dance floor and danced for some more time till my sis was really exhausted. Then we left for home at 11pm in my colleague’s car, with me thinking about how long the day was. All in all it was tiring but at the same time enjoyable and somewhat refreshing.

Wishing you all a joyous new year with lots of happy happy surprises and of course may our dreams come true. Happy 2007.

Friday the 15th-eventful and long...

Last Friday was quite an eventful day, both in terms of fun and fatigue. I woke up early morning at 5, the last time I remember doing something like that; it was exams. I mean, I really hate waking up so early. Imagine, missing out on 3 more hours of sleep. Anyway, due to unavoidable marriage situations, I had to just resist the temptation to sleep and get dressed up, while asking myself various questions. Why would people keep marriage ceremonies between 7-7.30 in the morning? Shouldn’t they think that the invited guests would need some time to travel all the way to the venue and then find the Kalyan Mandap? What would happen to people like me, who stay so far away from the venue, how would I manage to reach in time? Sometimes, it feels good to crib; I mean there should be some incentive for all the trouble I was taking. Pondering over all those questions I finished all my morning activities and got dressed up. In a rush, I gulped down a glass of milk (of course breakfast was a no no so early in the morning), took my handbag and started on the quest of finding the place where my teammate was to get married.

Like I have stated earlier, I need to walk a mile to catch an auto. On the way, I could see the onlookers gape at me. I was at a loss and was wondering why I was being subject to so many stares. I soon realized that I was in this chimtak* salwar suit, all pinkish since the dress color was dark pink. How I wished I wasn’t dressed up so brightly for this wedding. Imagine me on the road at 6 in the morning all ‘dressed’ up, I guess people could easily see a dark pink object coming from the road far off itself; obviously it would call for more than stares, maybe even laughter. However, I started feeling better as soon as I realized that I am not wearing a sari, something which I had decided the previous night. Also, the dress was a sleeveless one so, that much of bright color was reduced by the simple fact that there weren’t any sleeves. I have this habit of consoling myself, when I think that I have made a fool of myself. That’s exactly what I was trying to do by thinking about the sari, and the sleeves while trying to escape from that area.

Like I have mentioned earlier, my bad luck can sometimes be really bad, that I had to walk quite a bit to finally sight an auto. Regardless the high rate quoted by the driver, I jumped inside the auto bypassing the bargaining process for the first time. I know it sounds uncanny but there were two very important reasons for that. The first one would be the obvious need for me to escape from that area. It is better to pay a little higher and reach the venue safe and sound and of course in time; that would explain the second reason. I was surprised when I reached the landmark given my S (another teammate with whom I have to go for the wedding) at 6.45. I walked leisurely towards her house thinking that I managed to reach earlier by 15 minutes. She greeted me at her door still in her nightdress making me wonder what on earth I was doing there. She reassured me that we could leave for the venue in another half an hour and off she went to get ready, leaving me with biscuits and tea. Meanwhile I browsed through the net and listened to songs in her comp trying not to even think of the sleep I missed out by rising and shining so early. Don’t get the wrong idea, she had asked me to be at her place by 7, so that we could walk to the venue which is just 5 minutes away from her house.

At 7.30, we reached the venue and end up walking briskly in order to see the “Thaalikettu” (main function), although the literal meaning of the word would be chain tying. The function got over soon and we met the couple and gave our wishes along with the gift. I was looking forward to having something as I was beginning to feel hungry but when my teammate suggested that we push off to office, I kind of agreed and left for work We reached office at 8.30 and like I had expected we were the first to enter our floor. By 10, I was too hungry to even gaze at the computer screen so I ended up ordering a sandwich from the eatery, which normally I hate. There is a saying somewhat like this, “When a tiger is helplessly hungry, it might even end up eating grass”. I wonder if actually there could be a saying like that though I kind of liked the comparison of the tiger to me. Anyways, I got back to work and relentlessly finished some bit of work I had. Trust me, it is very hard to work on a Friday normally itself, let alone forget the office annual party which was scheduled to begin at 7 pm the same day.

To be continued…
*Chimtak- very brightly dark and eye-catching

Back to Life!

Today morning while waking up, I was very excited; a feeling like it was a much awaited day. “Good Morning Rani”, I wished myself while rising and starting my daily activities. I was smiling all the way through. I have never been so happy in recent times. To clarify, the recent times would mean like close to a month. It is somewhat the same time since I updated my blog. Not that I have too many readers, but I just didn’t feel too good about leaving it abandoned and uncared. So here I am back to life and the things I care.

Talking about the happy feeling today, I just can’t believe that I am finally completing my consult (consulting project) today. That too, it is happening three days ahead of the D day. This is not the first time I am completing a project ahead of the deadline but considering the high difficulty level, lack of information and the problems I have been facing at home, I am so glad it is getting over. It calls for a celebration. A much awaited one. I am thinking off treating my friends at office. In office, I know a treat is normally called for when there’s a birthday or a farewell, but I feel like celebrating the victory of work and the joy of coming out of problems. Those problems were really taunting and almost drained me out, but I managed to somehow survive and overcome them. I know it’s not something great, as nobody is devoid of problems in life. It comes and goes like a never ending saga. It can be compared to the rains in the monsoon, when first the clouds become dark; that’s the onset of the problem and the feeling of glumness. Then follows the thunder and lightening which is the extreme situation in the problem that can lead you to a state of insanity, if hope and the strength to pass are not upheld. Soon, comes a heavy downpour, which signals the outburst of happiness of survival or the end of the problem.

Every problem has to pass like every facet of seasons. How you deal with those problems, makes the difference. It is just mere luck which shows me the way to survival. The realization and the strength to overcome the difficulties strikes me just in time before I lose myself. Staying in an alien place is not something I would be constantly worried about given a choice. It is kind of bizarre. However I try, I fail to identify the metro city where I have been staying for the past one and a half years as anything but alien. It could be the after effect of the kind of troubles I have gone through, ranging from the harsh attitude of the auto drivers to the ‘never can be happy’ type roommates. I mean what else can I term people who love to fight and create problems in the house for preposterous reasons. The entire roommate bonding exercise seems to be of no use anymore. I am done with cribbing about my two roommates, both very good at hurting me with their abusive words. First I thought it was pms* which was bothering them, since they religiously created fights in the house once every month. Then I realized that they just could not be happy for long. They just needed to have tensions one way or the other, ultimately leading to fights. It is surprising to think that there are people who likes tensions, sadness and fights more than happiness. All my efforts in solving the problems at home went down in vain. In the end I decided to move out of the house, since I realized that it can never turn into ‘home sweet home’.

The day I realized that I was becoming the victim of uncalled trouble; my problems slowly began to vanish into thin air. The consult also turned out into a success. It does feel great!

Finally, I am back to life!

*Premenstrual stress

Bargaining-inevitable process here!

Disclaimer: No offense intended to the city of Chennai.

This post is a continuation of the previous one.

During my student days in Bangalore, I used to love the whole process of bargaining. For shopping, I had to manage with the monthly allowance, which was the pocket money given by my brother. Those days, the bargain shops in Commercial Street were a huge blessing to me. Just take that few hundred rupees, stuff it safely inside my handbag, the bag being the result of a bargain again and set off to the epitome of bargain shops in Bangalore. Back then, it was sheer enjoyment to go through the whole process. I enter a fashion wear shop, look around and in a minute I know my eyes are hooked onto few tops. Being very particular about trying out stuff, especially when it comes to clothes, I happily go through the ordeal of trying out both the sizes M and S for all those tops. Once the selection is done, I approach the salesman and there the process begins.

Me: Huh bolo Bhaiya, kitna hai? (Huh how much is it, brother?) :) I know a little bit of respect always works!

Salesman: Donom milke paanch sau rupiye dedijiye. (Give Rs 500 for both together).

Me: Woh bahut zyaada hai, bhaiya. Thoda tho kam karlo.(That is a lot too much. Reduce it a little bit).

Salesman: Teek hai, aap hi boliye, kitna desakthe hain? (Ok tell me how much are you willing to pay?) I guess he knows that I am good in bargaining…:D

Me: Hmmmm dosauchaalis rupiye hi kaafi hai uskeliye. ( Err..Rs 240 is more than enough for it).

Salesman: Huh!! lekin jitna mene kaha tha, uska aadha bhi nahin kaha aapne. Nahin, charsau rupiye se kam nahi hoga. (That is less than half of what I quoted. I can give it maximum for Rs 400).

Me: Nahin Bhaiya, Aap ko dena hai tho dohasauchaalis rupiye mai dhedijiye. Ek baat samach lijiye. Agar aap muche yeh kam daam par dengke, tho meri saari dost bhi is dukan mein hi shopping karenge. (If you want to sell it to me, give it for Rs 240. Understand one thing, if you give it in lower price, then all my friends will also come here for shopping).

Salesman: Lekin dohsauchaalis rupiye bahut kam hain. (But Rs 240 is too less).

Me: I reply back very innocently, Teek hai bhaiya, dohsaupachaas rupiye lelo. Ab tho aap khush honge, na? (Ok then here take Rs 250. Are you happy now?

Salesman: Huh!! He was totally bewildered. Poor chap.: D

Few seconds later, the salesman smiles, and writes the bill for Rs 250 and takes it to the counter. I pay the same amount and happily walk out of the shop. Don’t you think the whole process is worth the trouble? Adding onto that is the joy of seeing the salesman shocked and speechless. :D

Now when I have to go through the whole process of bargaining, I absolutely hate it. Or rather it is so much a part of my daily life that it is becomes inevitable. The last post ended with me relating the trouble finding an auto and completing the bargaining process as soon as I can, if I have to reach office in time. If I am not able to find an auto in the stand and will have to rely on an ajnabi auto, the whole conversation goes like this.

Me: Teynapet ponamge. Ange Karumuttu Centre irikille? (I need to go to Teynapet, near Karumuttu Centre). No point of adding words of respect. Believe me it will not work with auto drivers in Chennai.

Hmmm…This guy is for sure not going to work, I think to myself.

Autowala: Apollo Hospital Pakkama?(Near Apollo hospital?)

Me: Haan Atheithan. (yeah that’s the place). Oh speed up guy, you are losing my patience.

Autowala: Ange enge Ma? (Near Apollo where?) Now I feel really angry.

Me: Ninga hospital pakkam stop paninga. Evilom? (You stop near the hospital, please). How much? Here begins the tough part.

Autowala: 65 rupees aakuma. (It will be Rs 65). Believe me this guy is doing daylight robbery. My office is just 2.5 kms away. No surprise at his words anyways, since I am used to auto drivers over here.

Me: Rs 30 than koduthittu irriken. (I give only Rs 30 daily). Saying this, I start walking by.

No! He doesn’t bother calling me back. I knew it was going to be total time waste. Any where else, the walking away strategy works in bargaining, but over here it doesn’t work with most of the auto drivers. Hmph, I sigh to myself. Soon enough, I find another auto. The same conversation above follows: Whatever it is, finally end up getting an autowala who will take only Rs 30 but the whole bargain lasts more than 5-10 minutes.

All this trouble is saved, if I find an auto in the stand because all the drivers there know me and I can avoid the tedious bargaining process with them. Also, if I have time to spare, I can just wait near the stand because one or the other auto will be back there in few minutes as that is how their normal practice goes.

Phew! A timely sleep does save a lot of trouble!

Timely sleep saves a lot of trouble!

A portion of my bed where my arm rests, starts vibrating at sharp 7.45 am. It is the alarm from my cell phone. Soon enough, I reach out for the cell phone with one hand coming out of the covers, slowly searching for the snooze button.
Now why do I keep it in vibrate mode? There were times when I had kept some ring tone and while sleeping, the loud ringing alarm sounded like a lullaby and I never got up in time. Not that I enjoyed reaching office late, but the only option back then was to sign the late register. Three times I do that happily and the fourth time I am late, it becomes a half day. I guess those days, every month I had exhausted the three days allowance easily. :D. Once or twice, I even had to go for half day. Now what happens on a day when I am late for office and I am aware of the already exhausted 3 days? Simple, I will continue sleeping knowing that I might as well go to office in the afternoon since anyways I will have to take half day.

Now back to the snooze button. I always end up adjusting the alarm a little early before the actual time for me to rise and shine. Most of the days, it is 7.45am to get up maximum by 8am. I have no words to express the glorious joy with which I sleep after I hit the snooze button. It is like the feeling of total bliss, knowing that you still have some more time for that sweet slumber or for that beautiful dream to continue. Most of the times, it is the latter which I go for even though sometimes I try both of it. Now what happens is that how ever I try to make the dream continue, it does not move from the point I woke up to reality. So as my normal practice goes, I start making up the dream. I try to imagine that whatever I fantasize while sleeping is actually a part of the dream. Wicked, isn’t it? There is some happiness in that too.

Once I get off the bed and if the time is 8.00, I have enough time to do all the stuff I normally do along with some exercise and roommate bonding. Exercise would include a bit of yoga plus stretching and bonding would normally be talking with my roomies. I know talking is not really what bonding is all about, but I would be glad even if that happens. Three of us stay in the same house but seldom gets to meet the other person. One girl works in a call centre as a team leader so it calls for night shift. In essence, when she comes back from work in the morning, I leave for work. The other girl (again team leader) works in a BPO and enjoys the benefits of day shift but again both of us don’t get to talk that much. The so called reason being, the fact that she is always on her phone talking to some or the other person.

Now, if I get off the bed even a minute after 8.30am, the whole exercise and bonding process goes for a toss. I will have to rush and go to the bath room. By the time I finish all the activities inside, it takes totally 40 minutes (no compromise with the time I spent inside the bathroom even if I am late). I rush out, get dressed and run to the kitchen for breakfast. The time is 9.15am. The servant lady, who cooks for us break fast and lunch, keeps my cereal ready. I gulp it down in a minute. Sometimes, the cereal can be really hot and then I curse myself for sleeping that extra half hour. Few words would follow like this, “ooh ahh” Also, I would ask her not to keep it so hot. How I wish I could speak proper Tamil to her after that. Obviously she understands a bit of my broken Tamil and would mumble something to herself.

Suddenly, I would realize that there is no time to waste. I would just force some water down my burnt throat, pick up my lunch box, umbrella and handbag and rush outside the flat. Normally it takes exactly 12-15 minutes for me to reach office by auto. A few miles away from the apartment, is the auto stand. I would be praying that there should be an auto waiting for me. My bad luck can sometimes be so bad that there would not be even one auto, which would mean that I will have to walk another extra mile to find one. The problem is not only finding an auto but then I will have to complete the whole bargaining process as soon as I can, if I have to reach office in time.

To be continued....

Birthday Birthday all the way!

It is commonly said that November born people are very beautiful, intelligent and famous. One of my friends whose birthday falls on Nov 6th used to quote all those film stars names like Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen and so on. I am not bothered about all that but am very thankful to all those born in November. The inexplicable reason being the much sought after cake cutting and treat part. :D. In the past one week, there were four birthdays celebrated in the office. Cake cutting forms the usual part along with a small gift from the team. It began with pri’s birthday. Pri is a friend working with the automation and electronics team. Her birthday was on November 4th. As goes the normal practice, we gathered in the conference room and gave her a surprise. Wait a moment, was it really a surprise?

We just brought her into the conference room. Surprise!

mmmmm cake cutting... It's chocolate truffle!

Me slowly taking a piece of cake... : )

Pri opening her gift! That's my moto slvr near her gift :)

cute isn't it?...made up scene but! The bouquet was lying in somebody else's desk. He took it and gave it to Pri posing for the camera....:)

Gone are those school days…

It has been six years since I graduated out of school but the memories are fresh enough to make me wonder whether those days are really gone. Those were the days when I enjoyed the most. No tensions, no worries but just enjoyment. Did I know the meaning of the word ‘stress’ then? Certainly, our teachers knew it. Our batch was labeled as the most notorious one in the history of Mount Carmel Anglo Indian Girls High School, Tangasseri and we lived by it proudly. Our ICSE and ISCE results also were the best. If I look back now, I am unable to remember the number of times we were punished as a whole. It was easy to find happiness back then in small things. Imagine the fun of imitating our teachers’ right in front of them. Of course they enjoyed it, otherwise they would not have asked us to do it. Dancing, singing, making merry was all a part of our daily activities.

Gaping out at the big sea, through the classroom corridor, I always thought that one day the waves would rise up and gulp down the whole school. What a stupid thought, I know. Nevertheless, to declare that the sea was a very beautiful view would be an understatement. A mile adjacent to our school stood the Infant Jesus Anglo Indian Boys School. Ahem, yes when there is a girls school, a boys school can’t be very far away, Is it? Anyways, we used to love and enjoy the attention the boys showered on us. At the end of the day, travel in the same tempo van back home, singing and playing all the way.

I still remember the time when Mrs Cabbot, (our biology teacher) asked in the 10 STD whether any of us have seen the male reproductive organ. She saw one hand rise. Poor D (class topper), she never knew what she was getting into by raising her hand. Or she must have thought that there might be quite a few hands other than hers raised up. The teacher demanded, “How and when”? She awkwardly answered, “Recently, my cousin brother was born. I saw his”. Anyways she was asked to go to the board and draw the male reproductive system. What a laugh we had! Imagine all the girls giggling and she standing near the board and trying her best to draw and draw.

On entering the plus one, we started to look out and enjoy the sight of good looking boys. There was this day which, was much awaited by both the schools. The ‘Plus Two Day’. It was a tradition followed in which every year, all the plus two girls and boys from both the schools would meet up in either of the schools and the students would perform for the audience. The audience would be the plus two teachers and the plus two students again. It would be a platform for interaction between both the schools. Unluckily, in the 2 years of my plus two, we had only one plus two day but we had lots of fun on that day.

We were all seated together, in such a way that one boy was sandwiched between two girls. Nobody was talking and it was a really awkward situation. Each person was waiting for the other one to talk. Of course, we girls wanted the guys to start off. There was this gang of five boys with musical instruments who was to perform for us some song. One of them, approached S and asked her, “Can you show me the way to the green room”? Now S is another one of my best friends and the laughing riot of our class. To describe her, I would use the words simple, beautiful, hilarious and jumpy. S got up and answered, “May I ask for what”?
The guy was totally dumbfounded but he soon said, “I need to keep this guitar there safely”. In a moment, S snatched the guitar from him and replied, “Oh that’s all? I will keep it here next to this pillar”. We all started laughing like anything. The guy had a blank expression on his face. He watched helplessly as S placed his precious guitar next to the dusty pillar.

Even after that incident, nobody took the initiative to talk. Time was running out. Suddenly, S jumps up literally, claps and shouts aloud, “Come on guys, lets play something”. The guys looked at each other with frightened faces. All the girls started laughing like anything. Soon the guys joined us in our laughter. This gesture kind of lightened the moment and all of us started talking and laughing. Even in tuition classes, which is the only other place where we get to interact with them, we had quite a bit of fun because of S. On one such occasion, in our Math tuition class, few guys were sitting besides S and my other friends. Now one guy who was trying to keep his bag accidentally hits S’s butt. Few minutes later, she jumps up from her seat, turns around much above that guy’s dismay and shouts, “This is the second time you are hitting me on my buttocks”. The whole class including the professor stares at both of them and starts laughing. S sat down totally embarrassed realizing what she did. That is how she is. She first acts and then thinks.

Now S is doing her final year exams for her medicine studies. Very soon she would become a much deserving doctor considering the kind of helpful person she is. We always tell her parents, that when one patient would come to her clinic seeing the person’s helplessness, she would not only treat him for free but also give money and make sure that he gets medicines also for free. Whoever comes across this blog is likely to wonder what syrals means? Each letter of the word is the first letter of my best friends’ names. I guess I have taken enough of my office time to joblessly write this post. Back to work now!

Life is beautiful!

I really think life is beautiful. It has got nothing to do with proclaiming something out of the blue. I am saying it because it is a feeling that I have always had....hmmm not from childhood but since the time the whole searching process began. Frankly the search still goes on, the search for the real purpose of my life. Though I feel I was close on arriving at the profound answer. Back to what I started, the beauty of life. Recently I came across one more instance when I just had to shout aloud, “Life is beautiful”.

Few days back, I got a call from my friend R who rang up to talk about another friend L. Now to describe L in few words is a little hard for me. Still, I would say that simple, beautiful and happily married would suit her along with the tag of my best friend. The last part is something that I will cherish forever.....I know that because we are friends for the past sixteen years and am quite sure it will continue for life. S and R also forms a part of this forever friendship group, though I will talk about them later. (Just a mention for safety sake, otherwise I might get murdered by them, if they come across this blog.)

On 21st of October, R calls and tells me that I am an aunt now. So engrossed I was with my job and tensions, that I actually asked her how. Neither did it occur to me that L was nine months pregnant nor the fact that her delivery date was due. Her next few words were these. “Edi patti, thendi, L prasavichu”, literally means “You dog, beggar, L gave birth”. “It’s a girl!” she said. My joy knew no bounds. I started screaming in the office like this. “yehiyaeeeeeee, yahooooooo…wowieeeeeeeeee….then what followed was “oops. I am sorry, sorry, really sorry, sorry. Sorry friends!! Actually my friend just delivered a baby girl”.

I rushed inside the conference room and dialed L’s mobile number (for some privacy, since I had decided no more hue and cry). When L picked up, I was literally not able to speak anything. Here is the conversation that followed.

Me: hey dear I just came to know. Congratulations! I don’t know what more to say.
L: Oh thanks!

Me: I can’t believe that finally its done. You are a mother now. And, I am an aunt now.

L: Isn’t it so beautiful? Everybody over here is saying that she looks like me. My eyes, my nose, my ears. She is so small!

Me: Oh really? I am so happy for you. I can’t wait to see her. Is she sleeping? Wake her up! Hold the phone near her mouth. I want to hear her sound. (She was laughing at that moment…must have thought that I am crazy.)

The baby: miaaahhhh…mmmm….hiummmmm…mihimihimhi…..muuuuu(the baby actually made sounds like that….Can you believe it?).

How does it feel like to be an aunt? I can’t really tell. Maybe I will when I will soon be visiting L. The much awaited moment, when I will hold her baby in my arms. Life is beautiful! Isnt it?