My S P A C E

Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani...

2010-02-11T11:31:00.001Z

So many things in life we take it for granted, like
Mom's kaituthu (cant translate it really! :-),
Granny's pickle,
Occasional meal on Plantain Leaf (especially on festivals),
On a rainy evening, Dad coming back home with hot bajji bonda from the nearby shop,
Roadside Panipuri,
Standing on the terrace and gazing the stars with radio in your cell or talking to dear friends,
Standing on the terrace and watching the colorful sky on the Deepavali night... (it was so boring here this time :( Deepavali without crackers... naaah!),
Deciding at the nth moment and still making it to meet a friend for a coffee just-like-that,
To kick start the weekend by going to Forum and doing mindless window shopping :),
Having hot joLa (maize) on roadside with spicy green chutney on it, especially when it is raining,
Not having to check weather.com each time you want to step out of your home,
BDA complex panipuri and Jalebi,
the noise, the traffic, the pollution... sighh!

One might ask, if you miss home so much, why at all come out? Financial commitments, Financial Planning, Exploring a new place, Private space, reasons could be many, whatever it is, when we come out of our country and start living in a different place for a while, thats when we realize the value of what we've lost... The moment we start thinking about going back (even for a short while), the joy we get can never be equated to the n number of world tours we make.... I cant stop grinning, i'm going home for 3 weeks :D... I know its too less, but its good enough to rejuvenate me :)
PS: Title is a bit cliche? I know!! but thats the closest I could get...

Happy Birthday to me..

2010-02-08T12:45:00.002Z

From the time I remember, my typical birthdays have been, buying a new Dress, Early morning going to temple with Baba... Going go School/College in my new Birthday Dress, evening few close friends would come home and give me gifts (the best part of the day :D), Amma would serve them Puliogare, Gulab Jamoon and a few other delicacies....Year by Year the same routine continued with a few additions like the craze of receiving calls at 12am, taking friends out for Treats etc etc... but the main skeleton of the day's plan used to remain the same...
This was the first time in all these years, I could not go to temple with Baba in the morning, that one set of friends who used to meet me at least on my birtyday every year werent around, Baba did not buy me a new dress nor Amma made any sweets for me... it was very different...and I was a little sad about that :(

On Sunday with the subtle hints by My dear Pati and a dear friend Kaur, though I knew there was some plan going around behind my back, when I got home in the evening, the plan of celebrating my birthday at IST surprised me... the house was decorated with balloons and festoons all over... there was newspapers, "London Paper" and "Bakar Times" stuck on the wall.... it was a super cool idea, though I dint like the headlines which were shouting out I was getting old ;)
After the joyful evening, when everyone left, I read a letter by Kaur and my eyes were full... it was very sweet of her... (I didnt have a clue then that, the whole gang was a part of it :))
By then, I was pretty tired and I hit the bed early.... Around 12, Hero woke me up and brought me to the hall..he said your dad has come... In my half sleep, I actually stated looking around... then he showed me in skype... my parents were online... it was their early morning 5.30 :) I met parents and in-laws online, it was really overwhelming :) Then I opened my birthday gift by Ms Rao which, with full difficulty I had stopped myself from opening last 3 days... It was a jewellery box with both our picture on top of it :d... For a technologically challenged person, it was tooo much to expect her to go online and order something like this!!! Bravo my girl!

Later, hero showed a Video which had scanned copies of hand written messages from many of my dear ones, it had me in tears :) It was such a sweet gift for a senti creature like me :)... With Hero being him, I'm sure how much he would've annoyed everyone to get that done...

When you are 5000 miles away from home, realizing that you've built a small world for yourself where you have a bunch of folks who care to take their time out to make your day special, acknowledging the fact that they are happy with your presence in their lives, what more can you ask for in Life... I'm thankful to God for this little world I've created.... Thank you guys.... you Rock!

jobless mind at work...

2009-11-12T11:48:00.003Z

PS: Only people who have experienced the struggle of taking out a second ear ring from the pile, know how useful this idea can be :-D

PPS: Courtesy: Hero's Ferrari model Car dabba :-D

lead kindly light....

2009-10-16T13:21:00.003+01:00

Happy Deepavali to Everyone :-)
PS: I made this Card :D

Dont dig your Grave with your own Knife and Fork!

2009-10-07T12:16:00.007+01:00

GM Diet for 7 days...
Pros: Detoxification, Cleansing and weight Loss
Cons: a little tiredness initially, taste buds will go dead and if you have horrible friends who order pizza and garlic bread and eat in front of you, then you are a goner!
After hearing a lot about this GM diet, both Hero and I thought we'll give a try and we started this last monday.
Day One was supposed to be only fruits. I had fruit chat made out of Apples, Grapes, Oranges for breakfast. For lunch, I just had one apple and thought will have soup around 4. But I got lazy and skipped that and went out for groceries, and by the time I came back home, I was dead tired. One of the main reasons could be because I had had very less water the whole day. The diet strictly prescribes 10-12 glasses of water and I think I had just 3-4 glasses of it. For dinner, I prepared something called as WonderSoup. Whoever named it that, I'm sure they thought combining vegetables like cabbage, onion, tomato and capsicum to form a soup and drinking that is the biggest wonder. It was pathetic, I threw up! and was totally tired by the end of day. But I realized it was mainly because of not following the rule book.
Day two was only vegetables. This day I drank water time to time and had veggies in small quantities in small intervals of time. Started the day with mashed potato with salt, garam masala, chilli powder etc and cucumber chat at 11, beans sabzi for lunch, tomato chat for tea time and dinner was mixed vegetable sabzi.
Day three was fruits and vegetables. Fruits for breakfast, cucumber chat at 11, fruits for lunch, Tomato at tea time and vegetable sabzi for dinner.
Day Four was the best! we had to eat only 8 bananas and 3 glasses of milk whole day. I was wondering if it was really enough, but then you'll be surprised to know, you'll not be able to eat all 8 bananas in a day and yet you'll be full of energy.
Day Five was one bowl of rice and 8 tomatos. I made Lemon Rice with Tomato chutney for breakfast, Tomato bath for lunch and Tomato soup for dinner. And actually even though I did not eat as much as I usually do, after 4 days of fruits and vegetables, I was feeling very heavy with just half a cup of rice.
Day Six was a bowl of rice and vegetables whole day. It was lazy Saturday, so we had brunch of Veg biryani at around 11, lemon rice around 4 and some fruits around 8. We had gone for a party and we sat with 10 sadist friends around us having pizza and garlic bread from Papajohns :( boooh!
Day Seven was supposed to be a bowl of rice with vegetables and fruit juice. Morning we started with Vegetable bath and we went out and checked our weight... I had lost 3kgs and he had lost 3.5kgs :D So, to celebrate, I had apply pie and cappuccino and bid adieu to my GM Diet :D
More than the weight loss, I feel its a very good cleansing mechanism and I now feel very light and fresh. I also learnt I could make so many dishes with very less (half a spoon) or no oil at all. I think this is the first time in my entire life, I completed a diet successfully!
Yayyyy! :D

Rheumatoid Arthritis - my experience :)

2009-09-23T09:19:00.009+01:00

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks all the joints. About 1% of the world's population is afflicted by rheumatoid arthritis, women three times more often than men.

Last year, I was carefully handpicked into this 1% of the world's population! When I travelled to Minneapolis, US in the winter, I was all excited about my first snow fall, making a snowman, seeing the white world and taking all the snow rides. But less did I know that my life was going to change for a while (or may be forever :-/). Though my stay was all that I had dreamt of, I went back to India with a gift: Joints pain! It started with the wrist and the fingers. I thought it could be RSI because of laptop usage, took medicines, physiotherapy, but it didnt work. Changed couple of doctors, and took lot of tests at the end to realize it was RA.

When I was first diagonized, I did not take the illness (just like anything else in life) very seriously, Fine, I have a problem, I need to take medicines, I'll be alright, was my thought. My orthopaedic doctor reffered me to a Rheumatologist, Dr. Satish Kalanje in Bangalore Hospital. When I first met this doctor, he explained me what the problem looks like and the only solution to it being DMARD (Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drug) which comes along with lot of side effects. But a lot of times, the disease vanishes itself within 6months, so, they will not start DMARD until the disease establishes itself. So, he put me on painkillers and asked me to go back after 3 months. The only thing I had asked him was, Can I go to my Dance Class or not, he had smiled and said, wait for sometime. (heh, I still dont know how long that sometime is!)

I was told that among lot of other side effects, while taking a particular DMARD, I was not suppose to conceive. Though I was just 8 months away from my marriage and forming a family was nowhere in to the radar, the thought of the drug having any relation to pregnancy scared me. At the same time there were a lot of people whose uncles, aunties, cousins, grannys having arthritis, who condemned the idea of taking alopathy and asked me to take Ayurvedic. So, my next step was Ayurvedic Medicine. By now, my joints pain was extended to all 3 joints in each finger, wrist, knee and back and I started living on 2 painkillers a day. the problem is very werid, if you are sitting at one position or lying down without moving, there is absolutely no problem, but the moment you move a bit, it pains.

I meet a doctor, who as all other Ayurvedic doctors, HATED English medicine. He explained, this problem is because of the cold climate and the fluid which acts as a greese between the joints gets hard during cold and that is why it opposes movement of the joints. He asked me to stop the pain killers and start with his black color golis. The pain I was having was unbearable! along with this, someone suggested start taking Neurotherapy Massage. Though while getting it done, it was giving me some relief, nothing much changed through out the day.

I had started limping, everyone in office had started noticing me and asking if I was alright. I lost 6 kgs of weight in 3 months, I used to love just lying down in the bed like a dead body, at night during sleep, I used to wakeup each time I was changing the posture, because it used to pain. When I wake up, if it is early morning, I did Pranayama and then sleep again. By now, the disease had spread itself to all possible joints in my body, including the joints at the jaw. Because of that, I was not able to chew anything hard.

My grand mother who is 87 years old, used to bend and touch her hand to the ground and tell me, you also do this, its not very difficult, I could just smile and say I cant :). I remember going to a Kamath Restuarant along with my dear friend Rao and eating set dosa. Aunty later told me, she had gone home and cried in front of her seeing me struggle to chew the dosa. I remember one day shouting at my mother for adding lot of urid dal and channa dal in upma because I couldnt chew. I sometimes wonder how I managed the dance program in office, Goa trip and Dandiya during last Navratri when I had so much pain. One thing that stands out of my memory is having panipuri with my cab gang in office Cafetaria and not able to open my mouth fully for even the smallest puri :(. I'd gone to the ladies room and cried that day :(. February was my wedding and it was November when I was still limping, not able to sit on the floor, not able to climb the stairs etc.

That was when it dawned on me, that I should get back to allopathy. thats when I realized, let me be relieved of the pain, I shall battle the side effects, and let ME survive first, and then, I can think about problems related to conceiving :). So, I went back to Dr Satish Kalanje again. Got nice scoldings from him for ignoring the disease. Last 6 months of not taking any medicines for the disease had taken its toll. The ESR count which is supposed to be 0-20 for a normal person and was 35 for me in the beginning, had gone upto 100 when I went to him. I started with Methotrexate (DMARD) in December and slowly I started recovering. By the time of my wedding, though I wasn't able to sit on the floor, I could dance happily on the DJ nite, previous day of wedding ;). I did not know being normal was so exciting :)

I dont know if i'll ever be able to go for trekking, or join back my dance class, the disease might actually come back in the winter, especially now when i'm in a colder country. But you know, I have seen the worse, so, I should be able to manage even if it gets a little bad :). Besides Parents, I owe a lot to Aunty, Rao, Nichu, Joyee, Manju and Hero for all that they are :) Thanks for being the pillars of my strength! Only those who saw me during those days, knew how I was. I feel happy when I look back, I didn't do that bad after all :)

PS: I have not exaggerated or made RA look bigger than it is. This is what is my experience has been and may be if someone is diagonized and starts the medication immediately, they will not have to go through all I did :)

Paris Pranaya...

2009-09-09T17:26:00.022+01:00

Paris, the City of Love, the City of Lights... and after my visit, I have no doubt why they call it that :). The city has so much to offer and if you are planning to explore the whole of Paris in one small trip, forget it, its not gonna happen. We went for a 4 days trip and could just get a small glimpse of the City.
We started on Thursday evening and took Eurostar from London to Paris. It was a pleasant 2 hr 20 min journey. The speciality of the train is it goes through English Channel Tunnel for 20 minutes or so. We stayed at a Hotel Called Louvre Forum at Rue du Buloi [pronouced as ruju-bulva]. The area was very close to Louvre Museum and its a pretty decent place to hang out. The rooms were pretty small, but we were fine with it, since our main agenda was mainly roaming around.

On Friday, we started with Musee Du Lourve. It was initially built as a Palace which later was turned into a Museum. If you do not plan what you intend to see in the museum, you'll definetely get lost! We spent around 4 hours, and could see only the much talked about paintings of Leonardo da vinci.

A small trivia: It took around 700 years to construct this historic monument :O. So, Hero & I were joking aroud it like this: if you go ask anyone in Paris what their father was doing, answer would be constructing Louvre, what about grand father, ditto, what about their grandfather, ditto would be the answer :) he he

Inside the Museum...

Some beautiful Paintings...

[The Museum entry fee was 8 Euros and audio guide was for 6 Euros. I'd recommend the audio guide, without which you'll not explore anything as all the boards and descriptions of paintings are in French :]

As you come out of the Louvre, you find a huge garden known as Tuileries Garden which was built in the memory of Tuileries Palace which was burnt in 19th Century.

The other end of the garden is Place de la Concorde. During french revolution, a guillotin was erected here and this place has witnessed many notable criminals being executed.As we moved ahead, we entered a retail heaven called Avenue des Champs-Elysees. Its known in France as the most beautiful avenue in the world. The whole street is covered with Chestnut trees on both the sides and all the big brands of clothing, bags and shoes, which makes it look very beautiful :D :D. Whoever said money cant buy happiness... sigh!

The other end of Champs Elysees is Arc de Triumph, to honor the soldiers who fought for France. We can take tickets for the elevator and go up for a better view of the city, but since there was a long queue, we did not climb up. Underneath there is a tomb of an unknown soldier from world war I. There is also an eternal flame lit in the memory of the dead who were never identified in the World wars.

Day two was at fantasy world, The Disney land. Since both of us were very keen on taking all the rides, we took fast passes and could go to only 4 rides. [Pirates of Carribean , Rock n roller coaster avec Aerosmith, Big Thunder Mountain and Finding Nemo]. We also loved a theatre show called cinemagique which was a combination of live performance synchronized to different movie scenes stiched together. Its a good watch if you want to take a break from the rides and relax. Again, one day is just not enough for this magic land! Day three: We started with Sacre Du coeur [a Roman Catholic basilica dedicated to sacred heart of Jesus]. Its a very beautiful church atop a hill (Montmarte). The architecutre will leave you stunned, but one thing I did not like was there is neither information written in English, nor do they give audio guides. So, we just ended up seeing a beautiful building without knowing anything about it.

Around this temple is artist street where you find so many people writing caricatures. The area around this Church is very nice to look around.

After that, we took a train and headed towards Notre Dame de Paris [meaning, Our lady of Paris]. It is a stunning gothic architecture marvel! They took around 3 centuries to Construct this Church. It was finally completed in 1320. We took audio guides and it proved really informative. There is a small Museum inside which has a nail and a small peice of the Cross which was used to crucifixion of Jesus. Also, this church holds the official chair of Archbishop of Paris.

Inside of Notre Dame Church, is filled with Colorful Stained glass windows. remember Knowledge tree?

We had lunch at an Indian Restaurant (after enough craving) and then headed towards Pantheon. This was originally constructed as a church, but later was made into a Burial Place. inside the pantheon...
Day Four was the last day of our trip, so we wanted to take it slow. We checked out from our room and kept the luggage at the front desk since our flight was in the evening. Our last day was completely dedicated to The Eiffel Tower. It was constructed by Gustav Eiffel in 1889 for the 100th year celebration of French Revolution.

The tower has three levels; we took tickets for the 3rd level and descended down to the other 2 levels. The whole city can be seen from the top of the tower. And one more must-do thing in Paris is taking the Siene river cruise. We went on the 3rd day and had a glimpse of the City of Lights. We couldnt capture much of it in our Camera, but look at the Iron Lady in all her glory. Every 15 minutes the lighting changes and its a treat to watch :)

As all good things come to an end, so did our trip and we headed back home.

One word to describe Paris is Beautiful! (No wonder, i've used that word so many times in this post :D)

Paris Pranaya..... for sure you'll fall in love with it :)

new people, new place and a new phase...

2009-07-29T16:16:00.007+01:00

Its different...
the gang I freak out with, the people I walk around, the food I eat outside, my routine, my life! no deadlines, no work pressure, no emi worries, no traffic, no credit card tension, and far from my dear ones :(. everything has changed.. suddenly!
for long i've been wanting a normal life. I was really really tired of everything, I was badly waiting for a simple life. and now I have it!
Its been close to 2 months I've relocated to London along with Hero, and so far, so good!

PS: Had to struggle a lot to get the internet working in the new house, thats why the delay in posting. Hopefully will be regular from now :)
PPS: and the foodie in me made me start a new food blog under: http://ellarumaduvuduhottegagi.wordpress.com/ [as though being irregular in one blog wasnt sufficient :P]

2009-05-19T09:32:00.012+01:00

In one of the episodes of my latest televison obsession, SATC, Carrie says...
“Later that day I got to thinking about relationships.
There are those that open you up to something new and exotic,
those that are old and familiar,
those that bring up lots of questions,
those that bring you somewhere unexpected,
those that bring you far from where you started,
and those that bring you back.
But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you, you love, well, that's just fabulous.”
It is so true isn't it?

I guess we all love ourselves above everyone else. We are friend, daughter, sister, wife, daughter in law, sister in law, mother, at different points of time... they are the different roles we play! but, at the end of the day, we are, what we are! we might fake/act/try to please anyone in any of our roles, but we can not fake to ourselves.

And, in any of our relationships/roles, it is very important for us to like being the we, we are! in case we dont like it, that should definitely be treated as a wake up call!

:D :-) :-( :-| :-/ :-) :-(

2009-05-18T10:14:00.000+01:00

got my 'dependent' visa today...
I dont know if I should be happy or sad...

2009-05-04T13:40:00.000+01:00

and they say life doesn't change...

2009-04-27T05:20:00.008+01:00

it so does!!!
Nish forwarded me... thought of sharing it... I think most of us can relate to it... sigh!

Here is a girl, who is probably as educated as you are;
Who is earning almost as much as you do;

One, who has dreams and aspirations just as you have,
because she is as human as you are;

One, who has never entered the kitchen in her life just like you or your sister haven't, as she was busy in studies and competing in a system
that gives no special concession to girls for their culinary achievements.

One, who has lived and loved her parents & brothers & sisters,
almost as much as you do for 20-25 years of her life;

One, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that, her home, people who love her, to adopt your home, your family, your ways and even your family name.

One, who is somehow expected to be a master-chef from day #1, while you sleep oblivious to her predicament in her new circumstances, environment and that kitchen.

One, who is expected to make tea, first thing in the morning and cook food at the end of the day, even if she is as tired as you are, may be more, and yet never ever expected to complain; to be a servant, a cook, a mother, a wife, even if she doesn't want to; and is learning just like you are as to what you want from her; and is clumsy and sloppy at times and knows that you won't like it if she is too demanding, or if she learns faster than you;

One, who has her own set of friends, and that includes boys and even men at her workplace too, those, who she knows from school days and yet is willing to put all that on the back-burners to avoid your irrational jealousy, unnecessary competition and your inherent insecurities;

One, who can be late from work once in a while when deadlines, just like yours, are to be met;

One, who is doing her level best and wants to make this most important, relationship in her entire life a grand success, if you just help her some and trust her;

One, who just wants one thing from you, as you are the only one she knows in your entire house - your unstinted support, your sensitivities and most importantly - your understanding, or love, if you may call it....

F.R.I.E.N.D.S....!

2009-04-09T14:45:00.010+01:00

You have somebody standing by you to lend their shoulder when you feel like crying, to give a bear hug when you badly need one, an assuring smile saying everything is going to be okaaay, or share a silent tear of happiness seeing you happy, I think that is when you should realize, God has sent you a special gift in the form of a FRIEND.

I'm glad I have a few special gems who've proved me time and again that they are there for me, no matter how crappy or happy I am :)
Thanks for being such a pillar of strength to me... I value you more than words can ever say... muahh!

I'd like to dedicate the title track of F.R.I.E.N.D.S to my F.R.I.E.N.D.S... :-)

So no one told you life was going to be this way.
Your job's a joke, you're broke, you're love life's DOA.
It's like you're always stuck in second gear,
Well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year.

But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too.

You're still in bed at ten, the work began at eight.
You've burned your breakfast, so far, things are going great.
Your mother warned you there'd be days like these,
But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees.

That, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too.

No one could ever know me, no one could ever see me.
Seems like you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me.
Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with,
Someone I'll always laugh with, even at my worst, I'm best with you.
It's like you're always stuck in second gear,
Well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year.

But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too.
tan tadadaaaaaaaaaaaaan tandadan daaaaaaaaaaan ooooooooooooooooo :-)

Deadlock!

2009-04-02T12:29:00.013+01:00

Have you ever driven a vehicle in Bangalore Traffic?
Your vehicle is stuck in the middle of the road; from right side you have a van, from left side there is a Car honking impatiently, in between you have 2 wheelers who want to creep in and move ahead and then the people want to just run across the road before the traffic melts... the noise, the pollution, the heat, arghhh, sometimes we even forget where we are going…

Don't you think its just like Life? Sometimes, you just dont get what is happening around you... a plain deadlock! you cant think of doing anything than to just wait for all the vehicles to clear the path.... uff!

I think in such a time should just follow Calvin...

So, I'll go home, watch some SATC, FRIENDS, Balika Vadhu, Roadies, Jhalak dikhlaja and everything else the idiot box has to render, such that any kind of linear thought is impossible!!!

Our First Ugadi

2009-03-26T08:08:00.012Z

"Ugadi" is New Year per Hindu almanac. yuga+aadi, yuga is era, aadi means start thus meaning start of an era. It marks the onset of spring, the first season of the year, hence also heralding a new year and a new beginning. (remember the Yuga Yugadi kaledaru Yugadi marali barutide song?.. ah... so fresh that is!)

This is the first Ugadi after I'm married. Typically the newly wed couple are invited by the girl's parents to celebrate the festival in their house. But for me, the first Ugadi goes back to....

It was the year Hero had proposed.... he wanted us to meet as it was OUR first Ugadi. Since he was working that day, we'd planned to meet in the evening at Forum. Just to surprise him, I thought i'll try something new and planned to wear a saree... Now, atleast people from my planet know how difficult it is to manage one! So, when I was busy fidgeting with it, I get some 10 calls. (And since it was those days when I'd not declared anything at home, I had to keep it a top secret that I was going to meet a friend on a festival day). So, I ignore the calls as I'm already late. and just when i'm out of my house and wait to take an auto, I get a call from the angry Hero telling he has enough work to do, he is heading back from the office bus stand assuming i'm busy. I was like, huh! okaaaiii fine, I thought i'll surprise you and blah blah blah... blup... I hang up... just in 2 secs, another call, I'm starting now, will be there in half an hour... and I went to Forum Mall all red faced... Hero comes, 15 min late and hands me a single looooong white flower with a sheepish grin. (u know the flower which is normally used along with other flowers to decorate a bouquet?). I was a little puzzled, i'd not seen anyone buying that flower, but u know guys right? so.... u never know! but later, when I heard the story, I was all smiles :) :) :)...

Apparently, when Hero reached Forum, it was as it is late and he went in search for a florist. And since he did not find any, he went and offered the receptionist a deal. That, he would buy her 2 day old bouquet which was kept on her desk for the original price as it was a total emergency situation... (I still don't believe he did that!). That lady bluntly declined the offer (ha ha ha I can imagine what she'd be thinking :-?) but asked him to pick a flower if he wished. Since all other flowers were pretty old, he had to pick this flower with a sly smile :-)

and, that was the story of OUR First Ugadi :-)

This year, the year we are actually married, he isn't around to celebrate it... :-(

You know, a unique aspect of ugadi is the distribution of Neem and Jaggery (its called “Bevu-Bella”). It symbolizes the fact that life is a mixture of different experiences (sadness, happiness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise) , which should be accepted together and with equanimity.... and that explains... :)

Happy Ugadi to ALL of you :-)

and Mr Husband, ningunu :-)

If wishes were horses.... I'd have been a tanga owner....!

2009-03-20T05:20:00.003Z

how is married life?

2009-03-12T10:52:00.007Z

oh, thats one common question everyone asks post wedding... Guys, the only thing I'm doing promptly after my wedding is running around for my friends weddings and falling sick. Nothing else! Thanks to Hero, who ran away (flew actually) 7 days after our wedding... pssst... So, I'm back to my single life...

When three of my close close friends and I decided that its high time we finally fall into the trap, we almost thought of the same time frame. Thanks to the stars, the auspicious time which was selected had a good gap between all our weddings. One of them married a Maharashtrian.... Yay WE went to Pune...And then, 2 of them got married twice (ofcourse to the same person!)... One got married in Kannadiga ishtyle, and then the Bong style and another one got married in Iyengar style and then Mallu style... so, I got to roam around to a lot of places you see :)

Some one asked me in office today if i'm going to gym (ah... how nice it sounds to the ears :D)... One more person echoed it and said, yeah, I wanted to ask you from past few days, you've lost weight... I said ohhh thanks, but No, i'm just sick. Some of my friends ask, oh you miss your hubby, so, you've lost weight eh? My mom thinks people have casted an eye on me, thats why i'm not well from the time I got married...

People, On 2nd I get married, 6th I go to Pune, 10th Hero flies :(, 12th I join back office, 22nd wkend R's wedding, 27th Kolkata visit, 6th, N's wedding, 14th Kerala visit, during weekdays 3 days in his place and 2 days in mine (the girl is not supposed to stay at her mother's place after wedding you see... :-/). So, in between all the running arounds I have to have everything from poha to puchka, gola to roadside rasmalai, masala chai to matka tea, pooran poli to mishti dohi and the spicy food at his place... everything!... poor my health... how will it sustain? One week of diarrhea and thats why full tuss pataki...

Couple of months back, in one of our Oh we have to lose weight josh, I and R had gone to Vibes and taken some package. I'd gone for spot reduction for arms (I really have pailwan hands :() and she took a 5kg weight loss package. Each session we went, the instructor used to weigh us and even if we were 500gms more than previous day, she never used to give us the session... duhhh! give money to them and get blastings, look at that! So, needless to say we were thrown out of many sessions... and at last we got bored (there was no damn difference in us either!), so we stopped going almost towards the end... I remember asking her, how much more left for you? (I meant no of sessions) for which she'd replied, 2 more sessions and 5kgs :P ha ha ha.... now I can proudly say, VLCC/Vibes ko maro goli, get diarrhea once and it'll make you look really relaly thin :D [if not the dehydration, at least the no. of trips you make to the RR, ha ha ha :P]

btw, I wanted to share with you one picture I love very much from my wedding album:

ahem ahem... this is to announce that....

2009-02-16T09:12:00.007Z

I married my best friend :)

PS: for all the cribbings i've done about wedding in this blogsphere, I was so waiting to announce this here :)

America America!

2008-11-03T05:02:00.001Z

No, its not about Nagati halli chandrashekhar movie, its about my small trip...
a small trip...

to what they call, the land of opportunities... it was a bright summer when I went for the first time... and a shocking winter when I went this time...
frozen lake, frozen falls...

it was a gloomy white world...

so what, I got a chance to make my first snow man :D

got to try lot of different foooooooood...

experimented with my culinary s'kills' ;)

got addicted to Caribou Coffee, more for their punch line which said 'life is too short, stay awake for it!'enjoyed the solitude...

and the shopping....

and some soul searching, when I got time... (through my window that is ;))

realized the simple things and people that make me happy :)

and just when I started missing the roadside panipuri...

zuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I came back home :)

PS: actually its been quite sometime i'm back, just been busy with work (and been lazy too)... ;)

Panchi banoo udti phiroo mast gagan mein...

2008-02-14T22:38:00.006Z

aaj mein aazad hoon duniya ke chaman mein...
hmm... kind of :)

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||__........!

2008-02-08T05:49:00.000Z

Yet another year...just another day...

Sambedu,
Ragh,
Chithu,
Nisha-Sindhu,
Vasanthi Maushi,
Ketan,
Lakshmi,
Sangita,
Ranju-Aunty,
Joyee-Aadil,
Sachu-Rajani,
Christo,
Bhatta,
Shyl,
Deepa,
Nannu,
KK,
JyoRa,
Amritha,
Prasad,
Vidya,
Jayalatha,
Neetha,
Pooja,
Narendra,
Padi,
Manju,
Jumboo,
Supriya,
Shishira,
Mannu,
Vani,
GTO,
Poo,
Suchitra,
Shyamala Maushi-Mama,
Manasa-Kailash,
Ash,
Hebri,
Deepa & Guru...
Thanks a ton..... all of you all :)

life is like that!!!

2008-01-28T14:11:00.000Z

Its a scary feeling, to realize that, something which we are longing for from a very long time, when it actually knocks your door, there will be a time when you would just want to run away from it ...

strange!!!

Mumbai Marathon...

2008-01-04T10:07:00.000Z

Deeps has been transferred to Mumbai few days back and she was missing home badly. while chatting with her, I casually said, dont worry deeps, we shall meet soon. And thats when she started pestering me to join her for New year and the result: I went along with chitu and chitz and sufi came and joined us there :-)

It was during our dance class trip when I'd visited Mumbai for the first time. It was precisely 12 years ago and the only few things which have depicted the picture of Mumbai in my mind are the Train journey (antakshari, dumb charades, winking game and associated masti), the dance program, catching a crowded local train, the chakkas who come and pinch on your cheek for money and the bhelpuri at the Juhu Beach. This time when I went, I dint have much expectations with it, except for the fact that I wanted a break...... BADLY!

Day one: AKSA beach

Beach was pretty isolated from the whole world (so, isolated that we went around 2 and half hours searching for it and the taxi guy was bugged of us ;))... Got Awesome bhelpuri, vada pav and chai there :)

Day two: Bandra Shopping, Juhu Beach

Shopping was good, learnt how to bargain (little bit ;)) for every damn thing those guys used to start with 550 bucks, I wonder why that magical figure!

Juhu was ultimate, all besura atmas played antakshari, made a sand castle, ate mango chat, gola, gol gappa, bhel puri, vada pav and kulfi :P

Day three: Gate way of India, Elephanta Caves, Fashion Street shopping and Marine Drive

The best thing I liked was the buildings in and around Gate way of India. The architecture is so beautiful and they stand so majestically, you'll be just spell bound at their beauty :) Elephanta Caves was a good one hour ferry ride from the Gate, and its very disheartening to see such beautiful sculptures inside the caves being damaged :-/

fashion street shopping was FUN and then the Queen's Necklace in Marine drive was very soothing :-) the best part of the day was the Mysore Masala dosa at the footpath near VT station ;)

Day Four: Alibagh and Alibagh ;)

Again, we took a ferry from Gate way of India and thanks to my leg which got sprained while getting down from it due to which we met a physiotherapist who suggested us some farmhouse called 'Mother's Nest'. We were a little sceptical to believe a stranger but anyways we never had plans of staying back, so, we just went there for lunch. We were totally bowled over by the ambience and Mrs Godbole and by some fluke, she even offered us a small cosy hut which was completely not ready for occupation. But we were more than happy to take that hut even though we were not a bit prepared to stay back! (believe me, we did not have a soap, a cream or even a tooth brush). after relaxing for a while, we went to Kihim Beach, relaxed till evening, did some running (limping) for a doctor and then went back for the party. The DJ was nothing great, he was playing lot of Marathi Bhajans in between but who cares, we danced till 1.30AM and had a blast!!!

and as all good things comes to an end, we had to start back home the next day and I'm back to the grind!

Sigh!!! I wish whole life was a vacation!!!

Happy New Year :-)

2008-01-03T06:44:00.001Z

me too... me too...

2007-12-17T07:55:00.000Z

:-)

PS: click on the picture to see enlarged version

and thats what I feel!

2007-12-10T09:24:00.000Z

but you know, from past few days the only two emotions I'm feeling are either 'hungry' or 'sleepy'... I mean, not that its anything new, but sooo much? never before!!
All thanks to the coldest ever bangalore weather! (atleast, I want to believe that!)

hmmph!!!

2007-12-04T07:32:00.000Z

Life is full of surprises... but, never when you need one :-( !

shaadi se pehle....

2007-11-19T10:59:00.000Z

No, its nothing to do with the movie, which made people enter the theatre expecting to drool over Ayesha Takia and Mallika sherawath and came out with a duhhhhhhhhh..... Here, I'm just rambling over the recent rants i've been exposed to... :-/

Khushi, its high time, you need to think about your life and you need to settle down!

They are not getting her married coz she is earning good bucks for them...

Khushi, sorry if I'm disturbing you, do you have a custom of saath phera in your marriages? Mom was asking me to get the details as your brother is least bothered about it and says ask khushi for everything...

Tell me Do you want to get married just because you are turning 28? or you want to marry for the right reason (person)?

you need to make certain compromises for having a life which you've wanted...

how does the age matter if you have the right person?

Yesterday my hubby came home very late, I'd seen a dance in TV and wanted to make him learn that... I made him learn the steps in the middle of the night, and we were doing all this till 3am in the morning :P... you know, a nice thing about carrying is, he is taking care of me just like a princess :)

how can you ask someone to marry at a gunpoint?

Dont worry deeps, someone somewhere is made for you, It cant happen overnight, its a real long process and at times you might feel really frustrated, but dont give up hopes...

after I broke up with him, I'm really worried who will marry me, khushi...

Khushi, I dont like this design of your kind of mangalsutra, I want something with diamonds, actually in our custom mangalsutra is not compulsory, do I have to wear this for my entire life??? can you ask your maushi if I can wear atleast some latest designs?

Hi Khushi, how are you? helloooo ellidyo? no news at all? you are not inviting me for you sister's wedding ha? its supposed to be next week sometime right? hmmmmmm My sister's marriage broke! what? hey, what are you telling? with so much difficulty they had convinced both the parents??? what happend? hmmm...I'll tell you the reason sometime later...

Hey, Khushi, its Feb 28th da :), his parents havent agreed yet, but we've decided on the date and he said he'll come out if they dont agree even after persuading them for the last 4 years!!!

'sach keh raha hai deewana, dil na kisi se lagana, jhute hain yaar ke vaadein saare, jhuti hain pyar ki kasme, maine har lamha jisse chaha, jisse puja, ussine yaaro mera dil toda toda, tanha tanha chodaa.....' I remember this song very much, khushi...

PD, you atleast tell Khushi, You are 2 years younger to her and you are getting married next week, why is she not thinking about her marriage? you talk to her...

Its just escapism if you think you'll sit quiet until things will fall in place, you need to work on your life...

Khushi, dont worry about marriage now da, you are very happy soul, after marriage, be it arranged or love, life changes!!! After the initial days of excitement is gone, it'll be just a routine... I'm married for 5 years now and my life revolves just around my son... I dont even remember the last time when my husband had got me even a small rose or appreciated me for anything....

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

Out of Mind..... will be right back!!!

loving life....living example...:-)

2007-11-12T12:20:00.001Z

After BITS life, I had thought having 'friends' in office will be a thing of past... I was mentally prepared to have just 'colleagues' around me... But I was wrong! Though we are not in the same lunch group, we kinda gelled well pretty soon. Its like you just connect to some people in no time, you dont need any special reason. She is a huge bundle of energy running around the whole floor, spreading a contagious smile where ever she goes...Every morning I pass by her seat just to see a glowing face which says good morning sweetu :-)...

One such morning I pass by her seat, she is holding a box of home made sweets and asked me to eat it fast, as she'd not got too many and couldnt give it to all... The foodie that I am, started munching it and asked her, whats special today dearie? she says, its my hubby's bday today :D with a wide smile...(* :-( :-( :-( *).. I havent seen her hubby... none of her new friends have seen him... She came to Bangalore to shoo away the memories of his illness and his death...:( I just couldnt swallow the sweet and tears just ran on my cheeks.... She said phat, buddhuu, chal kaam kar...

Sometimes I dont know how to react! should I be speechless just to realize how much she is living in and enjoying her past, or should I tell her to move out of it and think less about it because the more she is attached to her past, the more she can not think of her future? I have a few friends of mine who are separated... very easily I can console them telling the other person did not deserve them, they would get a better pair soon and so on... In this case, I cant even tell anything, I just feel helpless...

Sometimes life can be so cruel, yet some people have the courage to bounce back, smile and say it happend :-)
Its nice to see such people :-)

Sometimes...

2007-10-30T06:36:00.001Z

Sometimes...
You won' t realize the light, at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of an approaching train...

hmmmph!!!
what do you do then?

Both are aliens... thats all!

2007-10-08T13:29:00.000+01:00

If there is a problem, she wants to talk about it over and over, where as he wants to isolate himself with a hat which reads I-can-handle-it-on-my-own!.

Whether she finds the solution or not, it kind of gives her a satisfaction that she is atleast doing something about the problem by just talking about it, and he thinks whats the need of talking about some problem when you cant solve it!

She listens to him and he hears...

He wants to forget the problems of the day, but she wants to remember. he'll say “Forget it, it’s no big deal.” But she will not rest till the problem is talked about. She always thinks " how can he be so insensitive!"

She thinks he is insensitive and he thinks she is over reacting!!!

Its very true Mr John Gray, Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, Just that we have to live together on earth, Sigh!!!!. I was going through this book and thought of sharing it ;-)

Its all about money.... honey...

2007-09-23T07:08:00.002+01:00

Cant money buy happines??

I wonder!

some interesting trivia...

2007-05-30T09:48:00.001+01:00

Got some trivia as a forward:

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
Psssst, hardly seems worth it.

If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
ha ha ha, this is more like it :-D

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
:O :O :O

A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.
anyone want to be a pig? :P

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour
way to go guys!

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
What the...?!

The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.
What could be so tasty at the bottom of a pond :-?

Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
You decide, pig or lion?? :-D

Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
thank god!

A cat's urine glows under a black light.
I wonder who was paid to figure that out?

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Even I know of some people like that ;-)

Starfish have no brains
I know some people like that too ;-)

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
what about Pig and Lion???

In Lebanon, men are legally allowed to have sex with animals, but the animals must be female. Having sexual relations with a male animal is punishable by death.
Like THAT makes sense :-/

when the music changes, so does the dance...

2007-03-26T06:16:00.001+01:00

My dad was(is) a great fan of Vijayanti mala bali and Hema malini's dance and he had thought one day even his daughter would become a great dancer. So, even before I could think whether it interests me or not, I started my 'thaiya thai'(that is the first step in Bharatanatyam) when I was 6. But absolutely no complains, I thoroughly enjoyed it :). Be it a Farewell party for a teacher or the Annual day at school, I used to be on stage all the time :).

Even from our dance class, we used to give lots of performances, but more than that, we were all enjoying the practice sessions a lot. We had a famous ballet called 'Daiveche' (which was on atma linga of GOKARNA) which we had peformed 13 and a half times ;). I shall blog about this 'half ballet' again as its a long and interesting story in itself!. I cleared a couple of dance certifications and got scholarship for 3 years from Karnataka State :).

When I started my PU, there was lot of pressure as that was supposed to be the turning point in ones life as told by the whole world and I had to quit dance! May be I could have managed it together, but frankly speaking, I never felt anything then, May be I'd taken it for granted :-. After sometime, I started realizing that may be I should continue it again, but thanks to the college I studied, I had to go to tuitions whole day to get atleast a 35. Tell me something, how is studying Transducers and Instrumentation (a subject in 5sem) helping me in my life today? ah... all credits to the VTU syllabus! And after BE, I was more concentrating on a job, career et al...

Now, with a new job, I thought I shall start dance too, but this time I wanted to try something new, so I thought of joining ODISSI :D. I started my 'tha ithi thaka dhimi tha'(the first step I learnt in Odissi) now when I'm 26. Gosh! I'm sure my first step at 6, wasnt this difficult at all. An Unfit body, a bad stamina, abundant fat all over, but still there is something which is making me look forward to every weekend for my classes. I dont think I can be (rather I dont even plan to be) a great dancer as my dad had thought, for that matter, I dont even know how long I can continue it because of the nature of my work, but I guess I'll give my best to learn and I shall enjoy every bit of it until i'm doing it :-D.

On a lighter note, there goes a chinese proverb, 'We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance ;)' he he

My Visual DNA

2007-03-23T11:10:00.001Z

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

cant relate to the related...

2007-02-15T05:07:00.001Z

They say...
height has to match...
the food we eat has to match...
the language we talk has to match...
the two should 'look' good together for the society...
rest all 'should' be compromised by 'you-know-who'... :-/

I feel...
wavelengths should be same...
interestes should match...
goals in life should be similar...
there needs to be something called 'chemistry'...
and rest all the things could be compromised by both...

hmmphhh!!!
I dont believe I cant relate to people i'm actually related to :-/

absurd...

2007-02-09T08:10:00.001Z

XX? or XY???

2007-01-30T07:39:00.001Z

All men are extremely busy.
Although they are so busy, they still have time for women.
Although they have time for women, they don't really care for them.
Although they don't really care for them, they always have one around.
Although they always have one around them, they always try their luck with others.
Although they try their luck with others, they get really pissed off if the women leaves them.
Although the women leave them they still don't learn from their mistakes and still try their luck with others.

The most important thing for a woman is financial security.
Although this is so important, they still go out and buy expensive clothes.
Although they always buy expensive clothes, they never have something to wear.
Although they never have something to wear, they always dress beautifully.
Although they always dress beautifully, their clothes are always just "an old rag".
Although their clothes are always "just an old rag", they still expect You to compliment them. Although they expect you to compliment them, when you do, they don't Believe you.

Men are from Mars, women are from venus.... oh... John gray, you were so right :D

er...

2007-01-24T08:22:00.001Z

Gorgeous,
Intelligent,
kind,
sweet,
charming,
witty,
hilarious,
friendly
er...well enough about ME!
How are you?

Universe and humor!

2007-01-11T12:48:00.001Z

After re iterating to myself some n number of times that round is not a shape and its high time I start working out, I decided(atlast) to join the gym in my office. Kept the kit ready, forgot it for 2 days, took it to office the third day and kept it in the desk for a week till I got mentally prepared (ahem), and then I started from last monday!
Tread mill 20 minutes... distance - 2kms... burn 160 calories
cycling 5 minutes... burn 40 calories... yayyyyyyy 200 calories gone :D :D :D
and i'm regularly doing it... (common, 4 days is not less).
thanks to google, I found out,
1 samosa adds 256 calories,
10 pieces of potato chips gives you 110 calories,
One chottta cup of halwa adds 570 calories,
One piece of jalebi is 200 calories,
One motichoor laddu adds 250 calories,
One plate bhel puri is 250 calories,
Two peices of murukku adds 580 calories,
Any veg pizza you touch will have a minimum of 250 calories,
One spooooon of mango pickle is sixty fiiiiive caloriesss,
gaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwdd, whatever I like to eat has so many calories, what is left now? some ghas puus???
Universe I tell ya, has a weirrrrrrrd sense of humor! :-

START.. STOP... or CONTINUE...

2007-01-02T11:41:00.001Z

I joined a new organization 3 weeks back. CLAP CLAP CLAP!!!
Among the few things which I've noticed here, there is one particular practice which caught my attention. The Quality assurance team have formulated a practice called 'START, STOP or CONTINUE'. At a regular interval of time they consult each team and get the information on the New/Worst/Best practices of the organization and depending on the statistics obtained, they repair the processes.

hmm, it seemed pretty interesting and I thought I'll apply this on to ME, based on my learnings from the last year :)

I think I should,
START...
- being more sensible in my decisions than being just sensitive about my emotions.
- improving bigtime on money management.
- my gym regularly(damn this man!).
- redefining the rules of friendhip as the definition I have is totally outdated! May be the perception I have needs to be changed. I realized I should be less college-ish with my friends and understand that each of us have our priorities, our space, our life and I should not interfere in theirs and expect them to act as expected!

STOP...
- thinking ONLY about me and do some small compromises to show my care to the people who care for me.
- losing my self-respect in front of any (damn) emotion!!!
- breaking my head on small issues as life is actually too short to waste on silly things/people. I should realize Ignorance is bliss at times!
- being so careless about me and the people around me.

CONTINUE...
- to live life to the fullest!!!

phew! my list is done. I'm not sure if i'll follow all these religiously, but I shall definetely TRY!!!.
I might succeed or I may fail miserably, but so what, next year is always there to Start, Stop or Continue :)

Happy New year to all of you, May all good things come your way :)

konfusions...thy name!

2006-12-20T05:50:00.001Z

Right??? or was I wrong?
do I have an option now?
how am I sure that i'm not getting into a wrong place again?
Can I change now?
Do I want to change?
Career?? or Marriage?? or both??
was I too much self centered?? or was I just being frank??
now what?
where to?
how?
I had always known Destiny as not a matter of chance but a matter o f choice. but its also true that only when you have a choice, your life gets difficult. If you dont have, you'll just accept things and move on...
konfusions konfusions konfusions.... uffffffff!

back with a....

2006-12-14T05:04:00.000Z

tadan tadan tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan ;)

cambiamento...

2006-07-21T05:55:00.001+01:00

Listening to birds chirping in the morning...
Searching for your favourite star in the night sky...

Chatting, laughing, loafing, having fun with friends...
Shedding tears when you give a goodbye hug...

Sharing the joy of your close ones when they accomplish something...
Stand as a shoulder when their life goes on a low key...

The Glory of getting the first job...
feeling bad when you need to leave and move on next...

Smiling at the small puppy jumping with joy on roadside...
Crying for your small kitten which was biten by a street dog...

Talking in rage about the terrorists and the dirty politicians...
Sympathizing the victims of the terrorist attack...

So many parameters influence our lives...
Seasons pass by, we move through different phases, from day to night, from light to darkness, guess the only thing which is constant throughout is CHANGE!

we need to move on...after all.... the show must go on...

Sayonara...

2006-07-12T12:22:00.001+01:00

We were just out of college, met here in office 2.6 years ago. Shared the same innocence (or the lack of it ;-)) from college, so, the gelling was not difficult at all...

One canteen table where all could meet... fought for idly drowning in one bucket of sambar, had one by-4 coffee, those loud laughter in chorus made people raise eyebrows (uh, who are these creatures kinda luks...duhh, who cares!!!), the long jail walks, THE ttbs to end the day(yeah, its called as tea time bitching sessions)... oh, its been an eventful journey...

4 different people,
4 plates of idly sambar (:P) [this is just to show the common looooooove for foooood :D]
4 attitudes towards life,
4 dreams,
4 hopes and
4 goals

Now, one is moving ahead to fulfill hers...

these 2 are the memorablia from v-3.
Good Luck poo...

Meeting and parting is the way of life,
Parting and meeting is the hope of life...

Vermissen du...... :(

2006-07-04T09:15:00.001+01:00

Selfless??

2006-06-21T05:29:00.001+01:00

who comes first?
you?? or your relationship???
hmm, to be politically correct, 'relationship' would sound as a good answer, but, can you truely love someone if you cant love yourself???

A nice tag...

2006-06-20T14:34:00.001+01:00

I am thinking about LIFE and its humor...
I said I got drenched yesterday, :D (naaa na na naaaaaaa na :D)
I want a DBC (actually long time having it...hmph!), a world tour, to shop till I FEEL BUGGED, a black santro for myself, a labrador, a small house with a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig lawn, a swing, Rain, long ride, Mr Arjun Bharadwaj( ;-) ), pani puri... :-? ya, only so much for now...
I wish I could go all alone to a place of complete strangers for sometime...
I miss playing Ice-pice, laggori, fighting with my bro's friends, waiting for dad to return back home at night so that I get something nice to eat (now he waits for me :-), that 20Rs pocket money which I used to get every saturday when I was in school(it was actually more than enough for me, wow!), exchaning paper letters with few of my school friends, bunking classes and going for some crap movies, running out of the class from the backdoor after attendance is taken, some good times with my college friends, ohhh so many!
I hear 'Agar tum miljao, zamaana chod denge hum' currently playing in my comp...
I always wonder
'kitne ajeeb rishtey hein jahaan pe,
do pal milte hain,
saath saath chaltein hain,
jab modh ayetho bachke nikalthe hain'
I regret for nothing... whatever has happend, has happened for good :)
I am ME
I dance as if no one is watching
I sing very bad!
I cry often.... a bigtime cry baby!
I am not what people perceive at times...
I make with my hands delicious dishes :D
I write about what I feel...
I'm confused about the world I tell ya...sigh! (er... konfused I meant ;-) )
I need to be less carefree...
I should stop stp being this l....a....z....y
I started to go for my aerobics, phew!
I finished writing this tag :D

hmm, an interesting tag alright, It took so much time to write it. Anyone is free to take up this tag :)

Heard somewhere...

2006-06-13T06:36:00.001+01:00

“Does familiarity actually breed contempt?
And staying far makes and strengthens relationships?”

hmm... :-?
How many times have we felt that its nice to stay far... atleast the relationship will be in a formal, 'hi-how are you-I'm fine-thank you' state and people will be happy?
But staying far from someone for long?
will that not dilute a relationship?

Jus wondering...

'Moti'vating 'fact'or...

2006-06-08T11:05:00.001+01:00

You know how???
Here is my funda...

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a lamb eat? Leaves and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a kabab is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system.
Need grain?
Eat chicken.

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for me?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO ...... Cocoa beans ... another vegetable ! It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had About food and diets...

So..... here you go.....

PS: But... sheeesh! Reality continues to ruin my life... I need to start my Aerobics atleast from monday...
I just hope
I get up at 5,
I get up and dont feel lazy and go back to sleep,
I get up, dont feel lazy, but feel I'm not overweight and I dont need any aerobics,
I get up, dont feel lazy, dont feel i'm not overweight, but feel its anyway 10th and let me start from next month,
I get up, dont feel any of these, but dad is sleeping and he dioest feel like getting up, (he is my escort)
I get up, get ready, and it shouldnt rain..
mannn, how many parameters control me... and you people tell I dont work out????
sighhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
okey okey, I'm going from monday... YES ... PAKKA!!!!!

Amrieeka???

2006-05-30T10:01:00.001+01:00

These guys in US are damn busy I must say... Managing the clients on one hand, offshore folks on the other, a complete mechanical life, weekends go in partying and then wait for the next weekend... they just dont find time for anything you see.... nope nothing! not even time to choose a girl for them to spend the rest of their life with... so mostly they transfer this headache(!!!) to their momma's...
When I visited my native last week for prasad's wedding, I met one such momma...

Description:

She: A lean female aged around 50+, wearing a super jatang kancheevaram silk saree, with some 4-5 gold neck laces, some 10+ gold bangles on each hand, one big ear ring and a specs (Gold frame!)...

Me: A definetely-cant-be-termed-as-lean-in-any-angle female clanned in super jatang saree (as it was a gift from prasad for his wedding), wearing some minimal jewellery which all marriageable girls (ahem) must wear in mangalore, giving artificial smiles to all the known strangers and walking around...

Encounter:
She along with her daughter enter the Scene (read my granny's house, which is just next to the marriage hall) where me, padi(a cousin brother) and my mom are sitting.

She: Oh, this is the girl???
Me : ?!!!!?!!!!?!!!!! :-) (an artificial one at that!)

The obvious questions of age, weight, height, company, college, subject and what not were asked.... and like a goody goody girl I answered all of them... and then...

She: How fast did you get your job after enginerring?
Me : er.. a couple of months later (*oh funduuu eh???*)

She: hmm... what subject you studied you said?
Me : Electronics...

She: oh, you did not study computers, thats why... otherwise you'd have got the job soon..
Me: er... hmm :-) (???!!!!!!!???)

She: You are ready to leave your job right? the guy is in America...
Me: oh! (*phew, I got a reason...*) Er.... No, I've no plans of leaving my job or going to the US (*Mad or what?*)

She: Why???
Me : Er... I want to settle down in Bangalore... I'm not looking for any long term stay outside... (*WHY eh??? huh!!!*)

She: He is earning good, he has bought a car there recently, what is your problem, why do you need to work when he is well settled??
Me : Er.... I'm not interested in going there (*owwww Man, why the hell she was asking about my job, subject I studied blah blah blah if she wanted me to quit my career*)

She: Then how is it possible, after marriage you cant stay in bangalore and he in America right?
Me : hmm :-) (*lady, you are talking as if i'm already married to your son*)

She: My son has asked me to shortlist 4-5 girls and keep. he is coming in september for 20 days, coz he doesnt have much leave, he'll select one of these and get the VISA done and immediately he is planning to take the girl with him to America. You guys think and tell us if its fine with you. only then we shall proceed...
Me: hmm :-) (a super sarcastic one at that!)

My mom who was a silent spectator of the whole drama, breaks her silence now and tells out that we shall call back if we are interested (ofcourse, even she had decided by now that we would not be calling them) . The lady is about to leave, turns back and asks,
'what height did you say you were? '
I said '5.4'...
come stand next to my daughter... *Er....what???... hmph!!!!... grrrrrrrrr!!!!* [** some emotions just cant be expressed you see **] and she goes near the door and comes back again and,
'you do onething, you give her photo and horoscope, write her email address too, let them talk over internet and let them decide. who are we to talk after all. '
*arghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!*
and there ended the saga...

I really did not understand what kind of girl this lady was looking out for. how did things like my job, or how intelligent I was in getting a job, or my subject mattered if at all she wanted a goody goody sophisticated housewife to be settled in amreeka??? Is it that only the one who has studied electronics can cook well for her son? or what is it? pssst...

And these amreeka guys I tell ya... Marriage is definetely an essential step in your life boss... dont trust on those 4-5 candidates shortlisted by your momma and those 20 damn days... Know what you are looking for in your girl first and try spending some 'quality' time in searching the one for you. After all, you'll be spending a significant part of your life with her buddy!!!
duhh!!!!

Gloomy???

2006-05-28T11:13:00.001+01:00

Sometimes these cold cloudy days are good...
they let you savor your bad mood...

KAPU calling.. trin trin trin...

2006-05-23T07:13:00.000+01:00

Hello there, I'm coming ;-)

PS: For those who dont know, KAPU is a beach in UDUPI and I'm going to my native tonight and will be visiting this favorite beach of mine tomorrow :D
A view from that rock.... Ah.......

Other'wise'???

2006-05-15T09:31:00.001+01:00

Every morning someone or the other sends these good morning sms's.... These messages talk about life, friendship, love, world, a crappy joke and what not followed by a 'Good morning :)'. But one underlying fact to be realized is that the person atleast remembered you to wish you a good morning...

Sometimes these mesages makes you think too.. I got one such message from poo in the morning.
It said...

Gyan 4 the day --
"Best love and affection can be given and taken if you follow two things.
1. dont talk if you are angry
2. dont take the words seriously from the one who is angry"
Good morning :)

hmm???
which of the ones is easier??? Is it possible to be really composed and talk 'logically' when you are angry? Is it easier to forgive someone who blurts out something when he is angry?? Can we overlook those 'words' and just try to understand the 'feelings' behind them??? When our words are poking them like knife, how do you expect them to see the feeling behind them???
ah.....
In one of her blogs, she had said, "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control"
but my favorite quote says.... "some people are wise, but most of us are otherwise ;-)"
watsay???

sawan barse tarse dil...

2006-05-10T05:41:00.001+01:00

yuppieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, it rained... atlaaaaaaaaast :D
naaaaaaaaa na na naaaaaaaa naaaaaaaaaaaaa :D
who said bangalore is hot...huh! you should've seen the weather yesterday... it poured like anything and the BEST part is I GOT DRENCHED...Completely :D
wah wah wah... LIFE I tell ya ;-)

And along with this, I did two of my favorite things in rain...
- had stroooong filter coffeee with alu bajji
- chatted with friends sitting cozily inside and starring at the rain through window

hmm...
the complete list also includes...
- sitting inside the house with a good novel, chips and TEA :D
- rain dance... ah.............
- walking all alone...[hmm.. you can even cry, no one can make out... :'( ]
- have road side panipuri...
- after you've got drenched and it has stopt raining, and when you've started feeling really really cold, have a coffee and some garam garam chilli bajji..... slurrrrrrrrp :D
- standing along the window, starring outside and let ur thoughts run over anything and everything... you'll definetely enjoy the solitude...
- looooooooooooooong ride with someone special ;-)
- er... mebbe a long walk also will do ;-) (oh, my andekha anjana, how very lucky you are *winks*)

wow! I can see a cloud there... Phew!!!

a mail???

2006-05-05T15:19:00.001+01:00

life is like a mail.. sometimes you just dont get it....
hmm.......... guess so... :(

Best Friends...

2006-04-24T05:37:00.001+01:00

When I was in my primary school, the idea of my best friend was someone with whom I can play with, whom I could go for my dance class with.

When I went to my High School, the idea of a best friend was someone who was good at studying, sports, extra-curricular activities, someone who shared the same favorite movie star :).

When I went to college, the idea of a Best friend was someone with whom I could go to movies, talk about crushes, do all girly things.

I could say life was pretty much simple until this time.
When I joined my engineering, the idea of a best friend was changed to someone with whom I felt comfortable in disscussing my 'konfusions' of what-next, talk about the girl secrets, and ofcourse have FUN amidst all the Internals, Assignments, Combined studies etc.

By the time I joined work, the idea of a best friend was changed to someone with whom my 'wavelength' matched, someone with whom I could sit and chat for hours, someone with whom I could share my dreams, someone with whom even silence was comfortable, someone who shared the common 'I-hate-this-person' list :D, someone with whom I could do night outs, someone with whom I could just be just Myself.

Now I have some good friends whom I've never met in my life at all but we discuss everything under the sun.

The idea of a best friend kept on changing from time to time...
But the strange part is, some friends remained as my best friends who could fit in all the changing definitions.
I still have some of my school friends and college friends who are very much in touch with me on a day-to-day basis. The definition of friendship has grown with our age and these people fit in all the above categories :).
But something which bothers me always is that, as time passed, some of my friends who were in my best friend list at a certain point of time, is now just in a 'hi-how are you' relationship. I always wonder is it something to do with 'ME' that i'm not in touch with them? Is it a failure on my part that I couldnt 'maintain' a relationship?

But when I get a chance to talk to 'those' friends, I cant talk more than half an hour and even that will be so formal. We just run out of topics. I guess our priorities have changed in life and probably thats the reason we dont find much of things in common to talk about. Though the basic care and concern is there for each other, it cant go back to the way it was... the ease at which we used to talk to hours before has just vanished... hmph! some friendships are meant to be like that I guess...though it sounds odd, I feel some friends are seasonal, and no point brooding about it.... hmph!!! ways of life I tell ya...

My Epitaph...

2006-04-21T05:20:00.001+01:00

=))
Can you beat that :D
You wanna know yours??? chk this
But on a serious note, I would want it to read,
"She lived.... :)"
what about you???

did HE deserve this???

2006-04-17T07:19:00.001+01:00

he...
- Started his career as a stage artist in "Gubbi Veeranna" nataka academy.
- Entered into movies thru 'Bedara kannappa' after which there was no looking back.
- was someone who would give LIFE to any role he took up. How can anyone forget his roles in 'sathya harishchandra', 'Mantralaya mahime', 'Eradu kanasu', 'Babruvahana', 'Kaviratna Kalidasa', 'Emme Thammanna', 'Tenali rama', 'Sampathige sawal', 'Bhale hucha', 'Kasthoori nivasa', 'Gandhada gudi', oh, the list just goes on. A Natasarvabhouma in its true sense!!!
- Received an honorary doctorate from Mysore University, 10 Filmfare awards for different categories, a National award for singing, Padma bhushana and Dada saheb Phalke award from the Govt of India and won millions of hearts...
- Some people might claim that he never did anything to the society. He might not have opened schools or hospitals for the public, but the simple man that he was, he did his best whatever he took up. Knowing the social responsibility he had, never did he smoke, or use foul language on screen.
- He used to address people as 'abhimani devarugale', and it was not just a word, he was someone who believed in that. A school dropout which he was, he had no shame in accepting it in public and acknowledging that he came up only because of his fans. So many people wanted him to join politics, and he just kept away from all that saying he is not intelligent enough to do all that.
- Even when he passed away, he gave light to two blinds as a part of his last wish.

we...
- barged into his house as soon as the news of his demise was announced. broke the gate, door, window panes of his house.
- As a "mark of respect" to the legand, THE fans went on a rampage in and around Bangalore. Glass panes of showrooms were broken, shutters of stores were forcibly downed, cars and motorcycles were toppled over and torched, er... an attempt to FORCE people to mourn??? huh???
- Next day the whole city was shut down!!!
- People who came near cameramen were so happy to appear on Television that they were jumping and dancing. They were so proud to be witnessed by the whole Janta while they were stoning people and burning vehicles. Damn!!!
- The Van carrying the Dead body was stopt somewhere in the middle of the road coz his so-called FANS wanted the van to take some route of their choice.
- To top the whole thing, PEOPLE did not allow the family members to do the last rites of the hero. The mob was getting so violent that they had to DUMP the body in the pit and run away from that place. The family went back to the place again at 9 o clk in the night to continue the last rites.

Now people might claim its not the Fans but it was totally a politically driven act and all that, but even if thats the case, who have chosen those 'leaders'??? At the end of the day the most disheartening fact which remains is our hero went away from us and WE gave such a bad farewell...
what a SHAME!!!
did he really deserve this ?
NOWAY :(

will you......?

2006-04-11T13:12:00.001+01:00

Disclaimer:
This post is written in the fond remembrance of all the prospective grooms (er...can include their parents too) all around the globe :). Any resemblance to anybody alive or dead ;-) is purely coincidental and the author takes no responsibilites :D

Ya.... now coming to the point,
when ever I used to see some funny ads which come in the matrimonial section of TOI or the forwards which we get about matrimony, I used to wonder about the level of exaggeration.
But Boss, such things do happen in real life too.

To start with, the profile pics which people generally send will be the ones delicately chosen from a lot which are fine tuned after adding some special effects (in addition to those artificial smiles) in some posh photo labs. And Yet, the end product will be very very faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar away from the actual self.

And next comes the Bio-data. Mannnn, how much do they boast about thier accomplishments (er... if thats what they call it). A few excerpts from the ones I've seen/heard...

Green Card holder/US returned...
(adds WEIGHTage to the resume)

I'm planning to settle in down in US for ASSET creation...
(Ahem Ahem, no comments ;-) )

Girl should be a "BE" but I prefer a housewife...
(What the.............. argh!!!)

Girl should know how to cook coz I'm a big foodie...
(Ek bavarchie ko kyon nahi dhondthe ho bhaiyya??? )

The girl has to be not more than 60 kgs...
(but he can be a hippo, huh?)

She needs to be FAIR...
(Ya, gift me a bleaching powder, you moron!!)

My Girl should be not more than 5.2...
(coz, hez 5.4.... pssssssssst)

I love my parents (oh! ya, we all hate them...) , she should be loving too (pssst, psst!!!)

I'm looking for a long term married life...
(=)) but we just want a short term honey ;-))

My ancestors are living in this city for more than 250 years...
(duuuuude!!! some of ur ancestors are still on trees =)) )

we are familiar with atleast 100 families in this city...
(oye hoye, now i really have doubt, have you escaped from some jungle???)

The girl needs to wear atleast 1000 gms of gold...
(!!! !$$!##&!!!!!!)

I have nothing to talk to the girl, its enuff if my parents talk...
(BOYYY, whom is she marrying??? )

Sheesh, why do we live life so much as a mater-of-fact?
Buddy, shez the one with whom you are gonna spend the rest of your life... Is this all what is important to you???? Is this all your requirements???
Sigh!!!

Surprise............ :D

2006-04-06T12:47:00.001+01:00

One of my favorite quotes is,
"life is full of surprises, but never when you need one..."
huh????
who says so....

Bugged of this mundane life which makes me sit in front of the boring black monitor whole day, I was feeling so low from past 2-3 days. Today, around afternoon, I get a call from the reception telling I have a visitor. I go and see, I have a sweetest friend of mine waiting for me with a smile and holding a pink gerbera in hand :D and the best part is my friend even joined me for lunch :D
WOW!!! was I jumping with JOY or what...
The gerbera is decorating my desk, and each time I have a look at it, it undoubtedly exchanges a smile with me :)
Some times such small gestures means soooooooo much :)
hmm,
Some people make life seem so beautiful by just being a part of it :)

a guy and a girl...

2006-03-31T23:38:00.001+01:00

Just 'friends'???
Ya, y not. who said there cant be pure friendship between a guy and a girl. Last year, when I was attending one of my best friend's wedding, one female had asked me...
'aap dono husband/wife hein?'
I said 'nahi tho' (*haaan?????*),
'tho, bhai behan hai?'
'nahi...'
'tho???'
huh! I felt the poor lady thinks there cant be anything other than husband/wife love or the brother/sister affection between a guy and a girl.
huh!!! huh!!! huh!!!
Most of the times we feel more comfortable to discuss many issues with a friend who belongs to the oppsite clan. Probably its the difference in the perspective or the basic differences in the attitude towards things which makes us bond together fast.

As a friendship grows its quite easy to develop an intense admiration and attachment towards the other person and as the line between friendly and romantic feelings is too fine to cross over, it usuall does. No, Not always,. There could be many friends with whom we cant think of anything else.
but in certain cases,
just friends????
hmm, quite dicey actually!!!

There will be a phase where in you know its not just friendship, you are not sure if its something else, dont want to give a 'name' to whateverrrrr it is, just want to live in those times. I guess the relation will be at a very delicate state at this time and even if both are interested towards each other, nobody wants to break the ice, coz it involves lot of complexities. Its not just a fear of Rejection, but also the fear of losing someone so close, fear of losing the friendship, fear of what-next???

Just popping up the 'L' word will be a bad idea. Though under normal circumstances such a moment is a matter of honor for (wo)men coz the mental counter of "people who've fallen for me" is promptly incremented. Sadly, not all moments are so relishable especially when its between two friends. A simple Yes or No is going to change so many equations.

But there needs to be an end to all the confusions right? Do I really like her so much? Is he the right one for me? How serious are we? Do I want to work it out? Its good to ask ourselves some basic questions right? if you find answers for these, then comes the question "can 'we' work it out"...

I guess once there is a definite answer to these questions, you can move ahead. Instead of making it so formal, you can just look into the others eyes and ask 'where do u think its going ;-) ? ' I guess its a more subtle way of telling and making things not sound awkward :) If it works fine, well and good. and if it doesnt, I know its not easy to come back and say we are just friends after a decision has been taken against it, but then atleast its clear of what you want, and where is this heading. Eventually mebbe the interactions would reduce, there mebbe certain not-so-comfortable moments, but then, we all love to live in the la-la-land, but when we wake up and realize it was not that nice a dream, then we should not have lost the courage to dream again, life has to move on... after all the show must go on right???..... :)

PS: Now dont start asking questions like, 'experienced huh?' and stuff...Er.... actually, you can say few things give a dejavu... ;)

bored???

2006-03-23T03:52:00.001Z

A couple of days back, I was chatting with a friend of mine about relationships and how to keep them alive. My friend was under the impression that people will get bored of each other after a certain time in any relationship. So, to keep the chemistry on, they need to keep doing something consciously about it.

My friend even gave an anology of Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin cant be praised just coz he scored 35 centuries some years back, he needs to prove himself each time he enters the field, if he doesnt play, people will obviously 'booh' at him.

But I quite dint get how this analogy could be applied to relationships. Even I do agree after the initial charm fades away its natural to take the other person for 'granted'. But getting bored of someone??? That is something new to me. I see my parents living together for more than 25 years. I've never found my dad talking any mushy talks to my mom nor getting her some bunch of gerbera flowers to keep her happy, then what is it that which keeps them going?
Are they not bored of each other?
how do I make sure someone will not get bored of me?
Is it any battleground that I need to prove myself each day?
I can be just ME :-
Sigh!
!!!

when it rains...it pours....

2006-03-21T06:09:00.001Z

Morning starts with collecting passes for a Rock Show with a friend of mine... a joshed up morning I must say...
Breakfast plan messed coz of an 'unavoidable' call with an 'unavoidable' onsite co-ordinator...
After the call get to know that I have hell lot of work and the deadline is the same day!!... hmph!! but optimism is thy name, so start the work with a hurricane speed...
Get to know that a leave for Monday which is supposed to be one of my best friends engagement is not approved... :-... some curse to my manager... and then, work work work!!!...
5.20pm, work completed, sending a status mail to the onsite, but get to know we need to call up and 'update' him coz my PL 'assumes' that the mail is not sufficient and it'll be better if we stay back... grrrr!!! okie..
ROCK SHOW down the drain!!...
one last hope, let me make up for it by going out for a dinner... plan to leave office by 7...
get to know at 6.30 that we could call at 7 coz our PL thinks that we need not have to disturb our onsite co-ordinator as soon as he gets into office and we could call around 8.30 his time... duhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FINE!!! dinner Cancelled...
Go to the conf room around 7... wait for the other side of the receiver to be picked till 7.30 and then realize that nobody is there, and get back to our seat....
Around 7.45, get a call from onsite telling that he was stuck in a traffic jam??? BEAT THAT!!! This guy is in Detroit, Traffic jam? I dint know Detroit had a Hosur Road...huh!!!
and I just wanted to blog about this on that day itself... wrote the whole Ramayan, wanted to publish, and guess what?
BLOGGER ERROR!!!!
WOW! Just this was left....
hmph!!!!
when it rains, it pours.... oh yeah!!!

a software engineers holi.....

2006-03-15T06:56:00.001Z

Happy holi :)

Sigh!!!

Its our day...Er.... Yeah..

2006-03-08T08:20:00.001Z

Few days back when I was scanning thru channels, I happend to catch a program on CNN-IBN where they were talking about bride-shopping.
Oh, Bride-shopping? I thought it must be something to do with sarees, jewellery, accessories so on... but No, it was actually men shopping for a 'bride herself'.

Apparently, there is a village 'Chochra' in Haryana. The low sex ratio in this place has made them 'buy' marriageable females from other villages. There are middle men who take up this task of match making and who can get you a bride at a 'cheaper' rate. In case of a poor families there are instances where a family of 7 brothers have married a single female as they cant afford to marry one each.
Can you beat that???
On the same day I heard some politician talking hours together on how the western influence is spoiling our women and why valentines day is against our culture. huh, what an irony!!! I wonder what kind of justification these leaders give for such practices? I still cant digest, one woman marrying 7 brothers... Sheeeesh...
what a world we live in...

Oh I forgot, Happy women's day!!!
Sigh!

Destiny...

2006-03-02T08:11:00.001Z

hmm???
Is there something like that?
A profound friend of mine always says, there are two kind of people in the world, one set of people who take life as it comes, and the second one who define life on their terms.
Ya, I do agree with him and I believe I belong to the first category.
I've always been a person who embraces whatever comes my way and accept life. And i'm a believer of destiny. I strongly feel someone somewhere is made just for me, people we meet, things we do, the roles we take up is all defined before (else, how do you explain Devegowda becoming prime minister ;-) ), and its upto us to go ahead from there. (Er.... am I sounding strange??!!??).
I love living a life as there is no tomorrow.
But the other set of people plan everything so much ahead of time. They know what/when/why they are doing things, coz everything is PLANNED. Lead a systematic life. Feel bad when things dont go their way, learn from the mistake, next time plan things in a more organized way, so on and so forth.
I sometimes wonder, am I being aloof about my own life? Am I running away from my responsibilities by just giving a mask of happy-go-lucky look? :-.
Naaaaah,.... It doesnt mean I dont plan for the future and work towards it, its just that I dont spend sleepless nights worrying about the future or brood about the past.
hmmph!!!!!
just thinking!!!

Navjeevan Express...

2006-02-23T08:11:00.001Z

They met...
They spoke...
and............................

He : If there is something called as 'soulmate', you are the one for me.
She : YES, even I want to be :)

The first page of a new book I'm reading... hmm, seems really interesting!

Sapne…

2006-02-14T09:36:00.001Z

A day full of masti... supposed to be window shopping, but landed up buying a typical my-kinda tshirt. A blue tshirt with collar, it was too irresistable :P. Went to BDA, had panipuri and jalebi :D Er.. how can an evening end without a coffee, so, a caffein kick to mark the end of the day.
Went back home and was so damn tired, just wanted to sleep.. and I did too, but got this weirder than the weird-most weirdest dreamzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
I’m sitting alone with my orange/yellow stripes calvin t-shirt…
where??…donnno…
Here comes a guy….bent on his knees….with a mug of Tea in his hand and says ‘khushi, You always say tea is your life, can I be the tea for your life??’’
‘Haaan???’…. and I believe from that day on, I would stop drinking tea…
This is all the dream was.... ;;)
Huhuhuhuhahahahaahahahahahahahaha
And I was sharing this with a friend of mine and he happened to ask me how the guy was looking like, and my reply was, ‘oh I don’t remember, but that guy had a sexy black colour mug in his hand and I was concentrating more on that :D'
and he was like, with full difficulty atleast in your dreams someone proposed you and you just remember the mug which he was holding.... pssst...
ha ha ha.... do you think people call me foodie with no reason ;-)

I just remember a pickup line
Coffee?
Tea???
Me???????

ha ha ha!

PS: NO, this post is nowhere related to Valentines day, it was just there in my drafts since long, which I chose to publish it now. Btw, Happy Valentines day, Love and be Loved! :)

LIFE.... so simple :)

2006-02-07T09:55:00.001Z

Mom says death is as natural as birth, and its all part of life cycle...

She also says we dont really understand it, but there are many things we dont understand and we just have to do the BEST with the knowledge we have before going...
I guess it makes sense...

but i dont want to go anywhere :(

Ah..... dont you worry :)

Rishtey…

2006-02-02T05:11:00.001Z

We meet so many people in a day. We hit off well with certain people instantaneously, Certain people manage to settle just in the acquaintance list, but most of the times it takes time to connect to a person, to form a bond, to develop a relationship (No, I’m not talking about the so called ‘relatives’ who are forced upon us).
This bond keeps getting strengthened or weekend as the time goes and the situations we face. Sometimes I wonder what is the essence of a relationship.

What is that something with which we form a strong bond? And
What is that something which acts as a last thread between two people and if its broken the relationship is nowhere?

Is it Compatibility?, i.e., how well you connect to the other person? Ya, mebbe when you feel comfortable with a person, when you can be yourself with a person, there is nothing like it. Or, No, there are so many people in the world who are so different, who really can’t connect to each other, yet they are together?

Is it Trust?, hmm? Mebbe or Mebbe not. We all live in a hope. We trust somebody, and when its broken, we feel bad, but yet live with a hope that things will get well. It will definitely take some ample amount of time to build the trust again, but maybe it depends on the genuineness of the other individual.

Mutual Respect? Hmm, maybe. Maybe if we loose respect on somebody we won’t feel comfortable with them. We might not be able to continue with the relationship.

Personal space? If someone is intruding too much into our space, then probably its very difficult to take it. But the other way round is also not acceptable, that is when the other one is too much aloof about our life. teri-life-teri-marzi kinds...naaah!.. hmm personal space could also be a reason.

Care about the other person? Hmm, there are so many relationships where we don’t see the two having the same wavelength, they don’t share anything in common, but just the basic care/concern/affection about the other person holds the bond.

Physical attraction? But for how many days? we all grow old, we all wont look the same way we do now. Maybe it can act like a catalyst in the chemistry between the two, but anything beyond that? Er....... I dont think so.

Commitment? Ya, lots of relations stand on this last thread I guess. Though both are not happy with anything happening with them, they are together just coz they are committed to each other and can’t face the reality and the society.

Or is it the combination of all of these?
hmph! seems like a jigsaw puzzle indeed!

I just remember a song from page-3 whenever I think of relationships...
Kitney ajeeb rishtey hein jahaan pe,
Do pal milte hein, saath saath chalthein hein,
Jab modh aye tho, bachke nikalthe hein,
Kitney ajeeb rishtey hein jahaan pe...

Sigh!

A Generation Awakens...

2006-01-30T08:35:00.001Z

This is the tagline of the movie Rang De Basanti. I can most definetly say it is one of the BEST movies I've seen oflate. The screenplay, the storyline, the starcast(its amazing to see how each of them go into the character so well), songs, so much and more.
I really liked the way they have connected the freedom fight to today's corruption. Our freedom fighters were fighting against the Britishers whereas today we have come to a stage where we need to fight against our own corrupt politicians.
The gradual change of fun loving brats into a bunch of responsible individuals is shown very neatly.

The dialogue of Atul kulkarni on sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hein can really leave you with goosebumps.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre will make your eyes go wet :(.

The way maddy proposes.. er.... (okey, go find out)... is damn cute :P

The smile of Maddy, the look of Sidharth and the chiseled face of Kunal kapoor can just leave you with just one word 'WOW'!

The Phirang female Sue is a real eye Candy ;-)

The dialogues of last scene where...er....okey, Let me not reveal the story of the movie and spoil the fun for people who are planning to watch it. But DO WATCH IT, its really a good one :)

I really donno if the movie can awaken a generation, but it'll definetely make people THINK.

Kodagina Bedagi's...

2006-01-25T09:31:00.000Z

This new year really brought new surprises to me. First was the parasailing experience, then was the Prize what we got for winning a quiz in office. We won a second place and the prize was a KSTDC package tour for coorg :D
Three musketeers...
Two days...
One Mission... "Fun"...

The Tibetian Monastry...

View From Talakaveri...

We showed some mercy on the elephants in Dubare Forest by deciding not to go in elephant-safari and stayed back to play in water for almost 2 hours \:d/ ...

If I complete my post without mentioning about TWO important things, then my soul will definetly not rest in peace.

- All three of us are bigtime foooooooooooooodies :D. We had packed enough and more chakli, kodbale, Haldiram-samosa, Lays (some 4 flavours), Kurkure for 2 days. We just had them when we got bored in between our Biryani's, Fried rice, Idly-vada's and Poori's you see ;-). In Sanskrit they say Sarva Roga Nivarini which means curer of all ailments, and we used FOOD for that purpose. Headache? 'eat something, everything will be fine', Stomach ache? Mebbe you dint have food properly... And as Newton's third law goes, every action has equal and opposite reaction, so, this had to happen....at the end of the 2nd day, one of my frns badly needed a BREAK (;-)) from this. and that was when our theory of Sarva-Roga-Nivarini proved wrong :( (Ha Ha Ha, all 3 of us couldnt stop stop laughing after that :)))

- Second one is something about our interesting(!!!) tour GUIDE. He just took us back in time when we were in school where our Class teacher is standing and giving us instructions. Guys, see that place- 5 min time, go for susu-10 min time, have lunch-20 min time, Look to your right, Look to your left... sigh!
Sheesh, what a nerd he was :-B
Some of his QUOTES (:-O)

Welcome to Khey-Yes-Thi-Dhi-See...
KSTDC!!!
*giggles*
(that was the first statement we heard from him and we got to know his Ishtyle ;-)

phasht phasht breakphasht
(he gave only 31 seconds for that, can you believe?? huh!)

Welcome to coorg, the main community in coorg is Coorgies
(grrrrrrrrrrrr, wt the........arggggggggggghhhhh)

look to your right, there is a beautiful view
(*grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*)
(after another 10 mins, )
look (*man!!!!!!!!!!!!, dont tell me*) to your left, there is a beautiful view
(ROTFL, Literally)

Look at the beautiful ladies... they've worn special sarees... that is the traditional way of Coorgi females
(*saleko zaroor maar padega*)

Lets have a break for 5 minutes and its only for ladies.... we are not going to stop anywhere else, its specially for ladies to go to toilets... No coffee/Tea, only Toilets...
=)) =)) =)) =))
(man, wt was he upto!!!)

Atlast when we reached back to bangalore, our dude takes the mike again and starts...

Thank you for choosing Khey-Yes-Thi-Dhi-See... Happy Journey (*haaaaaaaaaaaan?????*)... er.... Happy Journey for all your future journys...
=))
=))
=))

PS: Kodagina Bedagis translate to "Coorg Beauties"
Kodagu was the old name of Coorg and Bedagi in kannada means Beauty :)

Dreams... hopes... possessiveness...

2006-01-16T08:29:00.001Z

Beach...
WOW! It brings so many sweet thoughts in mind... long beach walks, playing in water, running in the sand, sitting on the shore talking to the nature, making sand castles.... ya...... Making sand castles is one of my favourite things to do...

You make the castle with utmost care...

It builds up into something which you wanted it to be...

It may not be looking good/making sense for people around you, but how should it matter?
Its your Masterpiece :)
and when someone tries to destroy it, why does it hurt so much?

It was from nowhere, If it gets destroyed, I can always create a new one... I have an ocean full of sand... I can always start afresh... Is it just that i'm Scared? Scared of what? Half an hour back there was nothing there..., Why do I get possessive about something which was never mine and feel bad when I get a sense of loosing it??? After I walk out from here, I know my castle is gonna break either by someone stamping on it or by a rattling wave...
Is it the dream which is getting shattered? Is it the hope that my castle will prevail for long? or is it just the possessiveness?
Sigh!

hmmph!!!...

2006-01-16T04:19:00.001Z

Calvin Uvacha...

At night, My mind does not much care...
If what it thinks is here or there...
It tells me stories it invents and makes up things that don't make sense...
I don't know why it does this stuff...
The real world seems quite weird enough...

The Last Leaf…

2006-01-09T07:05:00.001Z

RANGA SHANKARA is holding a theatre festival called Ranga-Shankrathi as a part of their New Year and Pongal celebrations. I’d heard a lot about this theatre but this is the first time I went there. Myself and a friend of mine somehow managed to creep into the theatre by 7.20 as we knew they’d close the doors by 7.30 and won’t let anyone in after that. I’d never seen a theatre so well organized, the strict timings, the neat seating arrangements, making people switch off their cell phones and all that.
I went there for a play called Last Leaf, a story by O’ Henry.

The Story revolves around 3 main characters, Johnsy, Sue and Berman. Johnsy and Sue were friends and were living in the same house. They had similar interests in art and had a studio for themselves. Mr Berman is an old painter who used to live in the ground floor of the same building. He is a big boozard and always talks about some masterpiece which he is intending to do.

In the cold winter of November, Johnsy is attacked with Pneumonia and it gets so severe that the doctor tells Sue about the chances of Johnsy’s survival are one in ten and that one chance is her want-to-live. When Sue gets back to the room, she finds Johnsy counting something looking at the window. When Sue asks her as to what she was doing, Johnsy replies telling she is counting the leaves in the Ivy vine on the brick wall outside the window and she is sure she’d die by the time the last leaf falls from the vine. Sue gets very irritated to hear this but feels very helpless at the state of her dear friend on whom even the doctors had lost hope.

Sue comes to Mr Berman's house to ask him to pose for some of her painting which she was supposed to do for an advertising agency. She finds Berman stinking strongly with his gin, and one corner lay his white canvas which is waiting since years to receive his masterpiece. Berman learns from Sue about Johnsy’s pneumonia and the story of her last leaf of the Ivy vine and laughs at it. That night, Sue makes Berman pose like a hermit for her painting but finds the gusting wind and a fierceful rain which makes Berman head back home.

The next day Johnsy wakes up with a sure thought that the last leaf in the vine would have fallen coz of the rain which had poured all night, but for her surprise finds it clinging to its vine strongly. The same story repeats for another two days and Johnsy starts sensing that something has made the last leaf stay strong at its stem, which may be giving her a message that she was wrong looking forward to die. And this sudden realization, the want to live, makes her overcome her fears and she starts recovering from her disease.

The next day, they learn that Mr Berman died out of Pneumonia. He was found with a lantern, a ladder, some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it. The reason for the last leaf seen from the window, which was unshaken by the winds and was never fluttered by the rain was coz, it was a painting of Berman, his Masterpiece, which he painted the night when the last leaf fell…

The story was so very touching… I was almost into tears when I heard the last dialogue telling it’s the masterpiece of Berman… through out the play there was a song telling ‘Life is to Love, Life is to Live…’
How very true it is, Most of the times we are trying to be Johnsys just fearing about the last leafs, we often forget to LOVE the LIFE, being bermans is quite not possible for everyone, but atleast we can LIVE our life by not just waiting for that Last Leaf…

O Henry….^:)^

Ek choti si love story.... Errrrr... okey...can say so ;-)

2006-01-03T17:03:00.001Z

I’ve done my complete schooling in Namma Bangalore :D…. And there are lots of lovely memories attached to my childhood…. Go to school in the morning, fight with few guys, boss around with a few of them, go home, play Lagori, Ice spice (I SPY/Hide and Seek), go back home after some nth warning from amma, and do the homework for the heck of it…and have a sound sleep…one whole day is over…
Such a simple life it was….
And I was one dumbo of nth order when it came to all the mushy mushy things… when I was in 7th standard, there was one guy in my class…and when I remember him now, he actually looked so cute, but that time, I probably dint know the meaning of the word cute, or rather dint know I could associate it to people around me…:-… and this guy comes one day out of the blue and…
He: Hi khushi,
Me: Hi,
He: actually…. Er….. I love you…
Me: haaan? *eye brows raised, mouth making an O, whole body shivering*
He: ya....... please say YES… *with a tensed look*,
Me: haan? I’ll go complain saroja mam :(( *starts weeping*….
He: ...Er……… its ok……. Leave it……. Sorry…… Sorry... dont tell mam.....
and he ran away...
he dint even lift his head in front of me after that... and I was feeling really great for doing something like that :->

Huhahahahahha….. that guy would have got a real shock of his life…. what to do, that was the first time someone had come and spoken to me like that and mebbe it was the first time he was proposing someone, but the response he got, he he, I don’t think he could have ever imagined that…. And definitely I think he’ll be remembering this and cursing me all through his life… his first proposal.... sigh!!!
=))

New..........

2005-12-30T08:20:00.001Z

2005…..A year that was…
Few bitter experiences... A little more-than-few sweet moments…
Meeting new people… Strengthening the bond with the old ones…
Feeling lonely at times…. Jumping around with friends most of the times…
Practicality winning over emotions…
Hmm… quite an eventful year… :)

Here comes the New year……
A clean slate to draw what ever I wish…
New dreams...
New Hopes...
New Goals...

Happy New year to all :)

How does it feel?

2005-12-23T09:19:00.001Z

You are listening to the Radiocity…. They say about some new contest they are hosting for Christmas…. Its something called “Gift a wish” contest… you can nominate anyone whom you feel deserves a special gift for Christmas… and justify the reason…If your mail impresses the radiocity people, they would gift your someone a special gift… and the special gift list includes pick and drop for a week in BMW, small gifts for a week, a dinner for a couple and so on…

And the next day you go home after a tiring day of the same old boring work in office, finish dinner and just about to go to bed, but your friend insists you to listen to Radiocity 91FM… oho… ok….switch on the radio, some phirang songs are making lots of noise where as you are in a mood of listening to kishore kumar’s or Mohd. Rafi’s Rona Dhona…But you bear the brunt for your friend… and after completion of one or two songs, Rohit Barker, who is the host of the show, starts chattering with somebody on air and you realize its your friend… and your friend is talking about you and why you are so special… and Rohit barker announces that your friend has won the contest of “Gift your Wish” and guess what the gift your friend has got…..
a Parasailing trip………
WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is exactly what happened to me yesterday!!!
December 22nd 2005 :D
How should I feel about the whole thing????????????????
Firstly the whole concept is so cute (thanks to Radiocity :D)…. My friend writes to Radiocity and tells them why I deserve a special gift for Christmas… Just that gesture itself is shooooooooooo very shwweeeeeeeeeeet… I’d won a big gift here itself :D... Just this much was more than enough for me...It becomes really trivial whether I get to win a gift or not...but then what happened, I got the gift too, and what was it, a Parasailing, voila!!!!……
I’m just flying since yesterday!!!…. (ya… literally in the near future too ;-)).. and I’m so very excited about this whole thing, I’m just speechless…
It was a very very sweet gesture of my friend and oye, tussi great ho ji ;-)

fooooooooooood :D

2005-12-20T08:27:00.001Z

This weekend I happend to visit a restaurant in my native.... The restaurant looked pretty much sophisticated and very neat for that place..... But what was very interesting was its menu card... here it goes...

Anyone interested in having
CHOCALET,
GULB JAMON,
GAJAR HALAW,
TOMOTO (Soup),
PAROTA,
SEZWON FRIED RICE,
MUSHROOM PERRERSOLT,
VEG HANDY BIRYANI
Mann, it was not just one or two mistakes, but the whole menu card had such things... I wonder if it was really deliberate..., but why would anyone do that... and the best part was, food was just toooooooooooooooooooo good :D
aha, Menu Datha sukhi Bhava!!!

Bheed mein tanhayee...

2005-12-15T10:56:00.001Z

Bheed mein tanhaayi si hai
Dil pooch rahaa hai aisa kyun?
Bas, yeh aansoon tapak pade hain aaj
Najaane yeh dil iss uljhann mein kyun...

Sabh kuchh hai yahaan
Lekin phir bhi ek kammi si hai
Sabh apne apne paas hain
Phir bhi ajeeb nammi si hai...

Shaayad yehi hai uljhann meri
Ke joh apne hain, woh hain bhi par nahin
Jab chaahti hoon woh hon paas apne
Dekhne mein woh hain kahin nahin

Mehsoos karna chaahti hoon unko
Par phir bhi, woh ehsaas na aaye
Dil bohut akelaa hai aaj
Aur bas, doobta doobta chalaa jaaye.

Koi sambhaalo issey
Bheed mein bhi hone lagi tanhaayi
Kaash paas aakar koi duur karta issey
Varna iss tanhaayi se na jaaoon maari.

Had got this as a forward some times back... could relate to it very much today... hats off the author of this poem...

Neal n Nikki....err.... shall I say Crap and Creepy

2005-12-12T08:59:00.002Z

thhpppppppppbbbbbbpppppppppttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
Yes, this was just the reaction while I watched the movie...

Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh, what a pathetic movie it was…
Our hero is planning to get married in 21 days and plans to spend the last few days of his kuvarapan(?) in an interesting(!!!) way... So, he is on a desperate hunt for some ‘hot chicks’ as he puts it... and here comes our errrrrr heroine... I wonder how many days this lady has starved to get the right (?) curves… She’ll convince him that she’d help him in his ‘mission’, if he acts as her BF for few days just to make her Ex-BF feel jealous and get back to her… and the same thing happens and this lady dumps his Ex-BF who is now back just to satisfy her EGO….. Now it’s the pay back time for her to do something for our Hero... but by now our Mr Hero has realized that if he ever wants to spend some quality time, that should be with our heroine. And ya, they spend a night together and that is it… they realize they are in ‘looooooooooooove’ and eventually they get married after some more funny scenes…

arghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you call this a story, here is the acting bit. Tanisha yells all the time at the top of her voice, and you need some time to realize if shez crying or laughing. Those skimpy dresses she wears no where look sensuous, but just look damn cheap. Uday tries to imitate sharukh at times, and his lipstick looks damn irritating.

I wonder what message our Mr.Director was trying to give. I mean did he intend to say there is nothing wrong in having Physical relation before marriage? Or if you have a physical relation, then you’ll have to marry that person alone? Or only after you have some physical intimacy, you can love someone?

Duh!!!!
Today’s youth are as it is confused souls when it comes to putting their own feelings under the heading of whether Crush/Infatuation/Love/Lust. And such crappy movies give another dimension to the whole thing. what values are we spreading across, DAMN!!!!

Not afraid to die......

2005-12-08T11:39:00.001Z

No, I'm not afraid to die.......

but I just dont want to be there when it happens...

to all my sweetie pies....

2005-12-05T11:45:00.001Z

Whenever I feel down, I have this song which has a gr8 capacity to pep me up and bring me back to my 'self'.... here it goes...

You're my Honeybunch,
SugarplumPumpy-umpy-umpkin,
You're my Sweetie Pie
You're my Cuppycake,
Gumdrop Snoogums-Boogums,
You're the Apple of my Eye
And I love you so and I want you to know,
That I'll always be right here,
And I love to sing sweet songs to you
Because you... are.... so.... dear

Smile…… & the world smiles with you… :)

2005-12-02T05:46:00.001Z

Last week when I’d gone to Udupi, I was traveling in Konkan railway to Murudeshwar beach. I’d not got window seat, so couldn’t stare outside the window much. Ish, how much I love sitting next to the window in journeys and go into my own lala land, but there was this sadu looking creature sitting next to me, and i dint even feel like asking her for that seat. The only way to kill time was to read the boring magazines which we’d bought just before boarding the train. The same old gossip, glamour, humour was damn bugging, so I closed the book.

Diagonally opposite to me, there was a lady holding a very small baby in her hand. The baby was not falling under any of these shoooooo shweeeeeeet, chooooo cute category. It was little dark and they’d put black dots all over its face. (They put these black dots on their face so that people don’t cast their eyes…poor babies, they are so cute otherwise :-). This baby was starring at me from quite some time. I gave a smile and nodded my head at it, and it gave smile back. It had only 2 teeth and was looking damn cute with that smile.

I was just wondering at certain things…When we were small, has anybody taught us how to smile?? has anyone told us that if u widen your lips, it’s a gesture to show you are happy? NO? In that case we all must have come to this earth knowing how to SMILE...then why do we hesitate so much?... I myself realize so many times I come to office, wish people around me a 'good morning' with a I-can-smile-only-so-much face (sheesh, such an artificial smile).... its different that i keep giggling throught the day when with my friends... but just to become 'formal' or 'professional' why do we restrict ourselves so much...

we all know its just a small curve which can set things straight and yet we keep it within....

"If someone is too tired to give you a smile, leave one of your own, because no one needs a smile as much as those who have none to give. ."

"Smile, its the second best thing you can do with your lips ;-).. says a profound friend of mine...

"The best way to dress up is to put on a smile.." (should i add with your dress?? ;-)

"Smile.. it improves your face value..."

"Life is a camera, face it with a smile :)"

"Smile.... and the world smiles with you... :D "

Fi(a)tness!!!!

2005-11-30T11:34:00.001Z

lucky garfield...

but i'll have to start aerobics from tomorrow...

the whole world around me is giving me 'looks'...

sigh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

when we look back the path we've traversed....

2005-11-25T05:40:00.001Z

We are filled with regrets…
For things not done…
For words not said…
For love not shown…
For dreams not accomplished...

but…………………
Can the unsaid words do as much damage as the words that were out…
don’t we wish we hadn’t spoken few words at times????
don’t we all regret for the love that we’ve shown??
don’t we wish for if some dreams were left as dreams alone???

got tagged.........

2005-11-22T11:09:00.001Z

Here is the “I want/can/can’t-do” list of things as of today… It has 7 +/- something in each list, and no order of preference...

I want to…
- eat a Deathby Chocolate from Java-Green in the nearest future, maybe today evening, since last 2 weeks, I’m remembering it and literally my mouth is watering (even now...) and I’m not able to make it for one or the other reason :(
- see the whole world; meet whole lot of people before I die…
- adopt a baby…
- play with a Tiger cub, Ya real one, I just love them :D…
- keep pets at home, preferably a Labrador and a CAT…
- get in shape and wear all the smart dresses which I now envy people who wear them…No, I’ve stopped consoling myself that ROUND is also a shape…

I can…
- drink n number of Tea/Coffee a day…
- spend the whole night away chatting with my friends…
- enjoy my solitude without getting bugged…
- forget the whole world while playing with pets…
- walk in rain as though it’s not raining…
- shop the whole day without feeling guilty…
- manage to keep a smile even when I feel like dying inside…
- experiment with my cooking with complete dedication and make sure that people like it…
- be careless about me and my surroundings…
- go on giggling continuously for no reason when with BITS…

I just can’t…
- say NO…okey, let me put it this way, its very difficult for me to say NO… :-
- think of eating non-veg…
- stop myself from eating aloo bonda or chilli bajji inspite of knowing how much of calories it is contributing :D
- stop myself from crying watching the senti masala bollywood movies…
- sing….. eeeeks I have a real terrible voice..
- think of any more can’ts…

Actually I started writing this with a big 'grrrrrrrrrr' on jay, but when I went on writing, I felt nice to identify all my wants/can/can'ts and put them together :)...
thx 2 jay :)
After publishing the draft version, nichu mam wanted me to add another list and it goes like this...

I want to do but I know I can't do....
- actually I dont have anything to fill in here... :- there could be two possiblities, either I'm content with what I have or I dont desire for anything which I feel I cant reach out...

Do Deewane 'UDUPI' mein....

2005-11-21T09:28:00.000Z

Yuppiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee :D
I had a gala time over the last weekend :D… Went to Udupi in the name of Bha’s wedding… After the wedding ceremony which was there on Friday morning, loafed around royally with nichu….
Highlights of the trip were…

Sitting on the rock in KAUP beach...

admiring the sun and bidding adieu to him...

Great minds at work, spending 1 hour in the hot sun in Murudeshwar beach on some creative stuff(:p) like this... (Ya, and not forgetting to mention that we got tanned royally :- )

Annadatha sukheeebhava... WOW! what a lovely fooooooood we had :D [here special thanks should go to GOLIBAJE, and GADBAD :D]....

Admiring the nature in her different attires...

Be it this..

this...

or, this...

ohhh!!! last 3 days was just out of the world... I was badly longing for a change and this one was really rejuvenating :D... Cameras cannot capture everything as against our minds...and those things will prevail with me forever...

She earns more than him…..

2005-11-16T06:10:00.001Z

Ya......, are we okey with it?? Yes??????? No????????????
Here is an excerpt of the conversation between me and one of my good oooooooooooold friends….hmm, lets name him Mr.calvin (ya, this guy resembles calvin in many ways except that this he doesnt hate girlzzzzzzzzzzzz.......infact....., oh, ya, lemme take it some other day ;-)..)
Calvin: so, wt do u think about this topic khushi?
Me: Me??????? I would not mind dear, but I feel and as far as I’ve seen it’s the male ego, which will not let them accept that their wife earns more than them..
Calvin: Male Ego??! Why is it that U feel men can be stereotyped?! I do understand if someone has been really competitive throughout his life it will be difficult for him to let his wife steer the ship! But if he has loved her ……. I guess these things disappear!!
Me: Dear, its not stereotyping, but we generalize our opinions based on our observation in and around what we see. And ‘generally’ guys would not want their wife to earn more than what they do. Mebbe u don’t come under this ‘general’ category of people, and hence u can’t relate to it.
Don’t u see so many women in our middle class society have turned into housewives just to serve the ‘male ego’ of their husbands that he can take care of his family and he doesn’t ‘need’ the woman of the house to work.
Calvin: Generalization is purely based on the kind of people we come across!! Hence it need not represent the true picture. Its like a survey. A statistic say 1 out of 6 people smoke, does that mean if 6 people are standing definitely one will have to be a smoker??! I am just driving a point! To satisfy the male ego women are made to sit at home! Yeah, its possible! But listen, marriage is not slavery. A woman should have a mind of her own. Her spouse is just an intimate friend to her, Not her master! In case the woman wants to work, she can have her way! I think a woman should be independent enough to take care of herself!!
Me: Sh, I know there are “some” men, but when we talk about in general, we talk about the majority. I’m not talking about any “calvin’s” here. And do u really think women are given enough freedom to decide about their career or their life?? Which world do u live in dear? We are in a society where even today we have many houses where in the husband decides the color of the saree the wife wears. Okey, forget about such cases, lets take an example.
Say, If the husband gets a long term onsite assignment, which he considers to be the BEST THING that can happen in his life, his wife automatically will have to leave her job, her career, and go behind him and settle whichever part of the world he goes. If she is lucky enough she can have the work permit and start hunting for a job afresh, or if she’s on a dependent visa, she can be a sophisticated housewife, to cook his favorite food and produce some kids. But please tell me how many instances we find where the guy goes behind the girl resigning his job? ..
And the conversation continued and it turned into a discussion rather than a debate which is what we always land up in...
But the gist is that,
We are in this system and some things never change…
And I don’t understand, why does society assume that women only respect men who earn more than them?
Should respect be the result of money?
And why do people think that he can’t be a good husband if he can’t take care of her needs?? Boss, monetarily speaking, she can survive on her own, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t look upto him.. She does rely on him for lot of other things which really matter to her…
People will even understand if the spouses earn the same salaries, but the woman earning more than the man... that's sacrilegious!
Hmmmmpppphhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Signature...

2005-11-15T05:37:00.001Z

- Cheers,
jpqoeiurf;alkdjf;a
;-)

I donno why...

2005-11-11T11:10:00.000Z

Someone is bothering me…
And I know it’s me…
Is it coz of my fears?
Is it coz I’m too much wrapped in my thoughts?
Is it coz I'm drowning too much in my own tsunami of emotions?
Is it coz i'm having fever, and feeling physically/mentally very weak?
Life was so simple before, have I complicated it myself?
Donno y I just feel like crying when Enrique is screaming ‘I donno why, I just love to see you cry’ at the top of his voice…..…….. :(

itchy bitchy TTB's......

2005-11-07T08:28:00.002Z

We have our TTB's 5.30pm everyday and its so much fun :D.. According to TOI, this is something which is very good for health... wondering what??? here is an excerpt:
Participants: Me, Nannu, Nichu and Poo (the four most eligible spinsters of my office ;-))
Venue: Office Canteen
(Go to the counter where we are supposed to place our orders...)
'hey wt do you want?',
'i'm not that very hungry',
'i'm actualy full'
(and after a series of such statements, here goes our order..)
'2 plates chilli bhajji, one plate dosa, one plate sandwich, 2 coffee, one tea :D'
(hmm, go to a table and make ourselves comfortable and it starts..)
'mann!!! we need to gift this SU one hair band, huh!, after her staightening it looks so bejaaan, ish!
'oooo look at that!!, such a small top, her tattoo is seen, eeeks, its supposed 2 be formal...what a way to come to office? duh!!'
'hmm chilly bajji is just out of the world..ummmmmmmmmm',
'hey, SU, MU, TU not seen together from quite some time right??'
'ya, i dint see TU and GO also together'
'come on i saw them yesterday kuchikufying in canteen'
'really??? ohh!!'
'ohh, think of the devil, here comes the Devil's GF, ha ha ha!!.'
‘Ishhh, this tea is big time sugar syrup’,
'ohh this kulla-kulli together, after a long time i must say',
'sheeesh, look at the way that guy is eating',
'who will teach them some table etiquette',
'i was wondering what i've been missing whole day, here comes fancy store, my day is made :D'
'eeeks, baby pink formal shirt, blue trouser, white sandles, long earring, phhhink lipstic, and a bindiiiii :-O, for sure MTV lycra fashion award, duh!'
'hey its late, i have a call at 6.15',
'oh even me, DAE will kill me if i'm late'
chalo..
Now any guess on wtz this TTB????
He he, its Tea Time Bitching :D which we follow religiously everyday!!!
;-)

'Deepa'vali....

2005-11-06T04:00:00.001Z

3 days at home for the festival of lights!!!
Diwali is the festival which spreads the flame of happiness all over and is celebrated with lot of fun... its a time to exchange gifts...a time to have lots of sweets keeping aside the worries about callories(arrey, diwali hai bhai, it comes once a year!!!),
Usually My Diwali's dont go as happy as any other festivals...Most of the times I'll be drowning in some thoughts when people around me are having fun with crackers and lights...and this year was no different...the thoughts of comparison between my arjun and the real ones was breaking my hopes into peices...was finding difficulty in accepting realities..many other thoughts were pondering in mind... Mom had prepared lots of grub, and I was least bothered about eating them(yes you read it right, very less i'll use this 'least bothered about eating' line :))
But this diwali ended differently..I went to the balcony around 9 in the night with my walkman after convincing mom that i'll be careful with rockets...This is the place where i feel my best... me and my solitude :).... It was slightly drizzling... Moon was absent in the star studded sky.... radiocity was playing all my favourite numbers for a change... and last but not the least there was amazing fireworks... they were really colourful, sparkling, dazzling beauties... It was as if someone is bursting all these just for me and just to make me smile :)..... I was always against 'crack'ers... I used to feel its a waste of money.... but then i realized this is the colourful way of burning your money ;-)
Happy Diwali to all :0)

Me and My Arjun...

2005-10-28T08:00:00.002+01:00

Now is the time for me to decide about one big hurdle of my life, Ya, My Marriage. I can give no more reasons like I need to finish my studies, or I should get settled with a good job or anything like that. I have no other way to come out of this, but to look for the proposals parents get me. Unfortunately or fortunately I've not met my Mr.Right :-( so far. People say I'm a very practical girl, which even I believe to an extent.
But, But, But..I'm a firm believer of the funda 'SOMEONE SOMEWHERE IS MADE FOR YOU'. I've had my own 'Sapnon ka Rajkumar' from years. I'd even named him Arjun Bharadwaj (Y?? donno!!! I just like that name :-), he he, must be sounding funny for you). He is supposed to be THE man of my life, I'd read some blog about an 'Andekha Anjana' of one lady, even my Arjun is somewhere similar to hers. I've fantasised about my Arjun so very much that there have been so many days I've cried at night comparing him with the people I interact and realize my Arjun is too good to be true and can never exist :-(.
We always say we should not expect anything in life, when there is no expectation, you'll be happy with what you get and blah blah blah. But tell me honestly, is it practical?? Not for me atleast :-(.
Say I meet a guy, he is good looking, down to earth, well settled, he claims he likes me, everything seems pretty purrrrfect if I think from my parents angle. They'll be more than happy to get me married.
In case of Arranged marriage, this is how it goes right? This is all your parents will look for. In the half an hour you get to talk to the person and decide about your life, what all can you see? I might feel comfortable talking to him. But somewhere I feel he is not 'my kind' of a guy. My Arjun is much more Matured, Sensible, Romantic, Passionate, Caring and all that. This guy seems too practical to be all this. I dont relate to him at all. He talks so much as a 'matter of fact'. I dont feel that 'ting tong' for him in my heart :-/. My friends laugh at me when I say all this and they feel I'm in some fantasy world. But NO I'M NOT, I know my Arjun can never exist, but.... ??? (I donno........).
I'm already crossing the IDEAL age for getting married (according to my parents), If not this guy, my parents will get another one who may be similar to this, or mebbe even more alien when compared to my Arjun. Should I marry this one thinking that love will grow sometime, or should I wait for someone who can bring the 'ting tong' in me? Should I wait for someone who comes close to my Arjun? Will my Arjun knock my door anytime?

Kapi with Nisu

2005-10-25T12:29:00.001+01:00

Totally jobless today..
Whole day reading blogs, blogs, and more blogs...
Kishore kumar Crying away to glory from morning....
Could hear the rain when I take my headphones off....
And suddenly I get an idea of having kapi with nisu....
Ping her, and hurrray, she agrees.....
We both go to the 2nd floor balcony with 2 cups of coffee.....
Small droplets of water falling over me, lovely breeze, my lovely friend, and KAPIIIIIIIII.....
woww, what else do I ask for?????

Small things in life...

2005-10-24T04:49:00.001+01:00

How very true!!! We often forget that there are so many small things in life which makes us happy, for example,
- Cuddling our sweet pet,
- Getting up early morning and finding a 'Good morning, sweetiepie' message from our dear ones :),
- Catching up with a friend and chatting for hours over a coffee (okie, caffein kick to be precise!),
- Getting drenched in Rain (wooooooooooow),
- Having Yummy Road side Pani puri,
- Lying down on the terrace with some dear friends and chatting till late night,
- When ur dear one enters your house on ur birthday at night 12 and wishes you happy birthday!! (Yes, Mrs Roy did that to me :D),
- Taking out our old album and recollecting all the memories behind each snap,
- Window shopping for hours without getting bugged (like how i go almost every friday with my sh Nisu to our friday temple (yep, its FORUM) and commenting on the same old things with the same old comments :D).
- Getting a hug from someone when u badly need it (even thru sms, muahs and hugs will do ;-))
- Some one close dedicating a song 2 u in radio (again Mrs Roy :D)
- Reading some good book with a cup of tea, sitting by your window when its raining outside :D
Wow, the list just goes on!! just thinking these things is making me come out of my monday blues and making me realize life is so beautiful :)
Lemme go back 2 work :) Have a great day!

hmm days!!

2005-10-21T09:15:00.000+01:00

As I always say 'hmm' is my patent word. Its the safest one to use at times. I feel I can convey so many things and yet nothing! I have come across some days when I dont feel like talking to anybody, dont feel like mailing, chatting, gossiping for no particular reasons. I call them as hmm days!! days when I just feel like hmming all the time. Most of my most of my responses to anything people ask would be just a hmm followed by any of :-) :-( :- :-/ based on the context.
And 2day happens to be one such day. I had some boring work 2 do, which I finished in the morning, had some team KT's where in I was physically very much present. People around must be wondering as to why I act weird at times, Its not that I'm in some deep thoughts or worrying about my Future/Career/Marriage(oh!!!) or anything, its just that I want to be left at my own.
I myself sometimes wonder do we all have these hmm days or i'm the only weirdo here??
hmmm :-

Ajeeb Rishtey!!!

2005-10-20T17:15:00.001+01:00

Wow, What a lovely climate, whole night it has rained and now is the cool breeze!!!, I must say Bangalore is at its best!!!! (except for the roads ofcourse!!!). The morning van journey to the office was too good, I heard this particular song and could relate to so many things,

Kitne ajeeb rishtey yahaan pe,
do pal milte hai, saath saath chaltei hain
jab mod aye tho bachke nikalthe hain...
.
.
khwabonki ye duniya hai khwabo mein hi rehna hai,
rahe lejaye jahan sang sang chalna hai
wakth ne hamesha yahaan naye khel khele,
kuch bhi hojaye yahaan bas khush rehna hai...
.
.
kitne ajeeb rishtey yahaan pe..

how true isnt it????

My Morningssssssssssssssss

2005-10-20T05:03:00.000+01:00

hmm, This is my first blog, what could a better topic than to blog about how i start my day. well, alarm rings at 6.45... snooze, again at 6.50.. snooze, again at 6.55.. snooze :-).. there comes mom's scream, 'khushiiiiii, its already 7, dont you have plans of going to office today?',.. 'haaa maaa', okey, got up. now is the ritual of taking bath (ish, how much i hate this, i wonder who was the one to make a rule that we need to take bath everyday :-), hmm, anyways,, what dress to wear now??? okei,, stand in front of wardrobe, and.. shall I wear this pink salwar, ohh, I need to press that, how about blue salwar, naah, i look so fat in that, that white one, humph!! i wore it just last week, sheesh, i hate this,,,,okey, atlast the same old dirty blue jean and a t-shirt. mom again, 'Khushiii, its 7.20, TEA is on the table have it',.. 'haa maa', by 7.25 i'm in a go-able shape and the office cab is supposed to come at 7.35 to my stop. now comes begging dad to make him drop me till the stop, and the monotonous dad's dailogue, 'why cant you getup 5min early and walk yourself' [me: heeeeeeee :D] Mom: how many more days she'll ask you, after she gets married, her husband will drop, cant you drop her now?? [me: hummmmpphh!!!!!!!!] and while dad starts his byke, i need to call x/y to ask the driver to stop for me, and by the time i reach my stop, our van would be waiting for me and the driver will be looking at me with the same old look of not again.. :w
:D