This has been a good year. But is 'good' good enough? Does wanting more make me a bad person? What I know now is wanting alone is enough. That I have to push the limits, put aside my fears, get over my insecurities and go after those wants. And as I don new roles I realize I have much to learn. That people are important and that relationships more so. That no matter what there will be people who will dislike you. That the mistakes you make will have strong repercussions. And with these new roles comes increased responsibilities. Are things happening too fast or am I not equipped to handle change? I might struggle to find the right balance but I am optimistic. What I love most about the new year is the new hope that it brings along with it. Things can only get better from here. I won't be blogging for a while, was considering quitting blogging all together but I love this space way too much to give it up. Here's wishing you all a merry Christmas and a happy happy new year. Be good and miss me!

Good news is Blogger Beta is out of Beta phase. Bad news is with 'beta' no longer part of the url, I cant access it in office anymore. Considering that I don't have time even to breathe in office I don't know why I am even bothered.

Is it wrong that when your friend is talking about her one year old son you nod and say 'Oh my dog was just like that when he was small. Don't worry he'll get better'. Dogs are so much like human babies that I know a thing or two about parenting but moms never seem to like the advices I give.

Hmrphh.

When 24 hours is not enough...

......to do the things you want to do, what do you do? You blog less? You sleep less? I need to multitask. But how? Being organized helps? Can't find the list I made this morning. I need to be someone else. Now.

2 weeks in Istanbul

I still haven't stopped yakking about my trip at home but now that I sit down to write about the two weeks I don't know where to start! When we landed, it was freezing cold at 6 degree Celsius and it only got colder over the next days. Istanbul is very hilly and the icy cold temperatures gives it a hill station like feel however when you drive down the streets you see a mix of things oddly placed yet making perfect sense. High rising buildings, fast moving cars indicating a modern well developed city interspersed with remains of an ancient building,palaces and castles standing in its full glory, magnificent mosques with tall minarets and the Bosphorous. Bosphorous is a natural waterway or strait that connects the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea dividing Istanbul into two halves, one in Europe and another in Asia!! People talk very fondly about the Bosphorous, it is something that connects them to the city. I got the feeling that the Bosphorous was visible from anywhere in the city. I'd go sightseeing or shopping or just go out looking for restaurant and there it would be, a different view but looking just as beautiful specially during the night when the shores would light up. Most residential areas are in the European side of the city and offices and commercial buildings on the Asian side. I got a kick everytime I saw the 'welcome to Asia' and 'Welcome to Europe' signs on the bridge. The taxi drivers are very much like the auto drivers of Bangalore. Nobody wanted to cross the bridge, 'no! no! problem, traffic problem' they would say. That's when we found the new route taking the ferry boat instead of crossing the bridge and what fun it was! People speak little or no English, communicating was very difficult but people are soo nice! Most of them were very happy to see us. 'Hindistani?' they would ask and gleefully smile when we nodded. We had trouble converting our travellers cheques, people in banks would apologise profusely, make hundred calls finding where we could get it done and then come out of their seats and give us directions as to where to go. I cant imagine bankers in India doing that! When taxi drivers complained about traffic we never understood what the problem was, the few times we crossed the bridge traffic was normal, lesser than what we see in Bangalore. But then Pope came to visit and the city came to a standstill. All roads were blocked making it impossible to commute. Another reason why I loved the ferry so much!

Weekends I did touristy things. I went on city tour with unknown people but it was fun! I love places with history and Istanbul has many stories to tell of the Byzantine empire and the powerful Ottoman empire. 'Melancholy' is a word heavily used in Pamuk's book on Istanbul. He says that there is a gloom set over the city ever since the fall of the Ottomon empire. In seeing the Topkapi palace and the Dolmabahce palace the power that the Ottoman Empire once had is very evident. Dolmabache is easily my favorite. You have to see the pictures to know why. I now know what living life 'kings style' truly means! Other places we saw was the famous Blue mosque and the Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia once used to be a church which was later converted to a mosque. It now stands as a museum with both pictures of Mary and inscriptions in Arabic. When the pope arrived people wanted to know if he would pray there. Well,he didn't. My second favorite place is the Grand Bazaar in the old city with 4000 shops selling exquisite jewellery, carpets, handicrafts and more. Shopkeepers drag you into their shops with their smart talk. Two of them knew Hindi, one of them was convinced I had studied in England. I was pretty happy with my bargaining skills and bought quite a few things but somebody slipped in a fake 20 lira note. I was caught at Pizza hut when I tired to use it. Barring that incident, I enjoyed my stay. and I still believe the people there are very nice. Food is another story and will require another post.

For two weeks, I kept my passport and tickets safely, I kept all the bills, I took proper change, I never forgot a thing, I was on time. I come home, day one I forget to take my id card to office. Day two I leave my jacket in office. Its good to be back home :)

Am back!

Istanbul is truly an amazing city, mysterious and charming. The Bosphorous at all times of the day is breathtakingly beautiful. The best part of the trip was cruising the Bosphorous everyday from Europe, where our hotel was to our office in Asia and back! How cool is that? Unfortunately the battery on my camera died soon and I had no way of charging it. Have taken few pics from my phone, will post them along with a detailed account one of these days :)

Travel times are here!

Istanbul's fate is my fate. I am attached to this city because it has made me who I am...

For me it has always been a city of ruins and of end-of-empire melancholy. I've spent my life either battling with this melancholy, or (like all Istanbullus) making it my own.

'Life can't be all that bad', I'd think from time to time. 'Whatever happens, I can always take a walk along the Bosphorus.'

Excerpts from Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul, Memories of a city.

This Saturday I am off to Istanbul, Turkey for two weeks on work. I hope I get to see a glimpse of the city, the people and the Bosphorus whose picture Pamuk has so beautifully painted. Will blog about it once I return!

I can blog from office :D

I didn't realize it until now, this is probably the best thing about switching to beta. Blogger beta is not blocked in office. Hehehehehehehheh! Oops. Somebody is staring at me. I should wipe this stupid grin off my face. :D.

ps: I love the spell checker on beta. It uses gmail's spell checker which highlights the mistakes and not the buggy popup that blogger used.

Reunion, class of 98

The friend finally got married. And thanks to orkut, people I thought I'd never see again turned up. Much has changed since then. Some are married. Some with kids, some expecting. The guy I had a crush on in school is engaged to someone who seems insanely popular. She is very pretty if I may say so. The pesky kid whose rendition of a Kannada song has us in splits is now singer cum guitarist cum artist and is also doing very well at his job. Going by his profile he seems to have gotten hunk status now with girls going ga-ga over him. One, in our group of five turned distant and aloof and made it a point not to keep in touch. Rumours were all we heard about her. I didn't think she would turn up. She did, bright and smiling. But no one dared ask her questions about her disappearance. And then there were people who I have no memories of but who seemed to remember me. Numbers were exchanged. Plans were made. Most of them will only be numbers in my phone book and members in my 'friends list' until we meet again for another wedding.

Eragon

Frodo - Harry - Eragon

Gandalf - Dumbledore - Brom

I could go on, but like a friend pointed out any fantasy written will be inspired by the Lord of The Rings. True.

Benga ...what?

No matter how many boards they change, how many bills they pass, I will always belong to BANGALORE.

New feature request for mobile phones, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, are you listening?

You know what is the one important feature that all mobile phones lack? A mirror. Yes, how I wish I could check myself out looking at the screen, check if my hair is not all over the place or that my eyemakeup is not smudged, while pretending to be playing a game. Why didn't anyone think of this before? Because frankly, carrying mirrors or compacts is so 1980s. And even a person like me needs to make sure everythings alright. Taking a picture of yourself and then seeing the picture is too much of a hassle. And not everyone can afford a Nokia N92 which has a stainless steel body. No No. We need it as a feature in our phones. Press 4 for mirror. Oh, and you know what else they could do? Everytime you press 4, play a recorded message that would say 'You are the fairest of them all'. Hehehe. Nokia and Sony Ericsson please make note. Wibree can wait. We need mirrors.

To switch or not to switch

No replies on the post about Blogger beta. Do I switch? Do I not? Because, I am looking forward to the 'lables' or 'tags' feature and I always wondered why Blogger never had it. But then again most of my posts fall under 4 categories.
1. Autos, I am obsessed with the 3 wheeler.
2. Crap.
3. Personal.
4. Personal crap.

Hmmmm. May be I don't need that feature.

Shiny Disco Balls!

These aren't pictures taken in a disc but instead in the auto I came in today. Disco lights in a rickshaw. Plus he played music loud enough to damage my eardrums. Such fun, these rides are.

Happy Diwali!

Here's wishing you all a fun filled, safe and a Happy Happy Diwali!! :)

Lots of love,
Shradha

I have to stay up till 12 to wish my friend a happy birthday. Staying up is not the problem I am half way through reading Eragon. Quarter way, now that I notice the book mark is no where in the middle of the book but rather in the middle of the first half. The book will keep me company is what I mean to say. The problem is that, this friend in question recently moved to bangalore and I failed to make a proper note of her number. I have my friend's number and her dad's number stored and I don't know which one's her number.Don't ask me why, such things happen when you out of laziness don't follow proper naming conventions while storing numbers. Now, do I take a chance and call up either one of the numbers and hope its her, running the risk of waking up her dad? Or, do I not call her now, get back to the book and try the numbers tomorrow? Which means I still wish her on her birthday but break the tradition of being the first one to call her every single year. Such tough decisions. So less time. What do I do?

Note to myself : Stop asking questions on this blog, rhetorical or otherwise.

Huzooooooooooooooooor!

Himesh Reshmiah is performing in town and they expect people to pay to see him perform or in other words pay to see his bearded chin and neck while he howls away to glory. And I know someone who wants to go. Haaaaaahahahahhh!

Blogger beta

Has anyone switched to Blogger Beta? (Beta tag on most google products stay forever, hope its not the case here) The new features look cool, comments rss, labels for posts, new templates but looks like there are quite a few bugs. The problem is one cant 'undo' the switch. Let me know if anyone switched and is happy with it.

Some pics of Karwar taken from my cell phone. They don't do justice to the place.....someday I plan to capture it better, the beach, the people, the beauty. Someday I plan to understand the place and more so its people better.

Do we need to redraw the map?

Its not like we didn't have enough problems, we are fighting over the border now. If you ask me leave those cities alone. It is obvious that if cities border two states it will have influences from both the states. You cant draw clear cut borders. One city in question other than Belgaum is Karwar. The place where my parents grew up. And they are mighty happy with Karwar being in Karnataka. So if tomorrow it belongs to Maharashtra, will I be a Maharashtrian? Umm I don't think so. Anyways there are other people protesting which if nothing has given us a holiday today. With nothing to watch on TV (They blocked all channels except Kannada channels) and no where to go I use this time to give myself a much needed pedicure and catch up on some reading. Will post some pics of Karwar from my visit last week soon.

Put your hands up, put your hands up like you just don't care, Nach Baliye!

Its never happened before, people at office discussing TV shows I hadn't heard of. Yeah I have been watching so less TV I don't know my way with the remote and the channel tuning on our TV. But with lots of time to spare in the last few days I am fully equipped and have made up for the loss. Look who is going to be bragging tomorrow in office during coffee break with my newly gained information. About Tulsi and Aamir telling you Coca-Cola is safe. About the cute new surf excel ad. And about Nach Baliye!! Yes Nach Baliye is back with lots of drama minus Farhan Aktar (how could they not have him??) . I am so rooting for Narayani and Gaurav! They are like the Varun-Rajeshwari/Parmeet-Archana of NB-1. Absolutely natural and oh so adorable. Vote for them! And yes Please buy surf excel. You could apparently put kids to school by doing so. Isn't it the cutest ad you have ever seen? And coke, well that's up to you to decide if its pesticide free or not. Meanwhile, put your hands up, put your hands up, like you just don't care, Nach baliye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blah!

Am bored out of my wits. Plans falling apart. People canceling. Want to blog and don't want to at the same time. I need something to boost my ego. If you are one of those regular readers who has never commented here this is the time to come out and tell me how much you like my blog. Lie about it if you have to. Oh hell, what am I saying? The visitor counter never seems to change, so you my dear secret blog admirer, don't exist. So who am I talking to then? Oh and I finally registered at bloglines. Now I manage whatever I read online through bloglines. Also turns out, only one person in this entire universe has subscribed to my blog. Bless you my dear friend. I have subscribed to 40 feeds, have very few international blogs on my list. Any recommendations? This question is put to the few people who do read my blog and to that one subscriber not to the non existent imaginary secret admirer.

Pyaar ke side effects.

One of the best comedies I have seen since Dil chahta hai and I will probably be beaten up for saying this but I liked it better than Lage raho Munnabhai. Rahul, Mallika and Ranvir dazzle (yes yes, mallika can act!). The only problem however is that you'll keep guessing in which English movie you have seen the scene before. (Reminded me of Something about Mary, My best friend's wedding and the TV show 'friends') but like Rashmi says it, 'it may not be original but its definitely fresh'.

Go watch it.

Colour colour, which colour do you want?

BMTC buses are getting make-overs. They are no longer of the boring blue and white (they were once red weren't they? And they were called BTS then and tickets costed only a rupee. That was all so long ago. Sigh!) I see buses in jazzy silvers, bright blues and flaming reds. I am confused. Are they just meant to look good? Have they hired new designers? Or do the colours signify something? The shocker was when I saw this bus which had a 'ladies only' board and it was coloured, ahem... pink. All of it. Standing there at the bus stop looking pretty in pink. Ermm..I think the newly hired designers went overboard there. Have to find out more about the ladies only buses though, never heard of them before!

Update:

Dedicating an entire bus to women might be extreme and not economical but I am for the reservation of seats for women in buses. I have been traveling by BMTC buses for nearly 8 years now. I never ask men to leave the seat for me if they are sitting in a 'ladies only' seat. Most of the times I don't mind them sitting. And most of the times men do let women have their seats. When the first few seats are booked essentially the first half of the bus is occupied by women, Not just the seats even the standing area. This ensures that the one pervert (I know not all men are creeps, allow me to assume that there is always one pervert in every bus) is no where near you. So yes. I am damn happy seats are reserved for women in buses. If you want to make things fair, reserve the rest of the seats for men. This way everybody is happy.

Few pics to make up for my blogger's block

Murudeshwar Beach.

Shiva idol at Murudeshwar.

Puppies at my grandparents farm. (yeah yeah I forgot to set the date)

Vanilla Plantation.


Behinds of jersey cows.


Banana, Areca nut and Coconut plantation.


Baby cow drinking milk.


I just like this pic :)

My first encounter with them was in Kerala though it wasn't my first visit to the place. God's own country they had said, the sublime scenery, the pristine backwaters, the serenity, the cozy houseboats, yes indeed there was magic in the air. My second visit to the state but to another city. It was a quiet peaceful place, nothing Godly about it but beautiful nevertheless. I was to attend a wedding the next day, something I was looking forward to so I ignored the dingy hotel I had put up in and its modest surroundings. I needed a roof and a bed and it was there, I was happy, contented and not in the least bit prepared for what was to come next. Weary from the travel I retired early curling up in the bed that looked so inviting. I think I fell asleep immediately, all I remember next was waking up with a start, confused and alarmed. They were there.

Mumbai, a city where dreams come true, my first visit and my only intention was to have a good time and to shop while I could. I wasn't staying long enough for my dreams to materialize, just 4 days. Day one was eventful a shopping expedition had turned successful and the long walk at worli sea face was refreshing. Again, it was time to rest. Or so I thought. The nightmares of Kerala came haunting back, I wasn't scared this time, only disgusted. They were back and there was nothing I could do about it.

Bhatkal, a small town in Coastal Karnataka where my mother grew up in. It was where I spent all my summer holidays. A place to which I have more memories attached than any other. Visiting after a gap of four years was special, I knew I would be treated like a celebrity. For them I was the ambitious career women who was out to get the world. I let them believe that. I can never sleep in bus journeys so I rested against the uneasy seat in the bus and reminisced on the past as the bus took sharp turns in the climb up the western ghats. Not all memories were sweet and a strange feeling had begun to creep in. It wasn't nostalgia. I decided it was best that I slept and tried counting my cousins instead of sheep. It was of no use. They didn't have to wake me up this time. I was wide awake and they were there, as always unexpected and uninvited, sucking my blood like they owned it. Frigging bedbugs! I have never hated any creature as much as I have hated those creepy predators of the night. I loathe them. Die you filthy creeps, all of you die and leave me alone. I need my sleep when I travel.

A story in 6 words.

I know I vowed never to do tags again but this is different, not like the ordinary tags that go around. Can you write a story in 6 words? Read more about it at Swathi's blog here.

here's my shot at it.

She came, only ten years late.

She will live, but her baby won't.

Again, how much for your soul?

Victory was ours because I cheated.

So can you? If yes put it up on your blog :)

24

That's how old I am. I am not who I wanted to be, but I am getting there. :)

Birthdays I think, are overhyped. I mean, somebody else does all the work, and you get all the credit for doing something as ordinary breathing everyday and managing to live on year after year. Having said that I am so glad it is overhyped. This was probably the best birthday I had in a long time :D. Thank you all who called, smsd, scrapped, I love you all!!

Independence day special

Radio channels are suddenly playing all the patriotic songs that otherwise never get played, TV channels are showing movies like swades and rang de basanti. I am sure DD is showing Roja as always. That's not it, I nearly fell down laughing when I saw 'Kasauti zindagi ki, Indepence day special'. I wonder what is going to happen, all the saas and bahus sing the national anthem together? Or are they going to wear tri colour bindis and tricolour sarees and talk about Gandhiji? I for one am not looking forward to it. I don't mind watching roja for the nth time though :)

Letting go....

Long back I wrote this . Today my mom went to an astrologer and she asked something for me. He said it will never happen. I am heart broken though I try to convince myself he cant possibly be correct, he is human after all that he cant tell my future. My dream is gone, there is no mystery. I am never ever going to any astrologer ever. Idiots. That's what they are. Nobody is telling me what I can do and what I cant.

Tagchoo!

Came online to study but am sneezing incessantly. Some sort of allergy. Don't think I can study, might as well do this tag. Guns tagged me, its my first tag ever though I think I have been tagged twice before. He has asked me to make it humorous. Sure, achoooo. Here goes.

>> 1.What is your Full Name? Shradha Trump.

>> 2.Are you American or English? Trump is American, no?

>> 3.What are you listening to right now? Some song on Radio Voyager, my fav stn on world space.
>> 4.What are the last 2 digits of your phone number? They are sequential, 78, cool eh?

>> 5.What was the last thing you ate? Chocolate fantasy in some chotte restaurant near forum. I think that aggravated my cold.

>> 6.If you were a crayon what colour would you be? Ooooh this multi coloured crayon set that I bought. Its awesome. Each crayon has many colours. You start with yellow and end up getting blue red and green. I want to be that.

>> 7. How is the weather right now? Just the way I like it. Damn this nasty cold.

>> 8. Last person you talked to on the phone? This person I met today. I was making excuses as to why I was late.

>> 9. First thing you notice about the opposite sex? His smile.

>> 10. Do you like the person who sent this to you? No comments.

>> 11. How are you today? SICK!!!

>> 12. Favourite Drink? Mom's tea.

>> 13. Favorite Alcoholic drink? Vodka. God its been so long since I had anything alcoholic. Brandy cures common cold?

>> 14. Favorite Sport? Shopping a sport?

>> 15. Hair Colour? Brown. Yes the red/orange streaks have gone, thank you very much.

>> 16. Eye Colour? Brown

>> 17. Do you wear contacts? I left the lid of my contacts holder open and they dried up. This is the fourth pair, all 4 destroyed due to negligence. I am getting new shiny low maintenance disposable contacts soon. woohoo!

>> 18. Siblings? 2. Sis and me scheming to loot bro now that raksha bandhan is round the corner.

>> 20. Favourite Food? Golden fried prawns.

>> 21. Last Movie you Watched? Pirates of the Caribbean, 1 not 2. Why didn't anyone tell me about Jack Sparrow before?? He is soo yumm.

>> 22. Favourite Day of the Year? I'd like to say my birthday, but birthdays are depressing when they finally come.

>> 23. Are you too shy to ask someone one? Yes.

>> 24. Summer or winter? Summer baby!

>> 25. Hugs or Kisses? A big warm hug. I need one now :(

>> 26. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla icecream with hot chocolate sauce. Off topic, but don't you think vanilla icecream with gulab jamoon is like the deadliest combination ever? Kudos to whoever invented it.

>> 27. Who is most likely to respond? pass.

>> 28. Who is least likely to respond? pass.

>> 30. What books are you reading? Prizes, Eric Segal. Supposed to be reading some technical stuff too...

>> 31. What's on your mouse pad? Who uses mouse pads these days?

>> 32. Favourite Board Game? Scrabble.

>> 33. Favourite Smell? I CANT SMELL NOW.

>> 34. Can you touch your nose with your tongue? Right now I wouldn't want to.

>> 35. Favourite Flower? Anything but roses. Roses are over hyped if you ask me.

>> 36. What's the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Where did I keep my glasses?

>> 37. What`s the time? Time to end this tag. How many more questions?

>> 38. Nickname? Never had one. Though Shradz is what some people call me.

>> 39. Ever been so drunk you blacked? Nope.

>> 40. Been in a car accident? Yes. Nothing serious and I was not driving.

>> 41. Been hurt emotionally? Yes.

>> 42. Kept a secret from everyone? Yes.

>> 43. Wanted to hook up with a friend? No..umm maybe yes.

>> 44. Cried during a Movie? No. Sometimes find it funny that people actually cry watching movies.
>> 45. Had a crush on a teacher? Nope.

>> 46. Ever thought an animated character was hot? Eww, that's kind of sick.

>> 47. Had New Kids on The Block Tape? No.

>> 48. Been on stage? yeah.

Okay, I am losing my patience. I also realize I am answering everything in yes and nos. Who wants to read that??? When is this tag getting over? Okay from now on I choose questions.


>> 52. Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? No.

>> 56. Who's the weirdest? I am normal. Really.

>> 57. Who do you go to for advice? Different people for different problems. Mosltly go to the person who will tell me what I want to hear.

>> 58. Who do you cry with? My pillow.

>> 59. Worst Feeling? Helplessness.

>> 60. Favourite Word? Bamboozled. Like the sound of it.

Phew! I am never doing tags again.

Anyone is free to pick the tag up. I don't blame you if you don't.

Am alive!

Blog turns one and I leave it unattended and neglected. I have been busy and loving it. Wish I could blog more often, that reminds me blogspot blocked again? I had to use http://pkblogs.com/ or is it just a technical glitch? Not sure, anyway my favorite month is here, festivals, independence day and birthdays...Don't you just love August? I will be back, lots to write, tags to do....also both blog and me have been doing some soul searching in the little free time we had, will write about that soon. Time to go to office....more work! :)

:(

Within 24 hours I managed to find a long lost friend and upset her(probably lose her again, don't know the damage yet). All thanks to an email challenged friend who forwarded a 'confidential' mail to the above said person 'by mistake'. Hmrppphhh!! I don't feel as sorry, I really do think her husband looks funny.

Pointless

'Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless' said someone great in the forwarded email I got yesterday. And I did just that. Watched 4 movies, went on long walks, ate like crazy. I plan to watch the worldcup finals now, don't really care who wins. May the best team with the most good looking men win. :)

Update:

Did France just lose? Did Zidane really do that? I am fine but it was a major blow for my sister who has never seen any sport in her life but whose current joblessness situation had turned her into a soccer fan. She spent the entire time educating me on what offside is and telling me what a perfect gentleman Zidane is. Until of course red card happened. I think she is still in shock.

One year old!

Dear Blog,

You were born a year ago on this very day, another one in a land of millions. I wasn't sure what I'd do with you but for someone who hardly has anything interesting to say I think I did a good job of bringing you up. Sure,I never poured my heart out here but I am glad you listened so patiently to all that I have had to rant about. I am thankful for you being non judgmental, for letting me be what I am and sometimes letting me be what I want to be. Don't be deterred by the counter that seems to have frozen or the comments that may not come, it was never meant to be that way, most posts like the last one are notes to myself. But both you and I will agree the best part of this journey, the icing on the cake, has been meeting all the people through you, people who bothered to read and cared enough to comment. I love them all, I really do. I don't know your future coz I don't know mine but I know that I will always love you, you are one those very few things in this world that I can call of my own. Happy Birthday Blog!

Post to myself

You idiot, don't you ever learn? There are no God sent angels out there, you are all alone. Hear me? Alone. Learn to fend for yourself. Don't waste your time and energy hoping people will rescue you. They wont. They have their own bloody lives to live don't they?

FYI

The auto driver license display system is useful. For the uninitiated, all autos in Bangalore are now supposed to have a blown up image of their license displayed, easy enough for the passengers to see. Good initiative, you know the driver has a license, you know its him not an imposter, any problem you face all you have to do is note down the license number and report. But more than that, this system has provided me the answer to the question that has baffled us all for ages. Why don't auto drivers agree to take you where you want to go? Especially in the late hours? For the answer, see the address column in the license. Every time an auto driver has agreed to take me home its only because he stays in or around that area. So if you are tired of being snubbed at by auto drivers and cant take the humiliation anymore, here's your chance to get back at them and give them a taste of their own medicine. Instead of asking "Xnagar bartira?" ("Will you come to Xnagar?") , ask them "Nimma mane yelli?" (Where is your house?").If its not where you want to go, look away and walk off with an air of dignity like its the most natural thing in the world to do. Hehe. I am going to do that tomorrow.

Just another rant

Aamir Khan is allowed to make mistakes. I forgive him for fanaa but what I hate now is that everytime I say 'I love fanaa' people are going to think I am referring to the movie. Saying 'I love fanna, the song, from yuva' is such a pain. Don't know if I can forgive him for that.

So world cup is here. I am missing my bro for the first time since he left for US. He was the one who got us excited about sporting events, he would talk endlessly before we (me and sis) would have to relent and hand him the remote. He even made us watch formula one. And at one point of time I liked racing, I liked Alonso even with my bro(and the whole world) telling me Schumi was the best. I cant sit through whole of 60 laps now.(or is it 70 laps?) Same with French open, haven't wacthed a single match. Funny, how I easily say 'I miss him', here on my blog. I cant dare saying that in open. We aren't very expressive, our family. Nobody has ever said 'I love you'. I would die in a fit of laughter if somebody said that. Surprisingly 'I hate you' is used all the time. I'd like my kids to be more eloquent and expressive, if I can be that myself. I'd like them to make 'mothers day' cards for me, may be cook breakfast for me once in a while. What kids, you ask? I am going to adopt, if I cant have kids of my own. And I am going to adopt a puppy. I hope I can be a good mommy. I'd watch them play, soccer maybe. That reminds me, now that world cup is here, who is your favorite team? I don't have a favorite, I just know I don't want Brazil to win.

Mumbai trip

Marine Drive, Worli Seaface, VT, gateway of India, Linking road, pani puri, vada paav, rain, cards, uno, shopping, pigging, Big Bazaar, Fanaa, La Patisserie, Gypsy, Breezer, Irish Cream,friends, laughter..fun!

Still reeling from the short but super fun trip!

I should stop lying not because it is wrong because I cant remember the lies I have told.

LOST

Ever wondered how you would survive if you were stranded in the middle of no where in some remote island? Ofcourse when the only traveling you do is from home to office and back, theres very little chance you'd get stranded in an island but when you watch LOST the thought does occur to you. Tom hanks managed to survive for four years (Cast Away), Anthony Hopkins was the only one who came out alive (The Edge). How long would you survive? More importantly if there were a bunch of you and you started a civilization, what would your contribution be? In Lost, theres just the right combination of people. You know theres exactly one engineer, one doctor and one pretty girl for the pretty doctor. What if that plane was carrying a bunch of doctors to, say some doctors convention in Australia?The show would then be called ER. haha. Anyway coming to Lost again, everybody is skilled, the best in the field.There is Jack:Surgeon, Super Hero, Saviour, Mr. Know it all..ok forget Jack, hes the result of an over imaginative script writer. But take Syed, soldier in Iraqi army and communication engineer. He is good at fixing stuff, he can even build radio transmitters out of airplane junk. That’s something. Lock, hes amazing with knives, can hunt, hes the food provider and hes got this 6^th sense that will never get lost no matter how dense the forest is. (Again overactive imagination? ). Then theres the pretty girl, whats-her-name? She is umm, I am sure she is good at something. The Korean lady can practice Chinese medicine so that helps in the rare case that Superhero Jack fails. The fat guy built a golf course, some other guy can play the guitar. See? Everyone is good at something. What help would I be of? My education is no good, simply because I haven't learnt anything. Had I paid attention to my communication classes I am sure could have built those fancy gizmos Syed builds. Besides what good am I without a comp and internet connection? Damn, this is depressing. And I thought watching LOST would be a good change from watching Desperate housewives. At least the ladies at wisteria lane do not give me a complex.

The next time I am going to spend an entire day at any mall in bangalore, I am carrying a lunch dabba, foldable table and a kurchi. Bah!

7th May, Taj Manjuran, Mangalore.

Many many years ago somewhere in a distant Arab land few Indian families met, bonded and partied like crazy. Their kids had fun too, at least the numerous photo albums and videos seem to suggest that. I was there, all of four, cute and cuddly, before parents decided to come back to homeland leaving me with very few memories but very many photos to look at and wonder where all the cuteness went. Last week one of the kids, no longer a kid, got married and that brought all families again at one place. It was a reunion of sorts for the parents, while the kids (no longer kids now) awkwardly smiled and tried to connect the faces in the photos to the people there. There is a video of me trying to drown this toddler in the baby pool, he is 6 feet now and has since forgiven me for that act mostly because he doesn’t remember. All parents did was discuss others, the money they made, the money they lost, their kids, how successful their kids were, how good looking their kids were..and that got me thinking. Is that how it will be very many years later? In fact we do that now, gossip and all but how will things be years later, will my kids(gulp) be friends with my friends' kids? Will I even be in touch with my now friends? Even with million ways to communicate, distances no longer being a barrier, I find myself not talking to my friend who lives in the next lane for days. Or will there be no 'catching up' because you were constantly in touch made easy through techonology and such like? Either ways I am actually looking forward to that meeting years later. I hope I dont lose too much money. I don't want to be the one everybody talks about.

Online radio, Indian rock

Infinity radio is good :)

Tune in now http://infinityradio.info/

Mangalyam tantunanena...

Internet was down for nearly 36 hours and I survived the major catastrophe. Okay, so I did sneak out and check my mail in a shady cyber cafe but that was only for 5 min so it doesn't count. Anyway all shopping has been done and I am all set to attend weddings on 4th and 7th one in mysore and the other in mangalore. I am going to dazzle in new clothes, new shoes and new contact lenses....tra la la...and I work only 3 days this week..la tra tra! :)

KRISH

I got a forwarded message today that Hritik in the yet to be released movie Krish, is an alien from Mars and Priyanka Chopra is an alien from Jupiter. I sure hope its true.

Few days back someone at office sent a mail addressed to some Shridhar to an entire mailing group. It took 2 mins for me to realize the mail was not intended for me. I ignored it and deleted it. Immediately mails started pouring in, all wondering why they had received the mail. After 10 min more mails started pouring in, everybody asking the others to stop replying with 'reply all' option. They themselves used that option! Then the mails got abusive, people attacked the person who sent the wrong mail and people who used 'reply all' option. Then there were some smart alecks attacking all software engineers for being so stupid. I checked their profiles, they were techies themselves. Even after an apology mail from the original sender, the mails continued to pour in, the tone changing from down right rude to condescending.

Everybody wanted one thing, their inboxes to not be cluttered yet all contributed to the cause. Made me wonder why many have this inherent need to put others down. Is that the only way they can prove their worth? Another example is the Bangalore community on Livejournal. One wrong post (on the community) and you will be torn apart. They are like vultures waiting to attack. Its almost as if they are disappointed when somebody puts up a sensible post. Why this need to pick up fights? Why cant people live and let live? Why don't we have world peace? Okay, I don't want the answer to the last one I just wanted to fit 'world peace' somewhere in this post.

If everybody who got that mail just ignored it like I did, none of our mail boxes would have been flooded. I guess not everyone is like me. I guess if there were more people like me there would be world peace.

Radio ga ga

Radio Mirchi is finally here. And with four other private channels in the pipeline Radiocity will have some tough competition. Which should mean better shows, good music, better RJs. More ads! That is one reason why I don't like Radiocity, the only time I listen to the radio is when I commute to office early mornings and in that 45 min journey (1 hour if I am lucky and there is a traffic jam) Radiocity hardly plays a song or two which more often than not is a remix or some other song I hate. So my favorite stations these days are FM Rainbow and Vividh Bharati. The quality sucks but they play good music, MORE music. I have also taken a sudden liking to Kannada music. If only Kannada lyricists stayed away from including Hindi and English words in Kannada songs I'd have nothing to complain. ' Dil kucchu kuchu hogaya, idu yede chucho chucho vishaya' ??? Thats not even correct Hindi, and they make Udit Narayan sing it!!!

Here is my list of favorites
1)Usiraguve Hasiraguve, Maurya
2)Nee Amrithadhare, Amrithadhare
3)Preethi Antha, Excuse me
4)Ba ra, Apthamitra
5)Vidhibaraha, Abhi

But my all time favorite is this song from Appu
Taliban alla alla
Bin laden alwe alla
Avan hodaddu building ge
Nan hodiddu hrudayakke
Misunderstanding beda

Roughly translated, I am not the Taliban, I am not Bin laden, he aimed at a buliding, I aimed at your heart, I don't want any misunderstanding.

How profound! :))

Panic

Two weddings in early May and I haven't done any shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breathe....Inhale...Exhale...

You can handle this situation. You are strong.

Breathe....

I am tired trying to explain to my friends who are not from Karnataka, why even when somebody dies of natural cause people go crazy and resort to vandalism. News channels referred to the frenzy mob as grief stricken fans, these are not fans but hooligans! Dr. Rajkumar had God like status here but the way his so called fans have reacted is unforgivable. It was painful watching his wife and sons weep uncontrollably after their repeated pleas asking the crowd to clear so that the last rites could be performed, fell on deaf ears. I completely sympathize with them. The most loved Kannada actor of all time deserved a peaceful farewell. I am ashamed at what the city has had to see today.

Looks like Rahul Dravid has been borrowing clothes from Dhoni. On CNN-IBN he was seen in a pink T-shirt and today on NDTV he was wearing a bright blue kurta. Baby,I will forgive you for that, I still love you, watching you talk is almost as fun as watching you play and the look you have when you talk about your son....oh how I adore that! When asked "What would you take off if you won the world cup, your cap, your hanky or your shirt?? his reply was, "If we won the world cup I'd take off anything you want." Way to go Dravid and congratulations on your win today :) For all those who have been wondering who or what a CB 10 is and for people who have tried emulating a CB 10 without even knowing what makes one, Dravid is a perfect example of a CB 10. Heck, he is a CB 11!

Talking about interviews and TV, watch Rendezvous with Simmi Girebal on MTV. Its a spoof on Simmi garewal's painfully boring and weepy show and it runs at the same time as the original. Alternate between the 2 channels and you'll die in a fit of laughter, Cyrus Sahukar as Simmi is incredible! While switching channels (No I don't normally watch her show. But I watch Oprah, you have a problem?) I happened to catch Hritik Roshan's interview with his wife Suzzanne. They are like the cutest celebrity couple. I also realized I am a lot like Hrithik. Now, now, don't get any ideas, I mean as a person I am a lot like he is and Suzzanne is so perfect for him. May be I need a husband like her. I said don't get any ideas. If she were a guy she'd be a CB 10 on my scale.

So there you go, two examples of perfect CBs. I know you cant care any lesser which is why I'll not tell you what CB stands for :p

Along came a strange note

Has something like this ever happened to you? Things like that happen in movies, in books, in episodes of Mad about you but I never thought it could happen in real life to real people. When I read Usha's encounter I had gooseflesh not only because it is an amazing story but because it reminded me of the book I had picked up from Blossoms sometime back. I didnt blog about it then because I wasnt very proud of the book and the note I found was umm, not as nice as the one Usha found. Written on the last page of that book is a note from a 'Benny' and it goes like this

Dear Andy,

This was really good I hope you enjoyed it. How is life in the desert? Things are going well out here. I am loving life at Tres's house and we are having a party this friday. I'm glad that war is being averted and my boys are all still safe.
Later,
Benny

I omitted 2 lines from the note because this is a family blog. It has something to do with 'nights with Allie'

I am no good at deciphering the cryptic clues but I'll say Benny, your handwriting sucks. But you can spell. If you liked this book then you read crap, like I sometimes do when I am done reading classics. And if Andy is going to like it then he isnt much of a reader as well. But the one thing I'd really want to know is, what war are you talking about?? And hey I hope the boys are doing well.

The book is James Patterson's Along came a spider. In my defence I havent read it and I have now hidden the book from my dad who has taken a new interest in reading.
The chances of Benny ever writing back to me are as slim as my mom finding me an Ethiopian llama farmer but at least I cant blame myself now for not trying, like they say "How will you ever win the lottery if you never buy a ticket". I will now wait for strange coincidences to occur.

Diwani

"Tune kya kardala, margayi main, mitgayi main, hogayi main teri diwaniiiii, teri diwaniiiiiii"

Love Kailash Khers new song. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.

Shot in Hyderabad the video is BEAUTIFUL.

Teri Diwani. Teri Diwani.....

Looking for my Hero

So everybody I know is getting married. Everybody I know is talking about it. Most single bloggers are blogging about it. I decided to keep my blog 'marriage-talk' free but it seems impossible now. Parents bring up the topic all the time, I usually cut it off with a filmy dialogue like 'So you want to get rid of me?' and then flee before they can even think up a fitting filmy reply.
But when bestest friend, major Punjabi influence in my life, depression-partner, ex-flatmate H came home last week, mom used the opportunity to team up with her and give me a 2 hour lecture on why I should get married. Sitting through it was nothing less than torture for me, though H seemed to enjoy the whole process. The gist of the lecture is something like this, apparently I have run out of time to find my partner, parents always want the best for their kids and they think the right time has arrived for me to marry and all they want from me now are inputs. Inputs as to what I want in a husband so that they can start 'shortlisting'. H at this point added "Aunty she wants to marry a CB". Before mom could realize what she had said, I shushed her. CB was a fictitious character I and another friend created one semi drunken night, who had all qualities we desired in a husband. Any guy we met was then judged on CB scale. We never met a CB 10 which probably explains why both of us are single. I am not even sure I want to marry a CB (or a Mr.Darcy) now. Anyway those are not the inputs my mom is looking for, she needs specifics. Profession, location and the kind. As much as I hate it, the good daughter that I am I will give her what she wants. Heres my list:

Profession: Llama farmer
Location : Ethiopia
Smoking/drinking :don't care
Annual Income :don't care
Family Background :don't care how many brothers or sisters he has, don't care if he stays with parents, brothers and sisters as long as the llamas stay out.

Guess what? There are no llama farmers in Ethiopia. Hehehe. Good luck mom!

Filler Post

Blogger is blocked in office. Reason :Online sales and merchandising. I know, it sucks. I cant even access yahoo or gmail in office! Everyday I rush home and even before my mom finishes her 'How was your day' sentence, I zoom past her, switch on my comp and check my mail. The only ones who loyally mail me these days are spammers. What would I do without them? Sigh! My friend thinks this will help me get over my internet addiction. I hope so. But if they think I will spend my time more constructively now rather than incessantly clicking on the 'refresh' button they are so wrong. I have to think of something to do now that will not get me fired and create the illusion that I am working. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Scrabble on a lazy Sunday afternoon

My sis added a 'p' , 'v' and a 'j' just before I took the pic otherwise it was a fair game. Sure, none of us used words like 'simulacrum' but I got 43 for some word I cant remember now. Scrabble can be fun specially when you are arguing if words like 'egad' exist or not. Apparently it does. Reminds me of that C&H strip where Calvin is playing against Hobbes....Couldn't find the strip but found this on wiki.

Calvin: Ha! I've got a great word and it's on a "Double word score" box!
Hobbes: "ZQFMGB" isn't a word! It doesn't even have a vowel!
Calvin: "It is so a word! It's a worm found in New Guinea! Everyone knows that!
Hobbes: I'm looking it up.
Calvin: You do, and I'll look up that 12-letter word you played with all the Xs and Js!
Hobbes: What's your score for ZQFMGB?
Calvin: 957.

Hehehe!

PS:The date on that camera was not set...we really played on a sunday afternoon!

One two che che che!

What is the purpose of having a music video? To make people want to buy that album or to make people (potential buyers) squirm in disgust and make them want to pull out their hair(in my case, orange hair)? I can understand models or wannabe actresses wanting to do raunchy numbers. I can understand them wanting to shed clothes. I can even understand Adnan Sami flirting with women one fourth his size and half his age. What I cannot understand is Asha Bhosle wanting to dance in her new video. Tell me who would want to buy her album after they see her dance with an ALIEN????? Why would anyone want to dance with an alien??? Then there is her garish red saree, the blinding red red red settings, the million dancers in the background, the silver 'cha cha cha' s written on the ceiling.....I thought I had seen it all when it came to music videos, I was so wrong!

The song I am talking about is called "One two cha cha cha" and the alien is none other than Jadoo, the friendly neighborhood alien from that ET inspired Hritik movie. He dances better than Asha if you ask me.

If you haven't seen the video, bless your stars!

Piece me together

My dad says life is a jigsaw puzzle. That things will eventually fall in place. That the picture will one day be complete. What I will never understand is that some of the pieces in my puzzle are lost forever. But no, I will never understand that. I will worry, I will fret, I will go on a quest looking for that non existent piece. And while I am worrying and fretting I will fail to see the picture that even without the missing piece, is beautifully shaping. What I will never understand is that you don't need all pieces to see the picture. What's more, the supreme force, the holy jigsaw puzzle maker throws these pieces at me that were never meant to fit into my picture. Just to confuse me. But no, I will never understand that. I will worry more, I will fret more and I will try to force that piece where it was just not meant to be.

I hate jigsaw puzzles.

Betrothed!!

That is a scary sounding word. Just like executed or strangulated. That is how I will probably feel when its 'my turn'. Luckily it wasn't my turn but a very close friend of mine got engaged recently. She will be the first in our group to get married. But that was expected considering the fact that she said she would be getting married 3 years ago. Things don't go as planned is what I say. So stop planning is also what I say.

It was like any other engagement party. My friend looked pretty. He looked dazed, smitten by her. They looked nice next to each other both nervous and excited at the same time. They exchanged rings. We clapped. People wondered why we clapped. Everyone blessed them. It was perfect. We then threatened that we would tell him about a particular someone in her life. (Particular someone wasn't invited. He will be invited to the wedding though. That's what my friend says. Let me see.)

She is both my School mate and College mate so it was like a double reunion party for me. Almost everybody thinks I have lost weight which should be a good thing but very few people meant it as a compliment. The secret, Girls, is very simple, I lived away from home and I cooked for myself. But most of the conversation revolved around whose turn it was next and why everyone's marriage was getting 'delayed'. We finally concluded that our batch was cursed. I am however very thankful to the devils or whoever it is that has cursing rights. (You might want to ease the curse a little bit though, some people are waiting to get married)

As is the norm I had to goof up. But it wasnt anything major. When I introduced a School friend S to a college friend J, I said "You two probably met at my house warming ceremony". To which J said "Err Shradha, you never invited me to your house warming ceremony". Though S found it very amusing I was turning red. Sorry J, I really cant remember why I didn't invite you. Also, the friend with whom I had fought, turned up. We acted like nothing had happened and started gossiping like we have always been doing. I like it when we don't have to confront the issue. That is how fights should be resolved. Whoever said 'talking' is the right thing to do, did not try 'ignoring'.

Though the bride was the center of attention I felt kind of special myself. Her dad introduced me to all the relatives of the groom as the bride's 'best friend'. Nobody else had that privilege. My friend, the one who got engaged (engagee??) later mentioned that her dad doesn't know who her best friends are. I ask you dear, why did you then come to me when you needed some of my (useless) advice on guys? Why did you come to me that day when you were in tears? Why did you call me every time our favorite couple were eliminated out of 'Nach Baliye'? Why did you come to me when you needed someone to snoop on your now fiance? Why did you tell me every detail of the conversation you had with him? (I know you didnt tell me every detail but then who does?).Why did you ask me if you were taking the right decision? I think I at least qualify as a good friend. I am very very happy for you. I know in spite of your fears you made the right choice. I wish you both the very best in life. I wish I could be as happy as you are right now.

To blog or not to blog...

My blogging frequency has reduced a lot. I have had lots of 'Hey I can blog about this' incidents but they never reached this space. Many times when I opened this compose window, all I did was stare at the blank screen and close it. Bloggers' block? That is a poor excuse for laziness.

Don't close the window...write....write something...

I was at the Bryan Adams concert last week. In spite of the fact that this was the second time I was seeing him and in spite of me growing out of Bryan Adams kind of music, I had an awesome time. A big high at the concert was spotting cricketer Balaji! I was the first one to see him but I didn't trust my ancient contact lenses so when I mumbled "I think I saw Balaji" the gang I was with was quick to come up with "Yeah right, I think I saw Dravid". About ten minutes later he came right in front of me so this time I say "This is the guy I thought was Balaji", it took a while for all of us to realize that it was in fact him. He smiled and waved back at us. Such a sweet heart! If you have been reading my blog you will know that I nurse these short lived crushes on cricketers. I had one on Balaji too. When I was in college I made a collage of all my favorite people, sportsmen, actors and stuck it on my wall. It had a cut out of a very jubilant Indian cricket team. Next to Balaji are these little hearts that I drew. (I know its a very '16 year old' thing to do and I was much older than 16 when I did that, I am not very proud of it now.) He had an injury and was dropped out of the team, I soon forgot about him. Murali Karthik and Pathan also have hearts next to them. I stopped liking Murali after I realized he was married. Married to somebody who looks like an 'Aunty'. Then there are some cricketers who get their hair straightened and I lose interest. Dravid, is the only person whom I still admire, adore and respect.

I wonder why I don't follow cricket these days, I know India won today but I am not celebrating like I normally would have. Lack of good looking players? Probably!

I wish I had a camera phone, I could have taken Balaji's snap. Even otherwise there have been times when I saw something so beautiful that I regretted not having a camera with me. Like yesterday, I saw someone on the road wearing multicoloured pants...beautiful!

When I bought this phone, a Nokia 6610 (by which I mean, when my dad gifted a Nokia 6610) I was the only one who had a phone with colour screen. Now everyone has graduated to camera, mp3 player and bluetooth phones while I am still stuck with this thing. Few days ago when I was trying to clean it, the panel snapped in to two pieces. So I went to this mobile phone shop and asked for a new panel. The shop keeper showed me one in a sealed pack with Nokia logo and all. I asked him if that was original, he said it wasn't. I asked him if he had an original one. He said yes and took out another one which was in a zip lock bag. A zip lock bag and original!!!!! I still bought it because I felt it was a better quality duplicate. But I don't think it will last long, it is time to buy a new phone.
My original plan was to wait till August and let some one gift me a brand new cell phone for my birthday. But I am sure my phone will have a major breakdown before that, it is better I buy one soon. Most of my friends have Moto Razors or Sony Ericsson K700is. I want something that is better than both the phones(good camera resolution a must) but around the same price range. Any suggestions?

I like silly tests :)

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Spider-Man on Republic Day.

The company I work for is associated with an institute called SOCARE IND, a home for children of prisoners in Central jail. There are about 30 children of the age group 3 to 15 who stay here. When I first visited the place, the owner told us stories about the horrific crimes that some of the parents of these kids have committed, I cringed every time he pointed to a kid and told his story. I can only imagine what they go through, their mental anguish ,the feeling of insecurity, not having their loved ones close to them, knowing that their parents are locked away for the shameful crimes they committed, it is scary! But they show almost no signs of it and are so full of energy and enthusiasm, it is infectious. That's one of the reasons I like visiting them.

On Republic Day we decided to organize a drawing competition and a quiz contest for the kids. (I came up with both ideas, thank you very much :)) The younger kids were supposed to draw the national flag and the older kids were free to draw anything they wanted. And boy, you should have seen the drawings! Flags were of all shapes, sizes and colours. Its not their fault, we hadn't clarified it was the Indian national flag that they had to draw. But the best painting was the one in which a kid had drawn a neat tricolour flag and standing next to it saluting the flag was none other than Spider-Man!!!!! I admire the ingenuity of the kid! I'd really like it if Spider-Man came to see our republic day celebrations. It would be fun wouldn't it? He could be the chief guest and could give an inspiring speech something to the effect of "With great power comes great responsibilities".Hehe!
For the quiz, I had no idea about the aptitude of these kids so I came up with simple questions like 'who is the president of India?'. I had to hide my face in shame when the children in turn asked us questions like which city is called 'Manchester of India'?(I bet you don't know that either, google and find out :p) We had to rack our brains and came up with some difficult questions. It turned out to be very interesting with a nail biting 'tie-breaker' in the end. This was followed by lots of masti, games and dance. It was the best republic day ever. The warden of the home, when we were about to leave told us that the kids hadn't had so much fun in a long time and thanked us profusely. I hadn't had so much fun in a long time! I am going to do this more often, spend more time with the kids, I don't know if I have anything to give them but there is so much to learn from them. :)

I also watched Rang de Basanti day on the same day. One word, Brilliant. I have only one qualm about the movie (it has to do with the ending) but I wont talk about it here. I'd say its a must watch. Look out for some super performances by Atul Kulkarni, Siddharth and Kunal. Aamir for a change, hasn't stolen the show. Music is awesome. Masti ki paatshaala......

Before I end this post I'd like to add that I take back everything I said in the last post. My cable wallah took off Zee Cafe. (We get Zee TV, Zee News, Zee Cinema, Zee Studio and Zee Telugu??? but no Zee cafe!) So no OC, no Friends. I hate him. He is my mortal enemy.

I am an addict after all.

What's on TV?

Tananana nan, tananana nan, tananana nan tanaaaa. California..here we come!!!

Thats the title track of 'The OC'. Yeah I watch America's number one teen soap. I have watched few episodes now and as far as I can tell, the show doesn't have any plot or substance, it only has pretty people in pretty places who pretty much seem to party all the time. Then why do I watch it? Maybe its a phase. Or as Arun puts it, I think I am going through Quarter life crisis. I also watch it for Seth. That adorable witty nerd. (I don't have a crush on him, he is 16!!!!I maybe going through a crisis but I am not sick!)
I tried to write about the show now and I realized how cliched the story and most characters are. Its almost as if Yash Chopra, Ekta Kapoor and MTV got together to make the show.Maybe thats why I like it :) Actually its not a phase, I can watch any crap anytime as long as it comes with good packaging. :)

Heres what else I am watching these days
1)Friends- Season 10.
2)Scrubs
3)Becker (Frasier will replace becker I guess. Why cant we have both shows?)
4)Everybody loves Raymond
5)MTV and VH1.

No, I don't watch History Channel. But I watch Discovery travel and Living. Sometimes.

I used to be a TV addict. I am glad I am not one anymore. The one year I stayed away from home I learnt I could survive without the TV. I learnt how to ignore the TV when there is a TV in the room. I learnt that you don't get supreme power and authority by holding the remote control. I learnt that the cable guy is not an enemy. I learnt TV watching can be a group activity. I learnt the art of balancing 'Living a life' and 'Watching TV'.

Now let me go get hold of that remote before somebody else does.

Am I asking for too much?

I want to quit my job not tomorrow not today, now.

I want to travel all over India.

I want to be loved more than I want to love.

I want to be able to speak my mind.

I want God to tell me that He/She really exists.

I want to be able to laugh when I want to, cry when I want to, I want to feel.

When I am 60, I want my grand kids to think I am the coolest grandma ever.

I don't want life to come to a stand still like it sometimes seems to.

I want to attend a big concert, scream, shout, sing, feel young again.

I want two Labrador pups, one black, one white.

I want my dog to not be jealous of the two pups.

I want to excel at what I do.

I don't want to do what I am doing right now for the rest of my life.

I want to be with someone with whom I can talk for hours, with whom silence doesn't seem awkward.

I want my phone to ring more often.

I don't want to have any regrets.

I want to stay selfish.

I want to go scuba diving.

I want to see a shooting star.

I want to dance in the rain.

I want to dream again.

I want to never stop learning.

I want people who I care for to know that I love them.

I want people to laugh when I tell a joke.

I don't want to lose hope.

I don't want to feel silly when I cry watching a sad movie.

I don't care if people don't understand me, I don't want them to misunderstand me.

I don't want to feel guilty about my materialistic needs.

I don't want to be satisfied, I want more.

I have the blues

I have been feeling low for the past few days. Though I am not able to pin point why exactly, I think it has to do with the following

• I tried colouring my hair this Sunday. The kit said it will result in subtle highlights. My hair now has brown/red/golden/blonde patches. It is not subtle. Even somebody with colour blindness can make out the difference. I figured out a way to hide it and look normal but I have to keep doing that for the next 60 days. Thats depressing.
  
• Visited a friend and her one month old baby. She told me stories about her evil in laws and the mental torture she had to go through. She is younger than me, she shouldn't have to go through all that at this age. Surprisingly she is handling it all very well!
• My uncles family who have stayed close by for the last 5 years are moving to another area, far far away. I hope my two cousins remember me. Actually, now I just hope they recognise me.
  
• I still haven't patched up with that friend who I fought with. (The one I mentioned in the last post)

• Work or the lack of it.

This is what is playing on my iPod these days

1. Tanhayee -Dil Chahta hai
2. Rabba- Musafir
3. Tadap Tadap-Hum Dil De chuke Sanam

I know they are all 'heart break' songs and they do not depict my mental state but I cant help it, they don't make songs on hair colour disasters.

But not everything is going bad. There is some good news too. A good (and talented) friend has finally taken my advice and will be putting down his insane ideas, creative outbursts, manic thoughts in his blog. Please welcome Guns, who is trying a second (or third???) attempt at blogging. The guy has an opinion on almost everything on earth and knows how to put it in words. Please visit his blog. But don't stop visiting mine.

And oh if you can find him a girlfriend that would be perfect.

There Guns, I did it. Now, when is my treat?

Happy Birthday A.R. Rehmaan!

I am not his biggest fan, I am just one of the thousands of people who admire him. I am completely in awe with his ability to come up with songs so beautiful, every single time, they make me want to dance, they make me want to cry, they make me want pine for the lover I don't have.

Radio City had a special program dedicated to him from 12 AM to 3 AM. I stayed up till 2 after which I decided listening to his songs on my iPod would be better since there would be no buffoons passing off as RJs interrupting in between. Their conversation was something like this

RJ 1 : It is so dark outside.
RJ 2 : And if we switch off the lights in the studio?
RJ 1: It will be dark inside too.
RJ 1 & RJ 2 : HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHA!

Me : ????????

But they did play all my favorites, some Tamil songs and some others that I hadn't heard in a long time. It is amazing how every song reminded me of some person or some event. My mind started wandering so much that I had to put down the engrossing and page turner of a book, Dave Barry does Japan.

When they played Snegidane Snegidane, thoughts immediately went out to a friend with whom I had a fight recently. The person who helped me learn the song and explained the meaning to each and every word. The only Tamil song I know the words to. The argument seems silly now. But I have every right to be angry.

One of my colleagues danced to Chinamma Chilkamma at some event in office a year back. Funny guy, his performance was equally funny. I have lost touch with him now. But I keep hearing things about him like the fact that he is dating A, of all people. I don't know what he sees in her.

Jungle main koel bole from Taal was first introduced to me by my cousin who was then about 3 years old. I thought it was some nursery rhyme he had learnt at school. He is 9 now. He has lost his milk teeth and some of his innocence.

Aye udi udi....Vivek Oberoi, I loved his smile. Then Aishwarya happened, press conference happened. Like most of my crushes this one saw a premature death too. This song reminds of that friend again. We saw this movie together just before the semester exams. Maybe its my fault. Maybe I should apologize. But I don't want to be taken for granted.

Yeh jo des hai tera. My roommates made last minute plans to watch Swades, booked tickets for the night show and ditched me because I had to attend a dinner party with my team mates. I was furious but got to watch it the very next morning with some other people. The funny thing is, since it was night show when they watched it, the theatre owner decided to chop off the ending of the movie including this song! I was delighted that I got to see the whole movie while they didn't, they never made plans without me again.

Fanaa. I love this song. Absolutely love it. I now dedicate this song to all those who are reading this. (This is the part where you look for Fanaa mp3 and play it on your system)

Happy Birthday AR. Continue to enthrall people with your music. Thank you for everything.

Poster Boy -II

Just like I predicted, M. S. Dhoni will soon be seen endorsing products. Soaps, to be precise. Mysore Sandal Soaps. From now on he will be called Mysore Sandal Dhoni. I don't like him anymore, the initial excitement of seeing him in that Reebok poster has worn out. He's got his hair straightened, he looks girlie. He is even endorsing girlie products.

But I still hope he is shirtless in the Ad. Preferably in the shower. (Not Bath Tub)

In the end...

The one thing I have learnt in the last year is that everybody has problems, everybody has insecurities, everybody cries, everybody hurts. And that there is no such thing as a perfect family, even if it looks so from the outside. Thats actually more than one thing learnt.