Hellloo ppl. I have a bad bad cold :(

I just want to get into my pajamas and climb into bed.

Sadly, I need to research on Insider Trading Regulations :(

Which is not interesting at all.

I have been having cups of hot coffee and soup all day, but my nose is as blocked as ever and soon my ears will also be blocked.

When you have a sinus problem, a cold is the worst thing ever - cuz I have to be careful that I don't trigger off my sinus or get my ear pain (that happens when the eustachian tube gets blocked) or fever or a sore throat or all of them together.

I wish I didn't have to work .

Thankfully my mom is here so she's feeding me nice alu-methi ki sabzi and Arjun will be fed baingan ka bharta :D

I looove sizzlers. I have had sizzlers in most of the major Indian cities. When my office moved to Defence Colony, everyone told me that I just had to have the sizzlers at Gola, which is pretty well known and cunted amongst the top 3 in Delhi for sizzlers.

Well Arjun and me decided to celebrate Christmas eve by having dinner at Gola Sizzlers. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Waste of complete time, energy and money. To begin with the place was dingy, and was in desperate need of better lighting and music. They were playing instrumental throughout and on the other hand, I could hear 'Singh is King' blaring from the television. Bright lighting very much needed, especially in a place where the seating is such that if diners on adjacent tables are eating at the same time, elbows would definitely clash. I lost interest the moment I walked in and wanted to leave, but Arjun was of the opinion that maybe we should try the food. The captain was rude and least interested in anything except his tip. When we asked him for a table he showed us to a small corner table in one end of the room. Considering the fact that the place was practically empty (which should have probably tipped us off), we could have been shown way better seats. When we were finally seated, we perused the menu. Ordered for drinks and we decided to skip the appetizers and move directly to main course. We had to ask him a query about one of the dishes twice, till we were finally told that he had no idea. Undeterred we still placed our orders. Ughhhhhhhh the food was soooooooooo bad.

How can anyone mess up a sizzler? Gola could well give you some tips. Well you lather a boiled piece of the slimmest chicken breast ever with lots of bland weird sauce (which for some reason shall taste like a watered down version of the usual bhuna masala made with onions & tomato) and you pass it off as mushroom sauce, and sprinkle a couple of mushrooms around for effect. Let the diner hunt for the chicken. Along with that you serve some burnt garlic bread and a solid piece of butter which if cut, will probably go plop into the neighbouring diner's plate. You also serve precisely 5 piece of 5 different veggies - all wilted & most uninteresting looking. You plonk it in front of the diner like your doing him a favour and give him some dirty knives to eat with.

Well, I obviously left most of it uneaten. Arjun was a brave soldier and ate what he had ordered after liberally dosuing it with tobasco sauce. Then I asked for the feedback form. Immediately the waiter wanted to know if there had been deficiency in service, I replied that there had been major deficiency in food. He took it t the captain who tried to tell me that continental food is supposed to be bland. Well I know it is bland, but is it also absolutely tasteless? Anyway he very happily told me this is what they serve and this is what people eat here.

So people if you do go to Gola Sizzlers, Defence Colony, it is solely at your own risk, and then don't say I didn't warn you.

PS: Don;t forget to carry elbow pads.

We had our office party today. This is our Christmas tree with a few of the gifts displayed below.





Everyone had to be dressed in red/ green.





We also had Santa Claus (a very sporting stenographer of our office).



Of course we did have a few spoilsports. They had to get ice cream for all of us.



We had lots of cake.

We exchanged gifts. Ate lots of biryani. Had fun. Sang songs. Just chilled. Decided that 1st January ought to be a holiday and that the holiday list for 2009 should be mostly on Fridays & Mondays.


Merry Christmas Folks!!!!!

Yeloooooooooooo people....I am back from the wilds. We had gone to Corbett this weekend with some friends who had come down from US of A. One of them is an Indian, born and brought up in the States and venturing out of Bombay for the first time ever on her third trip to India. We sure showed her some sights and sites she never saw before :)

We left early Friday morning, really early on a cold winter morning and reached Corbett around 11 in the morning. We had booked two cottages overlooking the Kosi river and an awesome view. Our bathroom was bigger than the room by the way and we had to carry our buckets and go get hot water from the kitchen to bathe. The rest of Friday we just chilled and lazed around, had some really yummy food - it wasn't any five star food, but just simple sabzi, dal, chicken & hot hot phulkas straight off the tava. Post lunch, after some rest, we went on a trek to the river. We had to go down a rough path eked out of the hills - getting down was not that scary, but getting back up sure was cuz it was steep path with no handholds, and we were a little wary of holding onto twigs and putting our hands on rocks because we had been warned off snakes. We spent the rest of the evening just chilling around the bonfire and spending lots of quality time with Arjun.

Saturday morning, the boys went off to get passes for the jungle safari, while we ladies slept in. We had opted for the afternoon safari, which in retrospect was a good idea in the winters otherwise we would have been shivering in the chilly morning at 6:30. After a hearty brunch of alu ka paranthas, we left for the safari at 1:30 n the afternoon. We entered the park from the Brijrani side. We spotted quite a few spotted deer and some sambar deer too (which is allegedly the favourite meal of the tiger, which led us to believe that tigers are South Indians :P). One sambar deer just came and stood right in front of us as we were going along the path. We saw a herd of elephants too - there were about 2-3 full grown females, 2 teenagers and 1 baby. They were quitely grazing one one side of the path that we were taking. Our guide had warned us to switch off the flash on the camera, so that we don't disturb/ distract them. Unfortunately another group right behind us did not switch off their flash, and suddenly one of the full grown elephants came charging at us. Oh boy, we sure told our driver to take off asap. We saw tiger poop, mounds of elephant poop and we caught a deer pooping. Lots of poop tales. We never got to see any tiger. Our guide told us that Corbett has about 164 tigers but very rarely are they spotted. We however did get to see some tiger pug marks which we were informed were pretty recent. At one point, we just stopped and took in the serenity of lots of greenery, tall trees practically blocking out sunlight, a small stream gurgling away, birds chirping, monkeys jumping from tree to tree. It makes one realize that money and the hustle bustle that we are used to is not everything, sometimes we just need to stop and smell the roses.

The rest of Saturday evening again was spent chilling around the bonfire, and everyone else laughing while I got stalked by the smoke. I swear, each time I shifted my chair around, the smoke followed me. Not funny, cuz I had a bad bad headache by the end of it.

Sunday morning, we were up and sadly had to get back to Delhi and to the daily grind. This was a welcome and a much needed break. We stopped to smell the roses, hear the birds chirping and watch the stream gurgling away. Sure puts things in perspective. Also makes me realize that I still have so much to see in India itself (though I have traveled quite a bit around the country with friends and family) - we got snow, rain, desert, beaches, mountains, nightlife, swamis, culture, crowded streets and friendly people all here in India.

Just a few lines to say Hey to all of you...been awfully caught up in work (Yes I know usual story). This week has been tiring and stressful, and its just Tuesday. Thank God this week  ends early for me. That's cuz we have some friends visiting from the States and we'r off to Corbett for a Jungle-book weekend. Hope we manage to spot some tigers and deer. Oh, people I bought a bright orange wallet - Govinda style orange. Afterall, I need some colours to jazz up my otherwise classic black and white. As Arjun says, he sees wife in technicolour only on Sunday :P

Have a good day people :)

I'v been tagged by Chandni to do the following tag - this is a list of 150 things to be done before I turn 30. Given that I have about another four and a half years to go before I hit the big Three - Oh, guess I better get started. The one I'v already done are in bold.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain (Does trekking near Darjeeling count?)

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula (Ughh, no thanks)
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone (Not yet :P)

08. Said “I love you” and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped (Dying to do it)

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights

15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars.

20. Changed a baby's diaper.

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon.

22. Watched a meteor shower.

23. Gotten drunk on champagne.

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger (Asked out a senior on your first day of college while being ragged and who later went on to become a really good friend)

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment

39. Had two hard drives for your computer

40. Visited all 50 states (Barring Gujarat & the seven sisters I have visited all the other states)

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk

42. Had amazing friends (Why had? I still have them.)

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (Danced with a foreigner on New Year's eve)

44. Watched whales

45. Stolen a sign

46. Backpacked in Europe

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing

49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan

55. Milked a cow

56. Alphabetized your CDs

57. Pretended to be a superhero.

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Played touch football

61. Gone scuba diving

62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theatre.

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played DD for more than 6 hours straight

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced ( I certainly hope not!)

76. Gone without food for 5 days (Exam time - 7 straight days of surviving on coffee and chocolate only cuz we just didn't have the time to eat. We used to be ravenous the day the exams would end. )

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on a television news programme as an an 'expert'

83. Gotten flowers for no reason

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten Shark

88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Performed in Rocky Horror

96. Raised children

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Passed out cold

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived

105. Wrote articles for a large publication [Unfortunately they never got published :( ]

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Touched a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a TV game show

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears (I'v been thinking of getting my nose pierced - what say you?)

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school (Not yet - but I'd love to)
131. Parasailed

132. Touched a cockroach

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read (Read Harold Robbins and then was thankful I hadn't ever wasted anytime reading him)

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

139. Skipped all your school reunions.

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life

All those who want to do the tag are most welcome to rake it p. Please do tell me when you'r done so I can drop by and see it too :)

Arjun, I have already done your tag in September :).

Just a few thoughts/ suggestion off the top of my head from an Indian citizen as regards the current situation and the aftermath:

• We have a huge percentage of unemployed youth - how about providing them with gainful employment and train them to protect the politicians instead of deploying 1700 NSG for that purpose
• Why do Priyanka Gandhi & Robert Vadra need to be protected at the expense of the taxpayers? If they feel they need security, let them organise it themselves and pay for it
• No politician, except the current President and Prime Minister be provided with Z class security. Former Presidents and Prime Ministers can be provided normal security
• Make all other politicans pay for their security. Let's see how many actually need Z class security after that. 
• Today any person wearing a black coat and a band can walk into the High Court (Delhi) or Supreme Court without being checked. Why? Bombay High Court also checks advocates
• A certain fixed amount be spent every year by the police force of each state to upgrade their ammunition etc. and a transparent account be given for it, not one which gets lost in the numerous files of the Government
• A Company today has to give its Annual Balance Sheet. Why not the Government? How effect is the Indian Audit & Accounting Service really. One corrupt person and the whole system falls apart
• As citizens we stop giving chai pani to the government babus. They get paid from OUR MONEY, yes the taxpayer's money for doing their job. Why should we pay them anything extra?
• Stop filling up caste details in any form whatsoever - if I have to get admission in a college, why do you need my caste details. 
• Reservation in schools, colleges and jobs should be on a financial basis and not caste
• We desperately need more judges in out courts to handle matters. Judges in lower courts ought to compulsorily hear an x number of matters everyday. Impose heavy costs for adjournment sought without a very valid ground. If ill-health (favourite excuse) is pleaded, let the court send someone to verify it, soon such feeble grounds will not be taken up. Cases can also then be expedited
• If any elected representative decides to take 'moral responsibility' and resign, let them pay some heavy pecuniary penalty. Moral responsibility taken - very good, we'r proud of you. Now act on it. don't take the coward's way out. There is a reason that they were elected - and no I don't mean their gifts of goats and saris to their votebanks
• Every  MP/ MLA give an Annual Report of what has been done by them in their constituency and let the same be open to the residents for verification. Any misrepresentation will result in a heavy pecuniary penalty
• Some statute be enacted to restrict the 'breaking news' repeatedly telecast by our electronic media, especially when an operation is on. Something like this 
• Politicians and public servants ought not to be allowed to use government vehicles to ferry their wife to the market and pick up their child from school
• Some minimum educational qualifications for our politicians. 
• No person with criminal record in our Parliament
• Bring back Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) 
• Take exemplary action against offenders - everyone will think twice before doing any such crime again 
• Make it compulsory that all cases have to be heard and disposed off within a certain fixed period, no unnecessary adjournments, impose heavy costs for any delaying tactics adopted by any party, and if any party tries to use political influence immediately put them in jail till they get some sense
• The US has this concept of social service as part of punishment for first-time offenders, we should also have something like that
• Teach schoolkids about religion and what religion preaches - not have any wrong ideas about any religion or people from such a religion
• Common citizens be allowed to question their elected representative without queuing up for hours to see him or feeling like he has done a favour

Feel free to add more. Maybe we can make it a petition. What say folks?

The CM of Kerala deserves all that he got and more. He should be highly ashamed of himself. At a time when a family is grieving the loss of their son in a dastardly attack, he is politicising the whole thing and making extremely uncalled for statements about a martyr's family. When someone asks  you, requests you not to enter their house, and you still enter, it is known as trespassing. And when you trespass on someone's private property, the red carpet is not going to be laid out for you. It doesn't make a difference whether you are a CM or a PM or MM or just a common man. So many thousand of people lined up to pay their homage to Sandeep Unnikrishnan, no fuss was raised at that time. Now the family wants to grieve in peace, let us give them that much respect at least. And this is something which any human should and ought to understand and respect. But, I guess politicians are way lower than dogs. Actually why are we insulting dogs here? Aren't they man's best friend after all? I guess dogs all over are going to be up in arms. 

And what is all this brouhaha about the resignation of Shivraj Patil, RR Patil & now contemplated resignation of Vilasrao Deshmukh? Why should they resign? How is this going to  change things? They ought to hold on to their chairs where we, the people have put them. We demand accountability. Resigning is a coward's option. it is the easiest way out. Resign and hand over the burden to some other bakra (fool). We demand that you stay put on your seats and right the wrongs. Resigning is not an option. Today you are resigning only because you know that you have no answers to the questions raised by us. Have the balls to tell us that you are at least searching for the answers. Didn't you aai (mother) ever teach you that?

The CM of Kerala deserves all that he got and more. He should be highly ashamed of himself. At a time when a family is grieving the loss of their son in a dastardly attack, he is politicising the whole thing and making extremely uncalled for statements about a martyr's family. When someone asks you, requests you not to enter their house, and you still enter, it is known as trespassing. And when you trespass on someone's private property, the red carpet is not going to be laid out for you. It doesn't make a difference whether you are a CM or a PM or MM or just a common man. So many thousand of people lined up to pay their homage to Sandeep Unnikrishnan, no fuss was raised at that time. Now the family wants to grieve in peace, let us give them that much respect at least. And this is something which any human should and ought to understand and respect. But, I guess politicians are way lower than dogs. Actually why are we insulting dogs here? Aren't they man's best friend after all? I guess dogs all over are going to be up in arms.

And what is all this brouhaha about the resignation of Shivraj Patil, RR Patil & now contemplated resignation of Vilasrao Deshmukh? Why should they resign? How is this going to change things? They ought to hold on to their chairs where we, the people have put them. We demand accountability. Resigning is a coward's option. it is the easiest way out. Resign and hand over the burden to some other bakra (fool). We demand that you stay put on your seats and right the wrongs. Resigning is not an option. Today you are resigning only because you know that you have no answers to the questions raised by us. Have the balls to tell us that you are at least searching for the answers. Didn't you aai (mother) ever teach you that?

Addendum: I'm wondering how this post got published twice. Can anyone tell me that please?

As a common citizen of India, today I have several questions for my  Government - that same Government whom we elected and have given the reins of our country to. 

I want to know what is my Goverment doing to protect me. 

I want to know if stepping into a mall or eating out will now constitute an act of great bravery?

I want to know how my Government plans to punish those behind this carnage?

I want to know why my Government does not come out with a tougher stand on terrorism?

I want to know why even in 2008 we still discriminate against Hindus & Muslims and upper castes and lower castes?

I want to know why is that box asking me for my caste there on the form? 

I want to know what action is the Government going to take against Pakistan?

I want to know why after the blasts all over this year, security measures were not increased?

I want to know how was all that RDX brought into the country when the local fishermen had given intimation to the authorities?

I want to know how can a person with an AK 47 and a bag full of ammunition just walk into any building/ station and shoot randomly?

I want to know how many more lives will we have to sacrifice before you, the Government decides it is enough to warrant some action?

I want to know why the Government first condemned Hemant karkare and now makes him a matryr?

I want to know why no action has been taken against Raj Thakeray?

I want to know where was Raj Thakeray when his beloved Mumbai was being defended by Indians - not Marathis or Biharis or UP Bhaiyas or Muslims?

I want to know where does all my tax money go? 

I want to know why our Police force still used WW II rifles and not more modern guns and ammunition?

I want to know why what the Government is doing to prevent any other such attack?

I want to know what the Government, being the face of India, plan to say in the UN and pressurize that Pakistan which allegedly condemns the attacks, actually assist India in bringing in the perpetrators?

I want to know what is the action plan in case of future attacks? 

I want to know why you, being our public servants have Z class security that we pay for?

I want to know if the Government can today give me any guarantee that I can walk around on the streets of my country safely and not have this niggling fear that there is going to be a blast or any terror attack?

I want to know how does Shivraj Patil's resignation  make the situation better? if that is the case, I want to know why he  didn't resign  after the series of blasts?

I want to know why I should vote for you and bring you back to power and not for any other party?

I want to know what promises you have made and are making and what have actually been fulfilled?

Does the Government have any answers to the questions of a common citizen?

I want answers. I want accountability from my Government.

As those of you who drop by regularly now know that I lost my brother in an accident when I was 16. I don't talk about because I find it very difficult to do so. Maybe its easier when I write about it.

It was the 29th of November 1999. It was a normal day. My IInd semester exams were going on - only 2 papers left. Bhaiya (my elder brother by 4 years and 3 months) had promised to take me for a movie after my exams were over. I had a break that day and woke up a little late. In my school days 7 am was late for me. I was a very early riser then - just couldn't stay in bed after about 5 - 5:30 am (very different now), so I used to be his official alarm clock. He had some class that morning and he got late leaving from home because I didn't wake him up on time. We had a quick two minute fight and he left. I settled down to reading the paper and eating breakfast with Baba (father). Ma was getting ready to leave for office. Someone rang the doorbell and gave us my uncle's driving license which he had found on the road. We got a little worried since they had gone on a family vacation to Digha or somewhere. This was before the days of cell phones. We spoke to my grandmom and she said they had reached there safe and sound and we had a good laugh and my dad was contemplating how to take his younger brother's case that he had lost his driving license. Just then the phone rang and we got a call asking if this was Surojit Maulick's house. My mom had picked up and she replied in the affirmative saying she was his mother. Suddenly she screamed and started crying. My dad and I looked at her wondering what happened and she managed to blabber something about some accident and some boy being found on the road with some notebook that had his name and phone number in it. We rushed around frantically wondering what to do and then decided to go to the concerned police station. The rest of the day went in a haze. We worked on autopilot mode for the following months.

Somehow its not yet sunk in that he's gone. 9 whole long years. I still think that we'l have some miraculous Bollywood ending and we'l meet somewhere suddenly singing 'Yaadon ki baarat nikli hai aaj dil ke dwaare'. Actually knowing us we'd probably be singing 'Manu bhai motor gaadi chale rum pum pum'. I used to bug him with that song. I used to bug him a lot. I was the quintessential annoying younger sister. I used to boss around him alot and he was so sweet he's let me do it. We fought alot too but dare the parents say anything to any of us. We used to gang up against them. We had also divided the foods between us. He was very fond on chole and I was very fond of rajma. He loved payesh (kheer/ a rice pudding) and I loved ghono doodh (something like rabri/ a milk based pudding). He taught me to keep my arms close to my body when I was jumping off the diving board and also how to ride a cycle. He sat me on the cycle and pushed me down a slope. Onetime it had poured and poured and the area around our house was flooded and I really wanted to go out in the pouring rain which obviously my mom was not very much in favour of, she finally let me go only when he said he'l take me. He bought me a black and blue batik kurta with his first salary from some summer thing he had done, for the Pujas in 1999. I stopped wearing it ages ago, but I still have it in my cupboard. He took me to see my board results. Being a teenage girl and a good Calcuttan, I had to bargain for everything which used to really bug him.

I remember people telling me to be strong for my parents. I tried. Don't know if I was successful. We stopped talking of him at home cuz it upset all of us. One of us would always end up crying and that would start the rest of us as well. We couldn't bear to have a photo of him anywhere so we banished all his stuff, clothes, posters, shoes, photos, any sign of him inside a cupboard.

When I got to college, I had nothing of his to remind me except some photos and my batik kurta, and I put them at the bottom of my huge green suitcase since I didn't want anyone stumbling on it accidentally. I started keeping a fast on 22nd March (his birthday) and 29th November each year which I would then break with something he liked to eat. Those of you who knew I fasted on those days had the courtesy and staunch friendship not to ask why I kept it, but acknowledge and respect the fact that I kept it. Each year one of my friends would cut his cake a few minutes before midnight on 22nd March so that I could eat it. Its only today that we do talk about him a little.

Today its been 9 long years. I missed him terribly when I wanted him to meet Arjun and give his approval. I felt his absence the most when I got married. I know I shall feel his absence when I have children and at every twist and turn of my life. And you know the worst part, I remember his face vividly, but for the life of me I can't remember his voice.

Just a few words about what's happening in Bombay. It's very disturbing. These are places which I go to when I'm in Bombay. Most of the law firms/ lawyers have their offices in South Bombay. When I heard the new, the first thing I did was to call most of my friends working in Bombay cuz that's where their offices are situated. Most of them were home safe and sounds, except for one who is stuck in office (his office is very close to VT Station). It's crazy.


While watching one of the news channels last night, a constable in front of the camera suddenly doubled up. He had been shot in his stomach. I could hear the cameraman going "Oh F***" and calling for help and helping the constable onto a bench. Some hefty guy came and cradled the constable in his arms and carried him into a taxi to be taken to hospital. All this happened on live television.

I pray that those *&^%$#@ bastards are all killed. I pray that God give the strength to those who have lost their near and dear ones and more courage and strength to all those out there fighting the Deccan Mujahideen.

And for those in foreign countries who are trying to get in touch with their family and friends, get in touch with Aham.

Hey folks...well Arjun is back and I report on what all he got me (Anu, no diamonds yet but I live in eternal hope). He got me lovely warm long black velvet gloves, a fur cap has these lapels to cover my ears (I had asked for something warm to cover my head and ears), a box of lady Godiva chocolates and Chanel eye-makeup (I wasn't expecting this last one). Pictures will be up soon.

Now if your wondering why all this warm clothing, its because I feel very very very cold. In Calcutta, people start wearing mufflers and monkey caps the day after Diwali. I'm not that bad, but yes in this city of hot-blooded North Indians (no offense meant people), a cold-blooded (literally meant and not figuratively so don't get any wrong ideas of reporting em the next time there is an unsolved murder in the vicinity) Bengali like me feels very very verrrrrrrrrry cold indeed. Last year being my first winter in Delhi, I used to be completely wrapped up - thermals, clothes, two layers of sweaters, overcoat, shawl, gloves, cap, muffler, socks, boots (Arjun got me boots made for Diwali so that my feet would remain warm during winter). Yes I know i went overboard and you can stop snickering now. I used to get to office all shivering and chattering teeth every morning. My colleagues (hot blooded North Indians) used to have a god laugh every morning when I entered the office and started peeling off my gloves, cap, overcoat and shawl. I'm sure your laughing too at this poor soul who feels so cooooold.

Pune also used to get pretty chilly, but the days were quite comfortable - a sweatshirt would suffice, but come sundown and I would be found safely inside my razai. My friends would bring me out of my hibernating mode by promising parties, cute guys, that red top of their which I wanted to borrow, cute guys (did I mention that already?), brandy/vodka and chocolate :)

This year I'm still on one sweater and a shawl (hey that's allowed). I confess I wore a huge thick overcoat for a few days when I was at my aunt's place cuz I was traveling by auto (and not car) and it used to be pretty chilly at night when I would return home in the OPEN auto.

So that's the whole story of why my husband goes to Germany and brings me back nice warm gloves and caps.

Yeahhhhhhhh Monday is only 2 days away. Wondering why I'm so excited about a Monday? Arjun gets back home. I want to see what he's got me :P

I'm not so excited about Monday generally (unless it happens to my birthday)



Edited to add: Arjun's flight couldn't take off because of heavy snowfall so he had to take a later flight from Vienna (yes he'l have to travel from Munich to Vienna) so he's reaching later tonight so I'l be able to tell you what I got only tomorrow

Heyloooo people...I'm on top of the world today.

My work burden seems to have come down to a manageable limit now.  The past 2-3 weeks have been absolutingly crrrrazyyyyy. I work better when I have a sword dangling over my head. Its tough to handle an urgent transaction which needs exclusive attention and needed to be completed like yesterday, along with our regular work since I have my court appearances and drafting etc to do.

I'm home alone for this week (Arjun's gone to Germany) so hopping off to my aunt's place for good Bong food and pampering. Girls please get married in a city, where if you don't have your parents, then you have some favourite aunt/ uncle who'l be more than happy to indulge you once in a while :)

Counsel driving me nuts - he wants to do the exact opposite of what client has instructed. It's tough to handle their fragile egos. A few days back I was convincing a very well-known counsel as to why we had a good case but he didn't seem to be to convinced with what I was saying. About an hour later, he turned around and started telling me why we have a very good case because of yadda yadda yadda...which was the exact same grounds which I had been telling him an hour back. And all I could do to keep his ego intact was to say 'Yes Sir, absolutely.'

Another well-known counsel had to settle a document but just couldn't seem to find the time to read the bulky set of documents and neither could he spare us enough time for us to brief him completely. So he takes the draft and makes a mess. Imagine a jumbled ball of threads of 5 different colours. To a colour-blind person  they are all the same colour, but you and me can see the the different colours. Now imagine having to untangle that and then sending it back to him and hoping and praying that he not get offended because of the substantial changes made to the draft settled by him.

Anyway I had set out to prove something to my boss, which I have done so he's really pleased with me and that gives me a high. I was unfortunately getting passed over because I always ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time - blame my being in court most of time and some bit of office politics as well. I don't do office politics generally, but this time I had to and I did it. If its a choice of You or Me, hey I'l always choose Me. No two ways about that.  I also ended up doing alot of the donkey work and then letting other people take the credit for it. No more of that also. I also refuse to sit in office till late every night just because I want to show the boss I work late. I come in at 9 am and try to leave at 7, but while I'm here I work. I don't while away my entire day and then work late completing the work. I don't mind working late when needed to, but I will not work late only because I want the boss to see that I sit in office till 11 pm every night.And I also will not suck upto anyone to get a raise or a promotion. My work speaks for itself.

Okay I'm done now with my raving and ranting. If you are reading this, then thanks :)

 

Mad Momma's latest post  prompted me to voice my own comments on this issue. I lost my brother in 1999 because of rash driving. he was 20 years old then. Not many people know that I am not an only child, that I had an elder brother. I went off to college soon after and decided it was easier to tell people that I was an only child, instead of repeating the same story again and again. It was and still is way too painful, so those of you who know me, please don't bring it up in a conversation without adequate warning.

I strongly, vehemently and totally condemn rash driving. I know that most of us condemn rash driving, yet many of us also tend to jump the red light on an empty road to get home 2 minutes earlier. Many of us don't think twice before  giving the indicator  for taking a left turn  while being on the extreme right. Most of us don't think twice about taking a right turn while the traffic is in full flow in the opposite direction. Jump one red light and you don't get caught, and slowly it becomes a habit. Think about it folks, there is a reason that traffic lights have been installed and there is a reason why the light for you is red while it shows green for the opposite direction. Going on the NH-8 in the evenings is scary because there are so many mad crazy people on it who drive at speeds of 100-120 kmph when they can barely handle their car a a speed of more than 70-80 kmph. Ad the worst thing is that they keep switching lanes as well. There is a reason why I prefer taking the staid MG Road  and not the fast and furious NH - 8.

Drivers who honk unnecessarily on a really busy/ crowded road or on an empty stretch as well put me off. If your honking on a busy road, well Mister, maybe you ought to dump the Honda City and buy yourself Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Pedestrians, please remember that you and only you are responsible for your life - not that guy in the red Merc zooming down the road. Either be smart and wait for it to pass and then cross the road or else be stupid enough to venture out to cross the road. Its not easy for a driver to just stop his car suddenly while you decide to drat across when there is a clear green for him. Cross at a zebra crossing - but that still doen't give you the right to dart across streaming traffic and expect them all to slow down because you are crossing the road. And use the pavement wherever possible for god's sake - not the road. And remember before you cross the road -

Look to the left, look to the right, look to the left again and then cross the road.

Two wheelers & autos are the worst of the lot. They consider themselves a step above pedestrians, but they   use the pavements which are meant for pedestrians forcing them to walk on the road ; they consider themselves a step below cars so that's reason enough to hop across dividers, take a U-turn where it is not permitted, jump a red light and  try to squeeze in between two cars where there is no space for even a person to walk.

If I use the road as a pedestrian and you as a car-owner, why don't we respect each other's rights and obligations and co-exist peacefully? Rarely is there a day that we don;t hear of some accident or the other.

I am not even going into road rage or drunk driving or kids driving their rich Daddy's  Hondas in this post. Maybe we ought to start a movement for implementing road manners. There was an article today where kids were givng out red roses to errant motorists and asking them to drive carefully for their sake. 

None of us can avoid using the  road, but its essential to remember that these are public roads not your baap ka sadak (father's property). Today your rash driving  killed my brother, tomorrow another person's rash driving may kill your son or maim him for life. 

Think about it.

Okay so now that I have your attention....when I say girlfriends, I do not mean the lesbian variety (no offense to them, just that I'm married and Arjun gets a little bit jealous when any other person - male/ female - hits on me), I mean the good ol' fashioned type girlfriends with whom one went shopping, bitched, whacked clothes from, filed & painted each other's nails, cried one one another's shoulders when John Abraham dies in Dhoom, caught the 10 am Sunday morning Harry Potter (with free popcorn) at E-Square in our pajamas, decided what to wear for the party/ hot date that night, the one who mopped my forehead all night when I had a fever and held my hair back when I was puking, the ones who dragged me for a tetanus shot when I cut my toe on some rusty metal on the road and then bought me a chocolate so that I wouldn't cry, the ones whom I screamed at and quoted statistics to when caught with cigarettes in their hand, made solemn pacts of undying friendship, and tears when she told that other girl something which she didn't tell me, the one who old me long ghagra - style skirts look awful on me and I should stick to knee length skirts, the ones who fed me when I was penniless and too scared to ask my mom for money till the 1st of the month, playing antakshari with all night, the one whose mom would send laddoos to Pune specially for me all the way from from Delhi, the ones with whom we drowned our sorrows in shots straight from the vodka bottle at 12 in the afternoon and then called up respective exes and raved and ranted at....ya well I guess you get the gist of it and the kind of girlfriends I am talking about.

All my girlfriends are scattered all over now - one in the US, one in Dubai, one in Cochin, one in Pune, one in Calcutta, one in Hyderabad. I have a couple of girlfriends in Delhi, but it's just next to impossible to match schedules in our hectic lifestyles. One day I get caught in work, and the next time she gets caught up in work.

I miss having a gal pal to hang out with, to go check out the new Italian place, to generally call when I am upset or just need to moan and whine or just like that, when I want to go shopping or just grab a coffee with and talk about CENSORED stuff.

Utopia was here, but even we could get to meet hardly once a month and I never got to meet her only before she left. Sorry babe. The funny thing is Utopia and me go back 14 - 15 years, but we weren't really that friendly until we both landed up at Delhi and met through our blogs. Now we both feel that had it not been for our teenage bias of stereotyping everyone, we could have had such lovely memories of 15 years rather than only one year. I miss our impromptu coffees.

I hate having to call a friend and then ask if its a good time to talk before I say anything else. I hate it that I get only Sundays to catch up with Ruks and we end up missing more Sundays than we do manage to catch up. When I call and I whine about my new blue -green tee getting spoilt in the wash because of a red sock, I want her to know exactly which tee I am talking about and not have her ask 'Which one Sup?'. Ruks, do you remember the times we have had Chicken lollipops and you'd say 'Sup, not again' and how much you scolded me when I didn't want to give one paper in my 3rd year cuz I had blanked out completely or how we would give each other our spare cash to keep so that we didn't end up spending it or our hunt for my silver belt that New Year's eve and our love for chocolate.

I miss the crazy jokes we shared and our crazy lingo Alak. I miss going Yo with Doggie. I swear that on your wedding at least, we three are definitely going to go 'Yo'. Remember that day when we started going 'Yo' on the street outside Cosmos and the rest of the gang looked at us as if they didn't know us. Remember that time when we decided to move to separate rooms cuz we never managed to study and spent a whole day crying, and after you shifted out, you ended up coming back all the time to 'our room'.

Doggie, I miss 'permanently borrowing' your notes year after year and then screaming at you to make your notes in a more legible handwriting, and how every year you'd tell me that you want to keep them cuz you plan on doing your Masters. PK (tunn) we defintely have to go 'Yo' when Alak finally gets married. We missed doing it at my wedding and yours.

Pal & Kas, we have spent more years having a long distance friendship now. Funny isn't it, we started off as three girls in blue skirts and similar chashmas (glasses) which we'd always mix up after we returned from the PT (Physical Training) class. After school, we all landed up in three different cities far far away, but that never lessened our friendship. KasSupPal is still KasSupPal. Pal, now both of us are married. I'm really glad that our hubbies get along, makes it so much easier, but ya we really need to send them out of the house once in a while when we'r over at your place to have our girl talk. Kas, both of us love you and we'l always support you, but we'r still going to tell you welll....let's not get into it again.

Rach, babe your the latest addition to my gal pal gang. Welcome. Hope we get to coordinate our schedules more often.Remember that day at Yo China, when we fished out our respective Advocate ID cards and threatened to take them to to Consumer Forum cuz they served us cold food with ants in it. Yup we asked for Chinese, but we'r really not in the mood for soggy ants.

Ayesha, I live vicariously through you. I love to hear all about your latest antics and give you some gyan :P

Tan, well your just married and setting up home, but wish you'd return my calls. Feels like a one-way friendship now. Maybe it's just that I remind you of days which you'd rather forget.

Yup, done with the moaning and whining for now, but I still want a gal pal to go have chaat with and go shopping with for that perfect red dress for New Year's.