Title Intentionally Left Bank

2009-10-01T10:43:00.001+05:30

Heloooo peoples!!!!

We have moved to Wordpress. Work is still in progress so kindly adjust.

Oh and the new address is http://titleintentionallyleftblank.wordpress.com/

2009-09-19T18:30:00.001+05:30

Blogger's been acting up like crazy for sometime, making it difficult for me o post anything. I will soon be moving to Wordpress & will give (all of you who do read my blog) the new link soon. That blog is still a work in progress.I also waned to wish you all Happy Durga Puja & Happy Navratras. have a blast this coming week. I am off to Cal on Monday for a week and plan to wear a whole lot of saris this time since I rarely get to wear them. Byieeeeeeeeee. Have a great time folks :)

Traffic Karma

2009-09-12T21:06:00.003+05:30

I have bad traffic karma.

(I also have bad 'my bag is always the last bag to come out after a flight' karma while we'r at it).

If there is a traffic jam, I have to be stuck in it. If there is a pile-up thanks to some car which has broken down ahead, yes yes I will be there in the middle of that pile-up, tearing my hair out and station-hopping hoping to find some good music playing and not some stupid RJ going on yadda yadda nonstop (Btw why do they all sound so bright and chirpy, don't you just feel like strangling them ever).

When it pours and the traffic (obviously) goes bonkers, I am caught up in the worst of it. My new record is 6 hours on the road. And everytime that I am suffering my bad traffic karma, my husband who has excellent traffic karma (and he refuses to pass some onto me to even things out) is either working from home that day or he is travelling. My trafic karma also extends to my train travels.

Yesterday, after I was stuck in Gurgaon for two hours and hadn't even managed to reach the toll plaza, I took an U-turn home, picked up MIL, changed from my black-n-whites into some friendly tattered denims & old tee and the two of us took off for the salon where we spent a good 4 hours. You know what they say, when life gives you lemons you make lemonade :P

What's your traffic karma?

Ooopsss!!!

2009-09-04T15:45:00.000+05:30

We plan and we plan and we coordinate schedules and we meet a friend for lunch at this Thai place in the Defence Colony Market for a Friday which in itself is a major achievement.

Said friend shows me her new ring on the left hand and we do the required 'Ooohhs' and 'Aaaahs' as that was he main purpose of the lunch.

We do the yak-yak thing where we discuss clothes and shoes and her recent trip to USA and my Mahabaleshwar trip and I tell her all about my new grey block heeled suede shoes (some ooohing and aaahing required here from you guys) while we eat the spring rolls (chicken) and drink our coke, have the main course (Thai red curry for her & Basil chicken for me), share a desert (brownies with ice cream & lots of hot chocolate sauce). And then we call for the check.

Which is when we realise that between the two of us we only have 500 bucks and no card. Ooooops.

We call the waiter and explain the situation to him, so we run down to get into her car and quickly drive to my office, which is when we realise the said car also has a puncture. Oooooops.

Full Circle

2009-09-03T11:18:00.003+05:30

Life has taken a full circle for me.

When I passed out of college in 2006 and joined work, I used to be very amazed and astounded as to how my seniors would remember dates, details of every case, innumerable judgements, quote sections & judges at the drop of a hat, use legal terminology when making normal conversation and expect the other person to understand.

Three years down the line, I call my tailor and ask if he has "amended" my kurta and then wonder why he cannot understand what I am saying.

Is Muthalik Sleeping?

2009-08-29T23:08:00.001+05:30

Have you seen the ads for Ipill? Since I couldn't find the link on Youtube, I'l just layout the bare storyboard.

1st Advertisement

Scene 1 - A young girl hurriedly getting up from breakfast table where her parents are also shown eating, grabbing her bag and hurrying out.

Scene 2 - She gets into a cab where her friend is waiting to pick her up and is shown to be very upset and is crying.

Scene 3 - They make the rounds of various abortion clinics and show that the girl is too scared to enter it.

Scene 4 - Solution is Ipill -72. Take it within 72 hours of unprotected sex and your saved from the bother of an unwanted pregnancy.

2nd Advertisement

Scene 1 - Call at midnight and girl hurries into bathroom and shuts door while answering the call.

Scene 2 - She asks details of When? Where? Exact details of time.

Scene 3 - Solution is Ipill -72. Take it within 72 hours of unprotected sex and your saved from the bother of an unwanted pregnancy.

Now a similar pill of another company going by the very befitting name of 'Unwanted-72' at least has the sense to show two married couples in their advertisements.

Now correct me if I'v got this wrong, but it sounds to me like the Ipill-72 guys are basically saying "Go ahead and have all the unprotected sex you want ladies.Just pop in an Ipill-72 within 72 hours to protect yourself from an unwanted pregnancy."

Ummm...are they encouraging young UNMARRIED girls to give into the throes of passion and sleep around (as seen from their advertisement). How did this get past the moral police? Are Muthalik and guys sleeping (literally) while UNMARRIED WOMEN sleep around and corrupt Indian culture and Indian men?

PS: I'm not even going to get into the issue of AIDS and STDs and unprotected sex.

World War V

2009-08-20T15:30:00.000+05:30

That's because WW III and WW IV are over and done with today - and that is the good news.

Ever just felt like simply screaming and letting out whatever is inside you head.

Ever felt like just curling up in your blanket to shut out the world like an ostritch hiding its head in the sand.

Ever felt like simply chucking up everything and walking away - damn all obligations & responsibilties to hell.

Ever felt its one of those days when everything is gloomy and the sun will never shine again (metaphorically speaking).

Ever felt that its one of those days when even banging your head against the wall won't make a difference.

Ever felt that its one of those days when the moment you open your mouth you know that World war V will start.

Ever felt like borrowing harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak just so that your the nly person in your world for that day.

Ever felt like your the target at the end of a firing squad.

Ever felt like saying that even chocolate won't help today.

Yes, its one of those days today.

Succesful Weekend Bachao Aandolan

2009-08-15T00:24:00.000+05:30

Thursday almost felt like the last day of school before it shut for the month-long summer vacations....or in our case a loooong 3 day weekend.That's an unheard concept in our office. We scurried around like mice trying to finish stuff before the weekend and to ensure we didn't need to come in on any of the days.I did end up carrying work home though, but I prefer to working from home rather than going in on a weekend to office. Major 'Weekend Bachao Aandolan' happened at work on all our ends.

Friday the 14th was the first day of our 'vacation'. I lolled around in bed till late, then dropped Arjun off at the mall to get tickets for an afternoon show and went to the dentist to get my stitches removed. Stitches removed (Yipppeeee) and I was also assured that the other wisdom tooth did not need to come out asap and to wait until there is some sign of toruble (Read: Pain).Phew!!!! I was torturting myself (and consequently Arjun) with thoguhtds of another week of semi-solid food.

Then an afternoon show of Kaminey, some shopping ( a very pretty white shirt for work and a strappy blue top). Then off for the opening of a friend's exhibition (photography) where I was strictly warned not to say anything beyond 'Oh very pretty/nice'. You see I'm not one who understands too much of artistic adaayein etc. and I never get the 'The white depicts good & black depicts the darkness and evil' kind of dialogues and end up making some very stupid remarks (Oh well, I'v had some of my wisdom extracted. Now what do you expect me to understand with only half my wisdom still with me. I pick and choose what to use the wisdom on :P)

Oh and go watch Kaminey....Dhan ta da :P

Solid phaataphaati movie guru...we Bongs are mad, but we still rock :P

Guess who's baaaaaaack

2009-08-06T11:51:00.000+05:30

Ths is dedicated to all my loyal blogger pals ( Wish I could say that I also had a few fans) who still bother to drop by and check up on me. Hey guys...I'm still alive and kicking. Just not been writing. This hiatus was not an intentional one - just that everyday something came up, and I'd say "Oh!!! I have afew minutes...I'l comment on this blog and that blog" and then due to paucity of time, I'd miss out on penning a few lines in my own blog. Or I'd read some wonderful posts like this one by Chandni or this by Mumbai Diva or this by Dee or this by Miss M or this by Ria or this by Mad Momma or this by Monica or this by Lostie or this by D or this by Indian Homemaker, and then I wonder what could I write that you guys would still come read me.

I haven't been upto much off late though I did make a long overdue flying visit to Bombay from where a busload of us drove down from Bombay to Mahabaleshwar. The drive was wonderful and we (three of us who went from Delhi and have all studied in Pune) hogged on sabudana kichdi/ wada, poha, upma, vada pao & dabelis. We drove through clouds too at one point.

Here are a few pics from the journey taken from my very basic 'point & shoot' digicam.

This is the three of us who went from the Delhi office.

We partied all night and totally let our hair down & took the first bus back from Mahabaleshwar to aamchi Mumbai to take the late evening flight back to saddi Dilli. We drove through Pune too at one point and the whole bus (which was a whole bunch of people who had studied in Pune) was trying to coax the boss that we had to stop and pitch tent there. The whole time that we were in Mahabaleshwar, it rained ad it poured & we were constantly wet & cold, but it was good fun. A great impromptu trip.

The same weekend that i had gone to Bombay & Mahabaleshwar, Arjun had gone to Hyderabad on work and satyed back there for a couple of days to spend time with his best friend - Johnnie (who makes the best biryani ever). He had a great time with his friends & I had a great time with my friends. He also got me back pearls & glass bangles from the city of the Nizam.

And after the fun times, we'r now gettuing our house painted & some minor renovations & all done. It started last Sunday & we'r hoping that it will be done by this weekend. i'm also due for some minor surgery tomorrow.

And at work, i'v been banging my head against the proverbial brick wall.

I also got loads of chocolates yesterday from my lovely bro in Chennai and a very close friend, who's also my rakhi brother.

Yup so I'v been busy. Btw, all those who'v managed to read till here, I have a question?

If you had a million dollars & could live off the interest for the rest of your life, what would you do? Would you give up working? Join an NGO? Travel the rest of your life? Live your dream?

Abh to Main Jawaan Hoon

2009-07-21T12:08:00.001+05:30

I feel soooooooo old. Its a bad bad thing when your the eldest among all cousins and the rest are all just about starting college and most are still in school. I feel soooo old when my 7 year old cousin asked me if I was born when 'Yeh kaali kaali aankhen' was around and when I replied in the affirmative, he looked so shocked.

Another little kiddo is soon going to hostel and he tells me they have washing machines and tea/coffee vending machines in their hostel so he does not need to learn how to wash clothes or make chai/coffee/maggi and then tells me 'Didi, aajkal hostels are also well-equipped, not pre-hisoric like when you stayed that you had no washing machine.

Prehistoric? And I was in hostel in 2001.

Another of my friends got asked by her 10 year old brother to help him with his school project and proceeded to instuct her on this wonderful site called 'Wikipedia'. Simply type in what you want and you get everything. No need to look through 20 books to make a ten page project.

We still have a few years to go before we see the big 'Three-Oh'.

Abhi to main jawaan hoon.

Side-effects of being an Advocate

2009-07-09T16:00:00.000+05:30

You own an entire wardrove in black and white and you own at least 5-6 pairs of shoes/ sandals in black
You think wearing light pink on a weekday is very colourful
You do a good imitation of Govinda's fondness for colours on weekends
You often begin your sentences as 'I humbly submit....' or 'BECAUSE...' or 'That it has been conclusively held...' or 'My learned friend does not appreciate that...' or 'Qua...' and then wonder why people think it's odd
You humbly 'pray' before your 'Ld. Senior' for leave and state that the said prayer will not adversely affect any other party
You are often accosted by various autowalas/ strangers on the road when they see you coming out of court to represent them on their land/ dowry/ divorce/ family dispute matters and they start telling you in agonising detail all about it
You send your credit card company a detailed letter about the late payment penalty and sign off as Advocate and they reverse the charges (Yup that actually happened to me)
You don't get a car loan or any other loan or if you do, you have to pay pretty high interest on it
You tell your credit card company that your a consultant
You promise your dhobi that you will draft a legal notice on his behalf if he promsies to bring your clothes on time
You demand a statement for charges levied on your account by the Bank and after perusing the same you write to the Bank that the charges levied are in violation of the Apex Court's judgment and if not reversed within 7 working days, appropriate proceeings shall be instituted in the appropiate forum and they shall be responsible for all costs incurred
You are told not to be a lawyer (like its a dirty word) when your fighting with the other half
You get accused of being a lawyer. PERIOD

I feel so good today....

2009-06-23T15:13:00.000+05:30

cuz I'm wearing one of my most favourite and oldest tops which dates back to my second year of college and my favourite pair of bangle-sized silver hoop earrings.

PS: Bangle-sized hoop earrings were my trademak in my college days :)

Minding your Ps & Qs

2009-06-11T17:54:00.000+05:30

Three words which I use most often are Sorry, Please & Thank you. I say it to everyone - be it my family, my friends, colleagues, clerks or any random person. I don't think it makes me smaller than the other person or a pushover.

I say thank you to the office boy when he gives me coffee or to my colleague when he lends me a pen or to my husband when he prepares a lovely dinner or my mother when she gives me a gift. It surprises quite a few people when I say thank you to someone for having done their job - whether the job is serving me with coffee or selling me a pack of biscuits from his grocery shop or whether it is running to get me the correct size of the clothing that I am trying on.

I say sorry when I mistakenly stamp someone's foot in the bus or a crowded room or when I hurt someone.

I say please when I ask for anything from anyone, be it my husband or the clerk.

A smile and a word go a long way - whether it is the sales person altering your outfit & giving it to you the same day for the party or when you request the court master to adjust a date. I don't believe in smiling and talking politely only when I need something or when the boss is around.

I am of the belief that practising common courtesy with family, friends, co-workers or any random person is a way of life. I also believe that it reflects very negatively when a person does not practice it. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but if I have given someone a time and know that I am going to be late, I will call and apologise for the same. If smeone takes me out for a meal, I will say thank you. Even if I know the person really well, I will still say please, sorry & thank you.

Sadly, not many practice basic courtesy today. I see parents not teaching their kids any manners saying they will learn it later. Later? When later? I see kids in whose dictionaries, sorry & thank you does not even exist.

People tell me I am a pushover since I use these words freely. I beg to differ. People who know me will be the first to state that whatever else I maybe, a pushover is the last thing that I am. If someone takes me for granted because I use sorry & thank you, then that person is very much mistaken.

For me it is a way of life & speech.

A Day of Taking Stock

2009-06-09T17:27:00.000+05:30

Today I complete a quarter of a century on this earth. I am now officially grown up after having left home 8 years ago, 5 years of hostel/ PG life, 3 years of work, 1 year of staying with relatives and 2 years of marriage. It's a good day to take stock. Chandni & Kiran have written so beautifully on what they have gained and droppen to reach where they are today. It made me think.

Today is a good day for introspective stocktaking.

I have a wonderful family which has supported me all through. I have married a wonderful man who is my life. I have been lucky to have a second set of parents in my in-laws.

What have I gained? A wonderful man to call my husband and stand by my side always and a second set of parents for starters.

I have gained a wonderful set of friends who are also my family - both old & new.

I have gained patience and the wisdom of accepting people for who they are.

I have gained the knowledge that I am not perfect and not everyone is good.

I have also learned that i don't always need to raise a scene to get my work done - it can be done with a smile and a friendly voice.

I have also gained a few kilos :(

I have also gained quite a few pairs of shoes & bags.

I have learnt that I am not always responsible and that I can't take on the liability of being responsible for someone else's action, on which I have no influence.

I have dropped those who I thought were my friends, but turned out to be serpents in sheep's clothing.

I have dropped the habit of being judgmental.

I am trying hard to drop the habit of taking everything personally, and to develop a thick skin.

I am climbing up the ladder professionally. I have learnt that I don't need to be a lawyer 24/7. I have learnt that it is okay to be me. People can accept me for what I am, and if they can't then balls to them - their loss. I have learnt to grow up and not blame others for my actions.

I will not call myself mature, but I can say that I am getting there.

Block continues

2009-06-01T18:23:00.000+05:30

Aaargghhhhhhhh....my blogger's block continues. I can write and hold discourses on void& voidable contracts for hours, but right now the moment I sit down to write a post, my mind draws a blank. I'm giving it another day and then I'm going to write 'An Autobiography of a Coin' and I want comments from all of you (not the 'Can do better' ones my teachers loved to give, though in all fairness I was always ahead of the class in English and History)

Long Time No See

2009-05-26T14:01:00.000+05:30

Hey amigos...been a while since I have posted anything. Blame it on my blogger's block and my non-exciting life currently.

Been shuttling between work and home mostly. Some family visits too kept me busy. Good news is that we finally bought a car and should be getting delivery by Sunday (fingers crossed). I also need to now to revive my rusty driving skills. Other news is that court vacations are coming up in June so I plan on wearing the brightest of colours to work on a weekday (yes, it is a very big thing). June will also bring my birthday (yipppeeeee) so those of you who want to wish me 9th June is the B-day. Yes I am a little kid when it comes to birthdays. I like the traditional trappings - chocolate cake (Can anyone tell me where did his tradition of cutting cakes start to celebrate a birthday and I know we got this cake idea from the Brits?), gift wrapping paper to tear off the gifts, lots of love and wishes from my family and friends (It makes me feel really good to know that there are people who bothered to remember my birthday and take the effort to call and wish me). Other news also includes my little cousin bro (little for me at least) having cracked the IIT and a horde of us raising a cheer and banging the table in Delhi at a posh resteraunt, leaving the rest of its patrons wondering what we were cheering about now that IPL is also over.

Ya ummmm well that's it for now folks...if my blogger's block continues, I am going to have to start writing essays on 'Rainy day' or 'How I spent my Summer Vacations' or 'Autobiography of a Coin' just so that I can post something here and not feel vaguely guilty about not posting more often.

2009-05-20T18:17:00.000+05:30

I have been having a blogger's block for sometime so I'm doing this tag which I saw on someone's blog (Sorry I don't remember whose. If its yours, please tell me and I shall acknowledge you :P)

Hope my block gets unblocked.

LAST
1. Last beverage: Water

2. Last phone call: Client call
3. Last text message: To a colleague in Bombay
4. Last song you listened to: 'Lonely is the night'
5. Last time you cried: Been a while now

HAVE YOU EVER
6. Dated someone twice? As in breaking up and then again getting back together? Yes.
7. Been cheated on? Nope

8. Kissed someone & regretted it? Nope
9. Lost someone special? Yup
10. Been depressed? Yup
11. Been drunk and thrown up? Yup & managed to teach Arjun counting from 1 to 5 :P

12. Kissed a stranger? Nope
13. Lost glasses/contacts? Contacts - Oh yes :(
14. Had sex on first date? Nope
15. Broken someone’s heart? So I'v been told
16. Had your own heart broken? Yup - by John Abraham, Rahul Dravid, Hrithik Roshan & Tom Cruise
17. Been arrested? Nope but I have been inside a jail :P
18. Turned someone down? Yup. Quite a few someones in fact
19. Cried when someone died? Yup
20. Liked a friend that is a girl? Oh! I ‘like’ them all(in a non-lesbo way) :P

IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE YOU
21. Made new friends? Yes of course.

22. Fallen out of love? Nope, but I did fall even more in love with the man I have married :)
23. Laughed until you cried? Oh yes
24. Met someone who changed you? I'm thinking on that. Marriage has changed me so I can say Arjun has changed me.
25. Found out who your true friends were? I always knew who they were :)

26. Found out someone was talking about you? Yup

WHAT’S YOUR
27. Name: SMM
28. Nicknames: Plenty :P

29. Relationship status: Married
30. Zodiac sign: Gemini (My birthday's coming up...yeahhhhh)
31. Male or female or transgendered: Definitely female!
32. Elementary: Tiny Tots, Vishakapatnam

33.School: Quite a few though I finally passed out of Ashok Hall, Calcutta
34. Colleges: Symbiosis Society's Law College
35. Hair color: Black
36. Long or short: Depends :P
37. Height: 5′6″

FIRSTS
38. First surgery: None till date thankfully
39. First piercing: Got my ears pierced when I was barely a year old is what my mommy tells me

40. First best friend: I'v been told it was our neigbour's daughter (Pooja I think is what her name was)

41. First sport you loved:Swimming I think

42. First pet: None
43. First vacation: Calcutta I guess
44. First concert: Too far back to remember. I'm a Bong, you see. Concerts are a part of our Puja functions.

RIGHT NOW
45. Eating: Nothing right now
46. Drinking: Water
47. I’m about to: Start drafting the replication
48. Listening to: Colleagues talking (Ipod out of charge)

49. Waiting for: the 9th of June (my birthday for those of you who don't know. Gifts welome - caste no bar, age no bar, sex no bar)

YOUR FUTURE
50. Want kids? Yes definitely
51. Want to get married? I'm already married and last I heard bigamy is not allowed for Hindus :P
52. Careers in mind? A best-selling author

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
53. Lips or eyes: Ummmmmmmm....both :P
54. Hugs or kisses: Both :P
55. Shorter or taller: Taller
56. Older or younger: He's older than me and I'm not planning on acquiring any other 'he':P

57. Romantic or spontaneous: Spontaneously romantic :)
58. Nice stomach or nice arms: Both :P
59. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive
60. Hook-up or relationship: Already hooked, booked and cooked :P
61. Trouble maker or hesitant: Trouble-maker. that's me :P

DO YOU BELIEVE IN
62. Yourself: Mostly
63. Miracles: Yes please...I really need a few here
64. Love at first sight: So I was told :P
65. Heaven: I wonder if there really is heaven & hell
66. Santa Claus: Sadly no more
67. Kiss on the first date: Yeah but a chaste one :P
68. Angels: And fairy godmothers too :P

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS
69. Fuschia pink
70. Purple
71. Black

72. Red

73. Have you kissed anyone on your friends list? Orkut/FB friends list? Yeah. My husband's on both :P
74. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life? Almost all

75. How many kids do you want to have? 2
76. Do you have any pets? No
77. Do you want to change your name? Nooooooooo
78. What did you do for your last birthday? Work, shop, candlelight dinner, home :P
79. What time did you wake up today? 6:15 am
80. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping
81. Name something you CANNOT wait for? A 2 day weekend absolutely uninterrupted by work :P

82. Last time you saw your father? March 2009
83. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life? Not much right now. Maybe a good maid who can cook :P

84. Most visited webpage: Igoogle
85. Do you have a crush on someone? John Abraham :P
86. Ever been in love? Truly, madly, deeply
87. Piercings? Ears
88. Tattoos? No!
89. Righty or lefty: Righty
90. On Internet since: Actively since 2001
91. Video game: Not particularly
92. When left alone: I read or finish my chores or cook or sleep or do thousands of things. I love my own company :)

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY
93. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Already met my mom earlier this month and I'm already with the one person I otherwise wanted to be with :P
94. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? Yup :P
95. Wanted to kill some one ever? Yes - quite a few
96. Among your blog mates, who would you like to kiss? Arjun :P
97. Committed a blunder and regretted later? Yes
98. Wanted to steal your friend’s boyfriend / girlfriend? Nope
99. Wanted to run away from your loved ones in anger, because they didn’t listen? I have wanted to leave in anger many a time but haven't yet and hope I never will
100. Posting this as 100 Truths? Not a bad idea

Harry Bellafonte vs. Linkin Park

2009-05-12T19:03:00.000+05:30

Caveat: This is a meandering post where I know not what I have written cuz the words just flew from my heart.

From an early age I learn to keep my emotions hidden and not give others any hook by which they could scoop me up. Children are sometimes very mean and cruel, without probably meaning to, and I experienced this young. This was probably because of my dad's ill health which had already started showing up. First, he started limping, then he started using a walking stick (which for a serving defence officer is a big blow to his ego), then he had o take premature medical retirement, he moved to a wheelchair, and now depending on his health, either he is bed-ridden or on a wheelchair.

Unfortunately, I also have a thin skin. To survive the cruel barbs of many, I pretended that I had a thick skin and laughed away many barbs, and believing offense to be the best defence, I made quite a few barbs myself. Not something that I am proud of. This also led to my developing a pretty sharp tongue which I have now learnt to tone down. I have learnt to swallow angry words sometimes, since a word from me when angry and reckless would probably lead to WW III.

As a child, I was never one of the most popular ones or the cutest ones. I learnt to take it in my stride. I tried hard to be what they were and fit in, but I stuck out like a square peg in a round hole (to use a cliche). I made some wonderful friends in school and college who gave me the confidence to be what I am and we were a bundle of squares, rounds, triangles, rectangles, pentagons and other wonderful shapes and we gave a damn about what was the shape of the hole (no pun intended - just keeping in line with the cliche) cuz we learned to make our own , and not what anybody else wanted to perceive me as. Today, other than my friends, my husband gives me that confidence.

Unfortunately, it is tough to come across such people in today's world - the drummers who march to their own tune (I seem to be into cliches today). Alot of people claim to be such a person, but very few actually are. Its tough to say I prefer Harry Bellafonte when the whole world swears by Linkin Park.

Elections? Really?

2009-05-04T14:43:00.000+05:30

The elections in Gurgaon are scheduled on 7th of May 2009. Today is the 4th of May 2009. Visit my part of Gurgaon - you'd never know that the national elections are underway. No party has come to our area for campaigning, no officer has visited the area for the purpose of including names in the electoral role, a visit to the Mini Secratariat to submit the application was futile.

It seems that new Gurgaon (as opposed to old Gurgaon) does not figure anywhere on any party's list - maybe because this area mainly comprises of urbane professionals who have come to Gurgaon from other parts of India. We pay taxes but we shall have no say in our candidate or our Government. Being a conscientious citizen I would like to exercise my right and my duty to vote, but I very much doubt that my name is included in the electoral role. Since I am not a dalit or an OBC, and neither do I belong to any minority sect or economically backward class and also pay my taxes religiously since I have started working, the parties and their candidates obviously feel that our votes don't count. I don't even know where my voting centre is though the elections are hardly 3 days away.

The part of Gurgaon where I stay has minimal infrastructure - little or none public transport which I can use, no taxis or autos also in place, unreliable electricity supply, safety of women after dark is questionable. If one does not have a car in Gurgaon, one has little option but to travel by the public transport which is notorious and unadvisable for women or hire expensive private taxis. The roads are bad. The famous Kachra Chowk and Anaath Road say it all.

So elections really? Definitely not happening in my part of India.

I PUBLICLY RENOUNCE KOLKATA KNIGHT-RIDERS

2009-05-02T16:08:00.000+05:30

Picture courtesy: http://www.dancewithshadows.com

I have whole-heartedly supported the Kolkata Knight Riders the previous season as well as this season. Guess I didn't learn my lesson well last year. However, this team does not deserve my support. This team has let me and millions of its other fans down by giving up which shows in its very attitude. I have defended KKR all throughout, but they don't deserve one bit of this support. They were never a team to begin with. I was supporting Sourav Ganguly and will continue to state that he is one of India's best players. I will also state that it is my humble opinion that Shahrukh Khan chose chose his coach and his skipper unwisely. That is I reiterate, only my humble opinion.

Nonetheless I don't have any more enthusiasm to cheer for this team anymore or scream "Korbo, lorbo, jeetbo re". If KKR had gone down fighting, I would have supported them, but KKR has gone out with a whimper - not what I would expect from my team.

Today I publicly renounce my support to the KKR team. I shall now divide my support between Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians.

Disclaimer: If KKR does come back with a bang the next season and makes it to the semi-finals, I shall support them again. Today I am only one, but KKR has lost alot of its supporters. They need to play and win matches, and bring us back into the fold again. We want to be there.

Power of Pink

2009-05-01T18:39:00.000+05:30

That's the pink bag I bought last Saturday from Benetton :)

Arjun has raised a question here on the power of pink.

There are various theories on the net suggesting why women like pink -

Because it is the ultimate romantic colour (Barbara Cartland was renowned for her pink boudoir, carefully colour-coordinated to include a couple of suitably primrose-rinsed Pekingese)
Because pink represents feminity and girlishness
Because it suits everyone (fair, dark, wheatish complexions)
Because women are genetically wired toward pink
Because females were the fruit gatherers and it was easier to pick our pink/ red hues in a green background of vegetation

Research has shown that this colour preference/ bias toward pink is universal among females - nationality no bar, age no bar, female baar baar :P

Besides love and romance, pink is also associated with softcore communism. While a hardcore Communist is Red, a left liberal socialist is often referred to as a pinko, which endorses the individual's communist leanings and is a back-handed compliment.

Pink has also been used in the articulation of social and sexual freedom by homosexuals across the world in what are known as 'Pink Parades'.

Pink is also associated with the Pink Ribbon Foundation, which provides support to those undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

More recently, pink was also used as a weapon in the Pink Chaddi campaign, where pink was used to symbolise 'frivolousness' which is all what the Ram Sene is.

On my part, pink and more specifically, rani pink/ fuschia is my chosen shade which I wore for my engagement and my reception.

Now the question arises, why do I go for pink?

Well, I go for pink simply because I like it. If I had to make a choice between a pink tee and any other colour, 8 out of 10 times, I will end up choosing pink. When shopping I automatically end up gravitating toward the pinks. I admit to owning quite a few pinks in my wardrobe - tees, tops, kurtas, suits, saris and of course, my lehenga. This colour gives me a high and makes me feel good. It makes me feel feminine and powerful enough to take on even Darth Vader (okay that's an exaggeration, but I can take on the Hubby for sure :P).

And its also bright enough to compensate for the lack of colour in my otherwise black-and-white life. I end here with the lyrics of Aerosmith's Pink:

Pink - it’s my new obsession
Pink - it’s not even a question,
Pink - on the lips of your lover
(oh)
‘Cause Pink is the love you discover
Pink - as the bing on your cherry
Pink - ’cause you are so very
Pink - it’s the color of passion
Ah, ’cause today it just goes with the fashion
Pink - it was love at first sight
Yeah, Pink - when I turn out the light
And Pink gets me high as a kite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight
You could be my flamingo
‘Cause pink - it’s the new kinda of lingo
Pink - like a deco umbrella
It’s kink that you don’t ever tell her
Pink - it was love at first sight
And Pink when I turn out the light
Pink gets me high as a kite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight
Yeah!
I want to be your lover
I, I wanna wrap you in rubber
And it’s pink as the sheets that we lay on
‘Cause Pink - it’s my favorite crayon
Yeah!
Pink - it was love at first sight
Pink - when I turn out the light
Pink - it’s like red but not quite
And I think, everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight

Goofy Childhood Tales

2009-04-28T18:59:00.000+05:30

Pal had tagged us to tell tales of the goofy things we did as kids. I'v done loads, but I'm going to have censor some.

When my dad would return home, I would take his big heavy white uniform shoes in two hands and bring him his slippers. If I couldn't find the slippers, I used to tug the slippers off my mom's feet and take them to him
In Vizag, there was this particular road in the colony which had a steep valley and was the favourite spot for all of us kids to cycle. Two of us used to come down the two slopes from opposite ends with legs in the air straight at each other. The one who swerved first was the one who lost. Onetime, both of us did not swerve, and we banged into each other damaging our cycles and falling into the barbed wire on the side. I ended up getting stitches on my knee
I was so excited the first time I got homework from school that I woke my dad up the next day to take me to school early since I had completed it :P
Perk is my favourite chocolate. Even jumped jumped from the first floor balcony during a vella summer vacation and won a bet for 9 perks. Also broke my ankle. Had to wear plaster for a good 4 weeks in the Calcutta summers.
I was all set to travel from Bombay to Calcutta on the truck taking our furniture, car etc. when we got transferred till my dad yelled at me to get off the truck
My friend and I would hide our Mills & Boons behind our textbooks and read during class. One time the teacher got suspicious and asked us what we were reading, so S gave sme vague answer. Then the teacher asked us which page we were on. S confidently replied "Pg. 79." The teacher quietely says the class is on Pg. 84. Immediately S looks at me and says "Mam, what to do? SMM is such a slow reader." (Okay this was probably not goofy but definitely funny in hindsight)
I started writing a school series inspired by Malory Towers and St. Clairs. Yet to complete it. I wanted to be the next Enid Blyton.
After every class, we used to have a prize giving ceremony at home
I still insist on two gifts from my parents. My logic being I get them 2 gifts, so they can't cheat and give me only 1 gift :P

I don't name anyone specifically to do this tag. If you want to do it, go ahead and do it and tell me that you have done it please. I wanna read your goofy tales too :)

Randomly - About Kasauli & IPL

2009-04-24T12:18:00.000+05:30

Well first things first....thanks all of you who wished us and boo to those who didn't :P

We had a great time a Kasauli as you can see from our snaps. We stayed in a cottage in a resort called Baikunth.

That's my other half posing on the overhanging porch outside our cottage. You can see a part of the cottage on the left. We had this lovely window seat in the cottage with a huge glass window so you could read and look outside in the mountains and contemplate as well. I'v told Arjun that when we buy our own house, I want a window seat like that too.

That's yours truly shivering away in the late evening breeze in the lovely garden. They had a lovely garden with garden swings, wrought iron and jute garden furniture with canopies. We did plan on dining out every night, except for the fact that I forgot to carry a jacket, and the true blue Bong that I am, I would start shivering at the slightest breeze. We did manage to have drinks outside though one night :)

That's me posing on a lovely sunny morning in our porch.You can see the mountains and trees in the background. This was before our Kerala massage. The resort had a Kerala massage facility, so both of us got a body massage done. That was really really great. Ideal anniversary - eat, sleep, get a massage done, watch the IPL matches, spend quality time with each other, go for a hike, lots of photo-ops for my shutterbug hubby,and reading time for me. Added plus point for Arjun was that since we not staying in the main Kasauli town, I did no shopping and the gift shop at the resort was only discovered on the last day and it was closed.

These Raybans were Arjun's anniversary gift. I got them made for his power. The guy was thrilled with his first ever shades (He would use the money to buy another lens/ camera stuff) and getting sunglasses custom-made are well....always secondary to his camera. This now demands the story of how he became a bakra. These were a total surprise for him and he had no idea whatsoever that I had ordered these for him and had asked them to be delivered at his parent's place. Friday night his parents came over to meet us before we left and my MIL gave me the Rayban box in front of him. This guy huffed and puffed cuz he thought I went and bought myself a sunglasses and didn't get him anything and slunk off to a corner with beer in hand to sulk. he even refused to see them. My FIL tried them on and said in a totally surprised tone "Are, these are power wale sunglasses, but they'r not my power." My MIL said they'r too big for her face. Then I tried them on as well and said they were not my power. By the end of all this drama, Arjun figured out they were for him and well...the glee on his face said it all.

That's the lovely couple taking a breather during their hike.

That is the one and only desert I had in our 4 days there. Hey, I have to have something mitha on my 2nd anniversary.

That is Kasauli at night.

There were wind-chimes hung up in all unlikely places and we could hear them tinkling every time the wind blew but we couldn't however see them, except for this one we spotted on a tree.

And that is my favourite photographer caught in action :)

Pictures: Courtesy Arjun Mahajan. These are his copyrighted images and any unauthorized usage will not be taken lightly.

********************************************************************************************************

Now about IPL. Down with SRK. He makes Dada a judge on some stupid cheerleaders and the strips him off his captaincy. Use saari Bangaliyon ke gaaliyan padengi. uski saari movies flop karenge. (Btw where are the selected cheerleaders? I have only seen the blonde babes dancing).

Oh and do check out the Fake IPL Player. Don't know who he is and if he actually is who he claims to be, i.e., a fake IPL player, but he sure is bringing us his aankhon dekha masala gossip straight from South Africa.

2009-04-17T17:41:00.000+05:30

We'r off for the weekend....we plan on having loads of fun :P

And you guys have a great weekend too :)

See ya on Wednesday.

Mini Vacation

2009-04-14T12:51:00.003+05:30

I llllove long weeekends. They are like a mini-vacation in themselves. However, what is a long weekend for me is generally not considered a long weekend by the saner working population.

For me, Sunday is a weekend. A half-day on a Saturday is a long weekend and two whole days of no office work carried home/calls/meetings/ conferences/draftings etc etc etc. is a mini-vacation. I had a mini-vacation this weekend.

And the next weekend, Arjun and me are off to Kasauli to bring in our 2nd anniversary. We'v almost completed 2 years. Time does fly. I know its a cliche, but it does seem like just yesterday that we got married and I just moved to Gurgaon. Last year, we brought in our first anniversary in Jaipur and this time we'r off to Kasauli. We'v decided to go away every year at this time and take a short break for as long as we can manage. Now I just have my fingers & toes crossed that nothing comes up at the last minute and we do manage to go away.

However, this week is rather hectic for both of us since we won't be here for two days next week and the last minute court holiday today has thrown things a little out of gear. Makes getting up and going on the treadmill every morning verrrry tough indeed. However, FF vasiyon, I promise I don't intend to use this as a continued excuse. Please kick my ass and send me back on the treadmill.

2009-04-10T12:58:00.000+05:30

Recently overheard:

'If the geography is good why worry about the history?'

Old Friends

2009-04-08T14:23:00.003+05:30

Tell me would I be wrong if I was upset with someone who was my closest friend once upon a time and she cut me off after her marriage claiming she was forever busy?

Tell me would I be wrong if I told her that friendship cannot be one-sided and that I have tried enough to maintain it?

Tell me would I be wrong if I told her that I was upset with her for having suddenly cut me out?

Tell me would I be wrong if I told her that she was not the only who had to manage home, a demanding job and in-laws?

Tell me would I be wrong if I told her that I have heard her sorry's so many times now that it makes no difference because she has not acted upon them?

Tell me would I be wrong if I told her that she would have to show me that my friendship means something to her before it can get anywhere close to where it was?

Tell me if I am stupid that I still give her a chance after so many times because I value our friendship, or what it once was?

Tell me if I am wrong in that I still mis her since she was my closest friend and knows me inside-out and vice versa?

Tagtime - 1,2,3,...

2009-04-02T17:30:00.005+05:30

Hey folks. Been a while. Blame it on work. We poor over-worked, impoverished lawyers.

So Mumbai Diva has tagged me...I have to assign the importance of each of the numbers from 1 - 10.

1 - The class when I started reading - from Noddy to 7'o Clock tales - I devoured them all.

2 - The number of years that Arjun and me have been married (well almost 2 - we complete 2 years this month). Also the number of children I want.

3 - The number of years that I have been out of college and on my own in this big bad world

4 - The number of my closest friends whom I can tell anything and everything

5 - The number of years I spent in Pune and of which I have very fond memories

6 - The month of my birthday :D

7 - The number of years since I have left home

8 - The number of kilos I aim on losing

9 - My date of birth (Yes I am obsessed about my birthday - Kya karen? Comes only once a year :P )

10 - The plots I have in my brain for my books :P

Okie this was fun...I tag Arjun, Utopia, Lostie, Ria and Rachita to do it. And anyone else who wants do it. Do it and ping me. I'l come and check out your countdown too.

2009-03-28T13:06:00.005+05:30

So after my cribbing on my previous post about my weighty issues, Roo has got a few of us together and we have a new blog at Fitness Fervor. We'r going to be motivating each other so that finally gives someone the right to officially kick my butt when it comes to these issues :P

On an aside, I just realized I am officially like all growed up (nope that's not a typo) now. I have been married for almost two years now, my maid does not try to tell me how to do stuff anymore, I can cook and can call people over for dinner with about a day's notice, I talk all growed-up stuff with my school friends when we meet like job security, work satisfaction, husbands, investments, family functions, maid problems (nope we DO NOT and WILL NOT discuss saas-bahu serials), upcoming marriages of friends, kids of friends who have had them, we check our diaries when we can meet up and schedule lunches/ coffees/ drinks/ dinners, we ask "Are you busy/ Is this a good time?" when we call each other, we are used to our lunches/ coffees/ drinks/ dinners getting canceled at the last minutes cuz "Work has come up", we plan our weekends at least 10 days advance, we got parlours and get facials/ pedicures/ manicures while reading the latest Cosmo, we have chairs with wheels (For me as a kid, they were the ultimate sign of office), we seriously discuss buying our own house.

Yup I'm all growed up now. It's still sinking in. Sometimes I still feel like I am 6 years old especially when I go home, and I find that my favourite desert has been made and I lick the kadhai in which it was made with my fingers like I used to.

2009-03-23T16:58:00.003+05:30

Something I have been ignoring for a while now - my weight. I am some 5 kgs overweight. I plan to lose them asap. But I don't want to go on a crash diet. I want to lose it through proper diet and exercise. I have been researching online for what would be doable by me and have zeroed in on these

Brisk walk on the treadmill
Skipping (I need to buy a skipping rope this evening)
Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day (well I already drink upto 2 litres everyday)
Stomach crunches
Cut down on the coke, chocolates ice cream and sweets (I can't completely cut them out - I'm a Bong after all)
Eat healthy
Cut down on the junk food
Snack healthy
Stair-climbing

I am a healthy eater (in terms of portions) and I really don't intend to start living on a lettuce leaf. Another problem is that lack of exercise coupled with increase in intake fatty/junk food/ chocolates has resulted in these extra kilos. Till college, I was always a very active person - swimming, cycling, walking, running, climbing trees (for the jamuns and the keris and our meetings in the tree house), running up and down stairs (I used to hate waiting for the lift), basketball(in school) etc. were a part of my daily routine.

My resolution (for the new financial year) is that keeping in tune with recession, I shall lose the extra kilos and get back to a healthy, non-flabby body. I guess I had become complacent. Without being vain, I was always proud of my figure and stamina (take it in terms of walking 2.5 kms uphill in less than 15 minutes and no other way you dirty minds). People have always complimented me for it so I never ever thought that I could become flabby. I want to lose all this unsightly fat. I have never ever been conscious of what I wore - now I have to think this is figure hugging, so my tummy is going to show. Though I am slim, I have a broad bone structure, so the extra kilos don't show up so much YET. I am a married woman, but does not mean that I sit back and pile on the kilos. My mother and my mother-in-law have both maintained themselves very well. Even in their fifties, they look so good in jeans. That's what I want.

If any of you have any weight-loss tips, pliss to give folks.

Slaving away earning my remuneration

2009-03-21T19:46:00.001+05:30

Waaaaaah...I had written this whole post about losers who like to dose out sarcastic comments to others, but when its their turn to take it they turn around and say "Hey, no need to get personal". There was some glitch when I hit the 'Publish' button and my post seems to have disappeared.

Anyway 7:45 on a Saturday evening and yours truly is still slaving in office and making a poor intern slave away too (well they got to earn their 5k don't they by sacrificing at least one Saturday evening). Hey I'm not a slave driver but deadlines are deadlines. I am not too happy about the fact that I have sacrificed my Saturday as well as my Sunday. Arjun's in Calcutta (he had the hugest prawns ever last night made for him by his sasuma, aka my mom). My mom's delighted. I was in Cal last weekend and this weekend Arjun is in Cal. Oh well....I'l go get some TLC from the in-laws :)

Find a bloody cure for the damn Common Cold

2009-03-20T15:46:00.001+05:30

We have cures for TB, for cancer, we clone sheep. We'r in the 21st fucking century.

BUT WE DON'T HAVE A BLOODY CURE FOR THE COMMON COLD.

What's wrong with the bloody scientists? They'r working on molecules and atoms and protons and electrons.

Find a bloody cure for the common cold. For sinus. For earache. For wisdom teeth hurting. Whoever comes up with a cure will get my undying gratitude and blessings. Not to mention the Nobel prize and tonnes of money for the next twenty generations.

For the past week, I have been suffering from a cold, and a sore throat and earache.Everyone's a bloody doctor when it comes to a cold - take steam, gargle with saline water, have some hot soup, have haldi doodh. Oh you only have a cold - nothing serious. Your tinny voice (thanks to the sore throat) is just so damn funny. You sound like someone who'd say "Earthling take me to your leader".

Ya right. My blocked ears, blocked nose, sore throat and of course, the rock band playing inside my head are all great fun to me. It's simply great to get up feeling like I'm bloody hungover when I haven't touched a drop for the past ten days. It's so much fun to try walk to the loo and then grab a chair somewhere in between to sit down cuz your head suddenly decides to take a spin. It's so much fun when your wisdom teeth decide to join the party so you can't even open your mouth properly to slurp the bloody chicken soup - the fucking panacea for all the ailments in the world.

FIND A BLOODY CURE FOR SINUS PEOPLE. GIVE ME SOME SYMPATHY. IT'S NOT FUNNY TO LOOK AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN AND FIND IT SWIMMING IN FRONT OF MY EYES OR TALKING WITH A SCARY VOICE WHICH I CAN BARELY RECOGNIZE MYSELF.

100th Post

2009-03-16T12:28:00.001+05:30

Woohooo people...I'v completed a century (and a little more than a year as well) :P

Anyway lot o tell. We had a super-amazing Holi party. We got all dirtied up and had loads of fun. You can see the photos here. We played only with herbal colours and lots of water. Surprisingly it took only 20 minutes under the shower to clean up - no rashes, no breakouts nothing. I did end up with fever and a sore throat though on Wednesday evening, which resulted in my being on an enforced maun vrat on Thursday in office. I played dumb charades all day and sent a lot of mails to my colleagues since I couldn't shout across the cubicles and ask them as we usually do. They thought it was awfully funny.

Anyway left early Friday morning for Calcutta. Saw Vivek Oberoi at the aiport dressed in a chappri (sidey/ roadside - don't know how to translate it) pink tee and maaroing loads of attitude. sadly for him, nooone daaloed him any ghaas and as an old gentleman behind me commented "Who is that bugger? Does he have ants up his pants?". Mr. Oberoi was accompanied by a bunch of wannabes who thought they had something over the rest of us plebeians since Vivek Oberoi condescended to chat with them. However, thanks to my cold, I ended up with terrible earache on the flight and my right ear being blocked for the rest of the day, which resulted in my hearing only from the left ear (Nope not funny people - its weird to yawn and hear some sound like paper crinkling in your ear which is apparently the tissues moving around).

Anyway took mom shopping, bought her a pair of jeans and a couple of tops. Picked up a couple of tops for myself as well. It's really funny when you have the heppest mall 5 minutes away from home, hence we end up going there on evening walks dressed in old tees and shorts and seeing the rest of the crowd all dressed up to their nines. Onetime, a bunch of friends all sweaty after a basketball match landed up for a coffee only to meet a friend's future boss and him turning the opposite direction and running off.

We went to New Market the next day where I picked up some black and whites for myself and hunted for some decent shoes. I'm wondering why these shoe brands like Inc 5, Metro, woodland etc. don't make some decent office sandals which don't have stupid bows and ribbons, impossible heels and hard soles. I fail to understand why can't we have smart and comfy office wear? I generally end up buying Catwalk for office wear though I was a big Inc 5 fan earlier. And yes I'm bored of peep-toes now. Let' have some new designs please. Met a couple of old school friends for lunch which was really fun. There was a time we'd discuss what subjects to take and which fest to go for and how much to roll up the skirt above the knee which our Ghoomti Aatma (Vice principle so named cuz she'd invariable show up with her head popping in through this huge window which had been all covered up with bags whenever we were up to no good) would not notice. Now we were discussing married life 2nd anniversary celebrations, work, office politics, scholarships, old friends and who got married, kids and when to have them etc etc etc.

Sunday I met another close friend for coffee and then surprised an aunt by dropping by at her place for half an hour and made my poor cousin come out of the loo without taking a bath since I was in a hurry. That evening I also conned my dad into buying me this sexy outfit which I had seen and coveted :P

Monday morning (i.e. today) saw me headed back and landing with pain in left ear and little hearing in my left ear for the day.

I need to go see a doc :(

Bura Na Mano, Holi Haiiiiii

2009-03-10T14:39:00.002+05:30

Rang Barse Bheege Chunar Wali, Rang Barse
Are Kaine Maari Pichkaari Tori Bheegi Angiya
O Rangrasia Rangrasia, Ho
Rang Barse Bheege Chunar Wali, Rang Barse ...

Sone Ki Thaali Main Jona Parosa
Are, Sone Ki Thaali Main Jona Parosa
Haan, Sone Ki Thaali Main Jona Parosa
Are, Khaye Gauri Ka Yaar Balam Tarse Rang Barse
Holi Hai!!!
O, Rang Barse Bheege Chunar Wali, Rang Barse ...

Launga Ilaichi Ka, Are Launga Ilaichi Ka
Launga Ilaichi Ka? Haan
Are Launga Ilaichi Ka Beeda Lagaya
Haan, Launga Ilaichi Ka Beeda Lagaya
Chabe Gauri Ka Yaar, Balam Tarse
Holi Hai!!!
O, Rang Barse Bheege Chunar Wali, Rang Barse ...

Are, Bela Chameli Ka Sez Bhichhaya
Bela Chameli Ka, Sez Bhichhaya
Are, Bela Chameli Ka Sez Bhichhaya
Haan, Bela Chameli Ka Sez Bhichhaya
Soye Gauri Ka Yaar, Balam Tarse
Holi Hai!!!
O, Rang Barse Bheege Chunar Wali, Rang Barse

The one day when were officially allowed to get dirty as kids. Forget us, even the parents used to get all dirty. We used to compete over who took more time to have a bath and whose skin was rubbed the most raw. Forget family bonding over dinner, family bonding while trying to colour one another and throwing water balloons at each other is even more fun. We used to fill up buckets with water balloons the week preceding Holi. When bogged down by exams, we used to throw buckets of water from the balcony.

Tomorrow, we'v invited a bunch of friends over for Holi. Arjun and me are now hunting for pichkaris (which don't cost 500 bucks per piece and a dholak). We'v got the music, gujiyas and bhang in place.

On an aside, I felt a 7 month baby (still inside his/her mommy's tummy) play football. Its awesome to feel the baby move and kick. I thought it would be weird but its just soooooooo awesome. And to watch the baby's mature elder sister (all of three and a half years old) say "My chota baby. Move your hand. Only my chota baby".....awwww.

Anyway happy holi folks. I don't know if I'l be able to post till Monday cuz I'm headed to the Land of Mishti - CALCUTTA - on Friday morning :D. I'v been terrorising the office folks that I'm going to be giving them hourly updates of what I have eaten and they'v treatened to lynch me if I don't get back some mishti for them :P

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

2009-03-06T15:19:00.001+05:30

Big meeting in the evening. Yours truly is however, extremely sleepy. Yours truly is risking her life and limb and job and the pay cheque she loves if she falla asleep. Yours truly desperately fighting to stay awake. Yours truly is immune to the feeka office coffee. Yours truly has walked around the office and taken a catnap and chatted and read up the day's headlines - yet she is still sleepy. Yours truly has a 243 page judgment to read on Hindu succession. Is it any wonder Yours truly is sleepy?

Let's bomb Pakistan

2009-03-03T11:33:00.003+05:30

Our neighbouring country seems to have more surprises hidden up is sleeve. After India's 26/11, now the attack on the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. What next? When will we say 'enough is enough'. When will all this stop? Pakistan has gone crazy. Wat is Mr. Zardari doing? There has to be some tacit support from the government which is why everyday something or the other is happening. Why was no proper security provided to the Sri Lankan team? What more proof does Pakistan want? If they cannot control their country-men, then maybe the UN should step in and take some action. Why is the UN just sitting quiet on this? It's happened to India, now Sri lanka. Only when US will be attacked will some action be taken. Remember WW II. USA sat tight and made money out of the war until Pearl Harbour was attached. Yesterday it was India, today Sri Lanka, who next?

What will it take for all the world to come together and take some action against Pakistan? What is to say that they won't drop a nuclear bomb on India next? Why are we sending them letters to prove that Pakistan is responsible for 26/11. Let Pakistan show that it is not responsible. Let Mr. Zardari step down and say his country is no longer in his hands. It is acting like an overgrown teenager gone out of hand as John has so rightly put it. Our politicians are only worried about the upcoming elections right now. What if we have no country only left? What is my government doing besides campaigning?

2009-02-23T15:38:00.002+05:30

I feel torn in two sometimes - between my professional and personal lives. I don't understand where I draw a line between my two lives. Right now, its only Arjun and me, and already I feel torn in two at times. I wonder what I'm going to do when we have kids. If they'r unwell and I have to go to office, I wonder how I'l do it. I know there will be times when I may miss a school function or sports day, but I don't know how I'l do it. It scares me. When we have kids, I am going to be a SAHM for a couple of years, but then what? I'd go crazy if I gave up work permanently. Who's going to hire me again after a couple of years? My contemporaries would be ahead of me and so would my juniors. My family would go crazy and disown me if I focussed wholely and solely on them - I'd only end up driving them up the wall :P

I love my work. I want kids and a family and the whole works - but it's the balance thing which is right down scary. How would I draw a line between my personal and professional lives? When would I know when to skip the school function and attend the meeting or when do I postpone the meeting and attend the school function? Wise people tell me that at that time I will have to take a call on the situation and listen to my heart. Knowing me, my heart would be torn in two. How do you do it?

2009-02-21T17:28:00.003+05:30

I feel like I'm burning the candle at both ends. Yet I can't manage to keep the most important people in my life happy. I wonder what is it that I can do more. I wonder where it is that I went wrong somewhere down the line. Why do I get to hear this time and again?

This blog is all WOMAN

2009-02-18T17:06:00.004+05:30

So now it is confirmed. I am woman. Joy to the world. 82% people think this blog is written by a woman. Smart people :P

You can also check out your blog's gender here.

Now, according to my browser history, the likelihood of me being a male is 54% and the likelihood of me being a female is is 46%. Wokayyyyy. People I'm having a gender crisis here.

You can verify your gender as determined from your blogging history here.

Where i Whine....

2009-02-17T15:11:00.004+05:30

I thought I had left my studying days behind. I don't want to study. I don't want to research. I don't want to brief. For god's sake, you have a file, read it like the rest of us do. And if you don't understand something, figure it out. I'v been in this profession for 2.5 years, you'v been here for 20+. I want to sleep. No actually, I want to curl up with a good thriller and a cup of hot chocolate inside my lovely brown razai (blanket) with the fan running on 2. I want to go no an all-India trip visiting everyone. I don't want to sit and research on an erratic law research website.

Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Der aaye durust aaye

2009-02-13T17:22:00.002+05:30

Yeah...well I hadn't posted in ages cuz I have been busy working at another client's office where I finished my work before the deadline, but we couldn't obviously tell the client that in these times of recession so we bravely soldiered on for the past 2 days. Thankfully I could access Facebook for these few days but very weirdly the blogsites were blocked, so I was unable to post for sometime.

Anyway, I'm not working tomorrow...yipppeeeeeeee. Finally after 3 long months, I 'm not working this second Saturday. And its Valentine's Day but Arjun has to work :(

Maybe we'l do a movie and a dinner when he gets home. Let's see. And I was planning to wear my new LBD, but its suddenly become a little chilly again and the typical Bong that I am, I have to be all covered up so its going to be my ol' faithful - jeans. Unless of course the temperature does rise. Anyway I'm all excited since its the first time that Arjun and me will be celebrating together (I was in Bombay in 2007 and last year Arjun's grandfather had just passed away a couple of days prior). Of course celebrations have already begun - he's put this lovely video with his thoughts on my Ipod for me titled as 'To the Mrs.'

There are alot of people who think that V-day is just something that Archie/ Hallmark have come up with to generate sales and that its a western concept. Okay, so tell me where did we get this tradition of cuting a cake on our birthdays from? Traditionally birthdays (janamdin?) were celebrated with 'ma ke haath ka halwa - gajar/ monng dal/ sooji - take your pick' and maybe daan (donation) at the temple. How many of us actually do that these days? I'm wondering if Mr. Muthalik does that. I'm also wondering how Mr. Muthalik's (Shriman Muthalik?) female relatives - his mother, sister, wife, daughter, aunts etc. tolerate him and his ilk. They should all simply gherao, colour his face black and garland him with a joote ka maala (garland of shoes) and parade him around the town on a donkey. Hey that's the traditional way of punishing someone socially. Going to pubs and beating up people is not traditional. That Shriman Muthalik is called goondagardi in plain and simple language.

Beating up women - hmm now that's a tradition in our country. Women have been beaten up for dowry, for being a woman, because their husband/ father/ brother had a lack in life etc etc. Is that the kind of tradition that Mr. Muthalik wants to maintain?

So Mr. Muthalik, enjoy all the pink chaddis - decorate your office and your house with them and remember you men will never be able to cow us women down. I am a loose and fast woman - yes I enjoy my drink and I enjoy meeting my friends for a drink after work once in a while. I also eat non-vegetarian food. My husband is proud of me and my father-in-law makes my drink once in a while. My brother-in-law tells me to try a Mojito and my brother has tried in vain to convince me to try a beer (which I don't drink simply because I don't like the smell). Oh and my dad was the first to make me a drink while my sister and her best friend got me drunk for the first time in college since they wanted me to know what to do when I am drunk. I have downed vodka shots with one senior and polished off half a bottle of wine (red in case your interested) with another senior.

Mr. Muthalik - grow up. Our country has many many more issues to think about then why do women drink. Women are not the ones who drink and then go beat up their husbands by the way, bu women have definitely led enough and more drives against liquor.

Oh and thanks for the sari, though I haven't gotten mine yet.

Aaj ki Taaza Khabar: Man bites Dog

2009-02-04T11:03:00.003+05:30

Three women abduct, rape man in Karachi

Check this out folks. Dog biting a man is of no news but man biting a dog deserves 24/7 coverage.

Do Good Fences make Good Neighbours?

2009-02-03T13:24:00.005+05:30

I have a daily calendar on my desk, with a thought for each day. Today's though of the day is:

"A border can be drawn on a map only after it is first drawn on human hearts."
- Anonymous

This is one thought which really struck me. Don't we see it in Kashmir today? Borders were drawn on maps before the borders could be drawn on human hearts. Had the borders been drawn on human hearts, would we have had all this bloodshed today? Would we have had Kargil? Would we have had the various blasts and the Taj seige?

I guess its easier to draw a border on a map than it is to draw a border on a human heart. We saw it first during the Bengal partition when the British divided East Bengal (which is today known as Bangladesh) and West Bengal. When you draw a border on the map, you have to make the heart understand that border. Today, we have trespassers/ intruders on our land. We will fight them and throw them out. But my question is why do they trespass? Maybe because this was once their home too. By drawing a line on a map, you may have thrown someone out of their home.

Hail Barkha Dutt & NDTV

2009-01-31T13:31:00.004+05:30

Most of us use our blogs an an instrument where we express ourselves freely. We write out our hearts. We bitch, we criticize, we review, we write about life, about ourselves, our families, our tensions, our fears, our loves, out hates. The blogworld witnessed an outpouring of emotion when Taj was attacked and people were still inside, hiding behind chairs and couches trying to protect themselves,waiting to be rescued. Had blogging been that popular when Kargil happened, I am sure we would have witnessed an immense outpour then too.

I wrote about a very bad meal I had sometime back at one of the most famous eating joints in Delhi. I have also written about a book which really touched me and made me think. It's okay if I write that I don't like a movie or a book, but dare anyone say they don't like Barkha Dutt.

Hail Barkha Dutt - the lady (?) journalist who risks her life and limb to bring us news. And if there is no news to bring, she makes news. She shoves her mike into the faces of grieving families for sound-bites. The well-respected journalist. All hail Barkha.

This one "random bloke" sitting at his computer, somewhere in Holland wrote about her 'shoddy and irresponsible journalism' during the Taj seige. How dare he say any such thing? Immediately a legal notice was issued to him and he was made to tender an unconditional apology and withdraw his post.

Yes my dear readers, this is the new law. It is only the great almighty Barkha Dutt and NDTV who have the freedom of expression. We bloggers be damned. We have no right to express our opinion. So think before you write. You may get served with a legal notice. Restrict your opinion, actually from now we'l just get it vetoed by these folks.

Howzzat Barkha? Will that keep you happy? Many of us have critized the 24/7 news coverage and have asked for guidelines to be issued. Oh wait a minute there are Guidelines in place. Oh dear Barkha darling and NDTV, did you these guidelines very clearly state the following:

"While reporting violent events, natural calamities and accidents, appropriate regard must be paid to the feelings of relatives and viewers and inclusion of images of dead or seriously wounded people or gruesome and gory scenes, which may seriously distress or offend substantial number of viewers, should not be included in the telecast. The feelings and sensitivities of grieving relatives or the injured must be respected and interviews avoided."

"Information, which discloses the location of a person’s home or family, should not be revealed without permission, unless it is warranted."

"Repetitive broadcast of file (old ) audio-visuals, which create a distorted picture of reality should be avoided."

So do we the viewers now issued you with a legal notice for flouting the guidelines? Brakha Dutt & NDTV, we the citizens and bloggers will not and shall not be cowed down by your bullying tactics.

For more such lovely posts about Brakha Dutt & NDTV, head over here.

Boys....Look who's Back/ Monkey Business?

2009-01-27T12:20:00.040+05:30

Is it who's back or whose back?

Did anyone miss me? Please be nice and say 'Yes'. It will really make my day to know that I have a dedicated fan following :P

I'v been working at client-site in a nationalized bank for the past couple of weeks. It's been crazy. No loos, no water, no food, no chai-coffee on time (that's the toughest part) and oh, we also had a visit from some of the friendly neighbourhod monkeys, who dropped by to share our lunch.Unfortunately, we were a hungry lot and weren't really in the mood to share our meagre fare of sandwiches so we screamed the house down (not literally - it a sturdy angrezon ke zamane ki building and thankfully not a modern-day construction) and called up a colleague who was elsewhere in the building and he came in with half - a dozen bank officers with lathis in their hands. Yup we'r not particularly friendly when we'r working. We got escorted out by bank officers on either side holding lathis & chairs and what not in their hands. Funny in retrospect. Makes for a great story now - not then. All we could think off at that time was 14 injections if any of them even touched us. As for the loos, as time grew short, we just tied hankies around our noses, held our breath and used the loos there. We also carried our own extension cord, water & coffee. Thankfully we didn't have to carry our own chairs and tables also, though they would have been far far more comfortable. We also has an avid smoker, who to avoid walking a kilometre till the lift, and then going three floors down and then crossing the road, decided to clamber onto a chair, then to an old abandoned cooler, then onto to a ledge from where she would hang on for dear life and smoke through a crack in the glass. Her newly-wed hubby was most certainly not amused by her dedication.

On a different note though, I fail to understand how people are not and can not be honest with their work. There was another legal team there auditing the same documents as us and they finished their work in 2 days while we took 2 weeks. Being time-efficient is one thing, but missing out on key documents in order to finish your targets is a completely different thing. Some of you may laugh and say we were slow but we'r also thorough, which is the entire essence of an audit/ DD. How can anyone be dishonest with their work?

Sulabh Shauchalaya Zindabad

2009-01-16T18:43:00.001+05:30

Hey people!!!

I'v not been around for a while. Have been at client site doing a DD for the past couple of weeks now. Would you believe it that the data room we have been provided has 3 plug points of which only 1 works, so we carry an extension cord everyday since there are four of us working there. We had to ask for water on our first day, so they provided us with 2 small bisleri bottles, which we soon finished off. When we asked for it to be refilled, the water looked and tasted weird so I am convinced that it is tap water. So now we also buy 2 bottles before going in. Apart from that the loo is so filthy that we refuse to use it. We use the Sulabh Shauchalaya across the road and pay 2 bucks per head every time we need to pee. People Sulabh Shuachalayas are pretty well-maintained and I'm talking about one which is behind Janpath and has pretty heavy traffic everyday. So if any of you have offices in and around CP/ Janpath, let me know - would love to meet up for a quick lunch cuz you see they haven't asked us for lunch yet.

We'r just going to send all the bills to the client, including the ones for Sulabh Shauchalaya :P

I Want

2009-01-05T15:46:00.004+05:30

This is one of my favourite posts from my previous blog which I am reproducing here. I had written this about a year back so some of it might be outdated by now:

I Want -

To be able to sing like a nightingale (Ok maybe that's wanting a little too much);
To be able to to dance without a care in the world;
To play my guitar again;
To be a geniuis;
To win a Nobel Prize;
To win the Oscar;
To win a Grammy award;
To be a star;
To own a bright red Mercedes with black leather bucket seats (ya I'l probable swelter in the Delhi heat);
To argue a case and create a landmark judgment which students down the ages will have to have have to study (like Keshavanada Bharti, Maneka Gandhi and the Mardia judgments);
To do my Doctorate and have a Doctor before my name;
To end all the tears in the world;
To win a Booker Prize;
To tell Matthew Perry "Dude you were sooooo cute in the first couple of seasons - what happned to you after that?"
To make sure all the *&^%$##$ b**** get all their bitchiness returned to them with interest;
To make up with some friends whom I lost out on cuz of my own stupidness and ego;
To find some of my old friends;
To read the latest Harry Potter soon to be released NOW;
To write my own book (for which I get the Book prize and it also be a huge commercial success and I get oodles of money in royalty);
To have a flat tummy;
To not worry about putting on weight in the worng places;
To be able to be confident and look people in their eyes and say "You know shit"
To get rid of all the assholes in the world who don't know how to drive, who drink and drive and then run over people and then think they can get out of the mess by paying off various persons;
To make all these idiots responsible for the families of persons whom they ran over for the rest of their f**** lives;
To make those idiots so proud of their Daddyji's bags of gold that they are nothing in front of me, cuz I earn my own money and then spend it;
To make such idiots earn their own money and realise the value of money and hard work;
To sleep all day;
To be pampered in the parlour for an entire day;
To have two Sundays a week;
To ensure a smile on everyone's faces;
To make all those self-appointed guardians of religion and society sit for a three hour 200 mark written exam and see how much they actually know about their religion and only if you get more than 90% will they be allowed to continue as certified self-appointed guardians;
To have a genie who will fulfil all my wishes;

This reminds me of that song from Yes Boss -

" Chande taare tod laooo

Saari duniya par main chaooo

MAIN ZYAADA NAHI MAANGTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Right or Wrong?

2009-01-02T17:52:00.001+05:30

A few of us were today called upon to comment on a colleague in office and whether or not we ought to retain him. We are all of the opinion that he is certainly not an asset and has in fact caused tremendous loss to us as a firm - monetary & goodwill. This person also has a wife and a son.

When asked about his contribution to the firm today by the top boss, I made a frank statement that as a person he is very well-liked, but as a professional he is very severely lacking and compared him to his counterparts in the other offices. We have had alot of problems/chaos professionally because of lack of action on his part. The others agreed with what I said but we all felt that he ought to be given another chance. The top boss has agreed to give him a month to pull up his socks and no more.

When we came out, the others told me that I should not have said what I said - that he has been around for 3 years and has a family to look after. I stand by what I say. I like him as a person, but as a professional he is lacking and we have all faced embarrassing situations because of him. I cannot sit back and not give my opinion when asked for a frank opinion, but just because he is a family man should I have stayed silent? If he loses his job today, the others say it will be because of me. I don't think I did anything wrong - did I?

Aaachooooooo

2008-12-29T17:05:00.005+05:30

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

Gola Fizzlers

2008-12-27T12:58:00.005+05:30

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.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T16:08:00.008+05:30

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!!!!!

We Saw Tiger Poop

2008-12-23T10:28:00.002+05:30

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.

At Random

2008-12-16T18:24:00.001+05:30

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 :)

Tagtime

2008-12-09T10:38:00.008+05:30

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 Ideas

2008-12-06T10:15:00.001+05:30

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?

Politicians are way lower than Dogs on the Social Scale

2008-12-02T09:58:00.005+05:30

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?

Politicians are way lower than Dogs on the Social Scale

2008-12-02T09:58:00.004+05:30

Does the Government have any answer?

2008-12-01T12:36:00.002+05:30

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.

Miss you Bhaiya

2008-11-28T09:31:00.006+05:30

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.

2008-11-27T09:51:00.003+05:30

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.

The story of why I got Gloves & a Cap

2008-11-26T09:30:00.007+05:30

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.

Monday - Only 2 Days Away :)

2008-11-21T18:51:00.002+05:30

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

Wohoooooo

2008-11-18T12:21:00.004+05:30

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 :)

Road Manners

2008-11-13T13:39:00.002+05:30

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.

I Miss my Girlfriends

2008-11-10T16:37:00.003+05:30

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.

Can Pimples be a Ground for Divorce?

2008-11-04T17:32:00.005+05:30

I read this article today. A couple got divorced because the husband objected to his wife's acne. That got me thinking.

Can pimples really be a valid ground for a divorce? Then would men's beer/pot bellies, farts and burps also constitute a ground for divorce?

A few more such grounds:

1. That the spouse's dandruff has repulsed and nauseated the Petitioner.

2. That the spouse's snoring has caused immense pain and grief to the Petitioner who as a result of foregoing sleep for the past _ years has now become an insomniac.

3. That the spouse's disgusting habit of scratching his personal areas/ picking his nose in public has caused frequent embarrassment to the Petitioner who has become a laughing stock in society and is now seeking a divorce on such ground.

Anymore such grounds people?

Weekend Update

2008-11-01T19:49:00.001+05:30

Just reporting in folks to confirm my presence in the blogworld. It's 7: 45 on a saturday evening and I am still in office. Been in marathon meeting sessions for the past 4 days. Have a deadline of Monday evening to finish the task. I'l be in office on Sunday too. Boo hooo....

Well signing off for now,. You guys have a good weekend.

I almost got picked up for Shoplifting

2008-10-27T14:09:00.003+05:30

Well I'v had an eventful weekend. Whole day at work on Saturday. Then a party that evening where Arjun & MY friend inter se decided that we should stay the night and enjoy rather than put our lives at risk and return home to Gurgaon from NOIDA at some odd hour. Well nice plan. Would have been even nicer if I'd known about it and had carried along my lens solution and case.

Anyway we left from there the next morning, rather noon, picked up an old college friend of mine who was in Delhi for the weekend and went home. It's really nice when old friends come over. We'v seen each other through so much shit and messy rooms and empty pockets that well...it's nice to catch up. I also caught up with another old friend who brought his new girlfriend over to my friend's place at NOIDA at 1 am to meet me for about 15 minutes (I threatened to issue a fatwa if he didn't come meet me). I was really happy to see them and even happier to see that my friend (who broke up about a year back from a relationship of 5 years and didn't really take it too well) has now moved on. He's lost weight, cut down on the booze, become a major workaholic and well...things going good for him now :)

So my other friend (the one who had come over - we were all in college together) came, we chatted, caught up, had great fun, had a nice sumptious tandoori chicken n burra kebab lunch.

Anyway so now comes the part where I almost got picked up for shoplifting. Arjun took me out for dinner & shopping to a mall near our house (he abandons me to go sit in the bookshop/ electronics store while I do my shopping and when I'm done we got eat). So the lovely lady that I am had dressed in a hurry in a top which I was not in the mood to wear. I had worn a simple blue top and was in the mood for something more flamboyant. I walked into a shop and fell in love with a lovely flowy maroon top which I tried on. It fit me and my mood perfectly. So I decided to wear that only and asked the saleswoman to pack what I had been wearing since I would wear this and go. She was more than happy to do that. I paid the bill and walked out clutching the bag to go meet Arjun who was in a bookshop at the other end of the mall (the mall boasts of having a floor which is 1 km in length. As soon as I entered the bookshop there was a beep and immediately two security guards blocked my way. I thought they had blocked someone else and tried to walk past them from the side. The stopped me and asked me to come to one side. I complied wondering what this was all about. Immediately they started the good cop - bad cop routine asking me "Where did you get the top from?" Comprehension dawned. So I told them that I had just bought it and had worn that only. Nope they weren't buying that so I showed them the bill. They tell me the bill is for the clothes in the bag, not what I was wearing. You see the saleswoman had forgotten to remove the electronic tag from the garment.I somehow persuaded them that I had not flicked the top, stepped outside the shop, called Arjun out and then we went back to the shop from where I had bought it where I proceeded to give the saleswoman a earful of how terribly embarrassed I had been and then she removed the offending tag.

Then Arjun and me go to another store where he had seen some speakers for the house which he wanted me to see. Beep beep. again I get called out and asked to show the bill. The brilliant saleswoman had removed one tag, there was another tag inside which had not been removed. Again I had to run back to the shop and get that offending tag removed. Ughhhhh I was soooooo embarassed.Anyway finally all tags removed. Arjun was sooooooo pissed with me. I got him back to his usual charming cute loving affectionate self again cuz I gifted him a speaker that he had been coveting (All the better for hearing the dishoom dishoom in action movies my dear).

We proceeded for dinner where we had sushi as a starter. This was the first time that I had sushi (Well I love to eat, but I prefer to eat only that which I have eaten earlier. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food). I tried one piece of the sushi. It wasn't bad but the raw fish bit was sounding very loudly in my head and almsot made me barf. So I stuck to the wasabi and the ginger pickle bit only after that - skipped the sushi.

Back to work today with a break again tomorrow (I love midweek holidays) for Diwali.

Happy Diwali Folks...play safe with the crackers and hog on the mithai. And don't forget the rangoli and the lamps to welcome Lakshmi home.

Wordzzle Saturday

2008-10-25T15:23:00.003+05:30

The words this week are build-a-bear workshop, man bites dog, opulent, disparaging, lipstick stain, preponderance, smoky quartz, clothes pin, meticulous, falling leaves.

For those of you are not aware of this please refer to Raven’s site.

“Wowwww….Grandpa weren’t you one clever dude hiding away behind your newspaper all day.”

She suddenly snatched the pendant back from my hand. “How do I know your really who you say you are and are not one of them?” I noticed that she had a lipstick stain on her sleeve.

“Them? “

“Who them?”

“Them from whom I was to hide it. He told me they would come so I had to keep it safe. He said that he would come get it from me. If he didn’t come his son would come. ”

“I can show you proof that I am Shamsher Singh’s grandson. My grandfather died two months back. While going through his papers we found your name and a very old address of yours.”

I miss my grandfather. He was a tall big built man, very quiet. He liked to shock my grandmother by printing out newspaper headlines like “Man bites Dog” from our old press who would always get taken in by the prank. He was a meticulous man with a preponderance for hiding away in his makeshift lab behind the house puttering away. He was way ahead of his times. He had discovered the electrical qualities of smoky quartz in the 1930s though some German guy won a Nobel for it some 40 years later. He was disparaging of any show of opulence and lived in the simplest manner. He was a great believer of the ‘“Simple Living High Thinking” philosophy. He was very particular about his clothes and his trousers would have a sharp crease running straight down the front leg. Only my grandmother knew the trick to do it with a clothes pin. As a grandpa he was the best. I used to sneak off in the evenings and go scrunching through the fallen leaves in the backyard behind his window since he loved the sound of the crunching. He had even taken me to a build-a-bear workshop onetime in London and we had made a tiger together, which I still have and carry with me today.

“Where have you disappeared young man? Are you trying to make up some story?”

I burst out. “Mam, I don’t know how to convince you that I am Shamsher Singh’s grandson. I can show you photographs. They’r in my bag below in the car. I really need that pendant that you’re playing with so carelessly contains the formula to turn organic waste into fuel. When he met you on that cruise in Egypt he was on the run from some bad guys who wanted it for their own selfish purpose of launching rockets over various countries to get world power and dominion. At that time my grandfather gave it to you to keep the formula safe. We had no idea that he had given it to you. We found him after 2 years of him being on the run and brought him home just on time. He had lost his memory and regained it after about a year but he had completely forgotten about those two years. He had no recollection whatsoever of it. We got to know that he had given it to you only when I came across an old diary of his in a second hand bookshop recently and since then I have been tracing you. I really need that formula Mam.”

“Likely story indeed. Well if your Sam’s grandson stand on your head.”

“Excuse me? Stand on my head? What will that prove?”

“Well since your putting on a show I thought I’ll be entertained some more.”

“Mam, I am not joking neither am I making up any stories. I really need that formula.”

“So that you can sell it and make money?”

There was no way out. I had to do it. I suddenly threw the plate of wings on her, grabbed the pendant and ran out. No way was she going to follow me with her arthritic legs.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha…World domination. Here I come. The money and power are all going to be mine. Obama, McCain whoever’s going to be the next guy in the white House is going to be kissing my feet to get the formula. My grandfather was a good man but very simple. I subscribe to the “High Living No thinking” philosophy. And thanks to Grandpa I can live exactly as per my philosophy.

Heee haaa haaa haa haaa (Evil laughter)

Okie so I’m done with Sam’s story folks. I did take some liberties here and there. Please excuse those bits as writer’s license.

For those interested here are the previous links:

From Worse to Worst

2008-10-22T17:49:00.001+05:30

First we had riots on the grounds of religion - Muslims v/s Hindus, Hindus v/s Sikhs, Hindus v/s Christians.

Wasn't that enough? Now we fight on grounds of parochialism also.

Marathi manoos v/s Bihari/ UP Bhaiyas?

Politicians like Raj Thackeray and Mamata Bannerjee are going to take the country to the dogs. In their so-called misplaced parochialism and rights of farmers etc...they end up causing more harm to their own state. What exactly is Raj Thackeray going to achieve by driving out all the non-Marathi maoos from Bombay? Will he also be able to drive out the huge number of students studying in Pune & Bombay? Does he forget that many of the prominent persons of Bombay are not actually Marathis - Ambanis, Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Alque Padamsee, Prahlad Kakkar, Deepak parekh, Tatas, Birlas, Mafatlals, Wadias etc. Some of them have been born and brought up in Mumbai, but they are not Marathis. An irony of sorts is that Raj Thackeray is being represented by one Mr. Akhilesh Choubey who is a North Indian.

Now I hear Mayawati wants to be the next Prime Minister - she wants to play on her Dalit and woman card. The day Mayawati becomes PM, visiting foreign delegations will have to learn to give 10% commission to her. Reliable sources in her Ministry have told me that Mayawati has siphoned off money to the tune of Rs. 500 crores from the State coffers. Yes, Rupees 500 crores. I didnn't even know that UP made that much money. I can believe 5 crores or even 50 crores? But 500 crores? And I have heard it from someone who knows what he is talking about
and is not shooting in the air.

I say we shoot all our politicians and place an order for a fresh batch. And this time we do it right. We have entrance tests and training for 4 - 5 before we can become a lawyer or an engineer or a doctor or an IAS officer. Hell today even a peon in any reputable firm has to be a graduate. How can half educated, vote bank appeasing politicians ever claim to understand working and running of our country?

We ought to have some kind of an entrance test and training before one can become a politician. Indian History, the Constitution of India and Economics should be compulsory subjects. And before one can represent any constituency, he ought to be interviewed by the people of that constituency. What say folks?

Helloooooo

2008-10-15T15:15:00.003+05:30

Hey guys...just dropping by to say Hi to all of you. Awfully caught up in work. I am upto my head with drafting - I have to finish 1 reply, 1 rejoinder, 5 petitions and 1 opinion by the end of this week. Wish me luck. Sorry for not dropping by your blogs too much, please bear with me for this week.

Dugga Dugga

2008-10-08T00:28:00.002+05:30

Arjun and me are in Calcutta this week. We'r down to celebrate Pujo. For a Bengali there is only one Pujo - Durga Pujo. The entire city is lit up for thes eten days. Its like a carnival in the city for 5 days.

Durga Ma also represents Shakti. According to Hindu mythology, a demon by the name of Mahishahura prayed to Lodr Shiva who pleased with his penance gave him a boon that he culd be killed by no man. Mahishashura then started his reign of terror. He even attacked the abode of the Gods.The Gods took refuge with Lord Brahma, who conspired with Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. The three Gods prayed and from them was born a woman who had the power to kill Mahishashura - Durga. She was born from the energy of not only the Holy Trinity ( Brahma, Shiva & Vishnu), but also that of the other Gods. The Gods gifted her with weapons to kill Mahishashura. Bedecked with weapons and jewels, Durga was ready to wage battle. The demon army of Mahishashura was struck by down by Her. Her breath would replenish Her armies bringing back to life her dead soldiers. The demons were running helter skelter. At this point Mahishashura took on the form of a demonic buffalo and charged at Her soldiers. Durga ma threw her noose around him but Mahishashura assumed the form of a lion. When Durga Ma beheaded the lion, he again managed to escape taking the form of a man. He then tok off the shape of a wild elepahant, and finally went back to his form of a demonic buffalo. He hid himself in the mountains from where he hurled boulders at Durga with his horns. Durga drank the divine nectar, the gift of Kuber. She then pounced on Mahishasura, pushing him to the ground with her left leg. She grasped his head in one hand, pierced him with her sharp trident held in another, and with yet another of her ten hands she wielded her bright sword, beheading him. At last he fell dead, and the scattered surviving remnants of his once invincible army fled in terror.The battle raged for nine days and nine nights. The final day is the day of Bijoya Dashami - the 10th Day when Durga Ma was victorious. This is the story which every year we get to hear on All India radio at 4 am - the Mashishashura Mardini.

We celebrate this nine day period in Bengal also as the ten days when Durga Ma comes to Earth with her children - Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh & Kartik to visit her parents each year during the season of Sharad (Autmn).

Well that's just a little for now to tell you all why we celebrate Durga Pujo. The complete image of Goddess Durga represent destruction of evil and protection of good. She is a symbol of strength for women. She symbolises Shakti (Strength). A woman is capable of giving birth, of being gentle, loving and caring, of being a mother but dare anyone threaten her family and children, she can also become Durga - she can also rid this earth of evil.

HAPPY PUJAS FOLKS :)

Wordzzle Saturday

2008-10-04T16:55:00.003+05:30

Well heloo folks…I’v been away for Wordzzle for a while. Blame it on work. I just couldn’t find the time to think and one week became two and then three. I’m basically continuing where I left off:

The words this week are tattletale, homogeneous, flighty, cornucopia, plethora, militant, lovelorn, myopic, digitalized, mute.

The Old Horse seemed to be awfully flighty jumping from one topic to another with no connection whatsoever. It was hard keeping up with her. I was wondering how to tackle her and get her to answer the one question I had come so far to get the answer to.

“You know Young Man, you ought to be enjoying your days here in the

Americas rather than sitting here with me. What is it that you here for? If you’re here to steal something, well there is nothing. If you had to kill me you would have done so by now. I am rather tired by now and though I appreciate company, I don’t really appreciate unannounced guests.” Well to be fair she did look a wee bit tired. Guess it was her age.

“Mam, actually I came here to ask you something. It is very important to me and my family.”

“Your family? How on earth would I know anything about your family?” She sounded awfully militant now. All her flightiness and alleged tiredness had vanished. Her eyes had taken on a sense of heightened awareness.

“Mam that Egyptian cruise you mentioned….?”

As usual never got to complete my sentence before the Old horse took over with one of her myriad topics from the cornucopia she held forth on easily.

“Are you a lovelorn little idiot or what? Speak up young man. I don’t have all the time in the world for you.”

A plethora of thoughts ran through my head as I tried to frame what I had to say.

Finally I decided to tackle her head on. “Mam, that Indian you met on your Egyptian cruise? Was his name Shamsher Singh?”

“Oh young man, how would I remember whom I met on a cruise so many years back?”

“Well Mam it would be very important for me to know if you do remember what his name was. I have come from India and tracked you through five states just to get the answer.”

“Do you think I’m a tattletale? It is bad manners to ask a lady about her previous relationships.”

“Well from what I have heard it wasn’t a relationship in the real sense of the term.”

“You have a very myopic understanding of the term relationship. You think only when a man and woman have an affair it is a relationship. Think beyond that young man.”

“Mam was his name Shamsher Singh? I am his grandson.”

“You are Sam’s grandson? Oh my….”

For a whole minute she was mute and then a tear rolled down her face.

“Mam please tell me, did he give you any papers on homogenous alloys. Please tell me it is very important. My entire family’s future depends on that.”

“He gave me something but it wasn’t papers. Told me to hang on to it and said his son would come get it from me. He never came and I have still hung on to it.”

She took out a chain from under her dress. It had a pendant kind of thing on it. She unhooked it and gave it to me.

I examined it. Well I’l be damned. My grandfather had digitalized the entire thing waaaaaaaay back in the Forties. Wow. Even I was speechless.

To be continued….

2008-10-03T17:27:00.004+05:30

Waaaah....I think someone has jinxed me for the past couple of months. Nothing seems to be going right at all. I say one thing people take it as something else. I have lost one of my favourite earrings in Cochin. The entire trip to Cochin also seemed to have been jinxed overall. Some friends ditched without informing me nor the bride. She was pissed to say the least especially since arrangements had also been made for them.

Lost my lovely green fountain pen which Arjun had gifted me. Didn't tell him. Sick and tired of telling him what I lost today. Bought a new one yesterday. Well baby now you know why I have not been using that green one for sometime now.

Lost my brand new phone on Thursday. Right outside my house. Yes that brand new one which I bought in July and told you all about it.People send me your numbers please. :(

Seems like small small things. But its all just adding up and I feel like someone has just jinxed me. I think I need to put a kala teeka (black mark) to ward off whosoever has cast his evil eye on me, guess the kajal (kohl) is not helping.

Btw Arjun and me are off to Cal tomorrow to celebrate Durga Puja. Happy Durga Puja everyone. And I shall keep my fingers crossed that nothing untoward happens.

Please keep your fingers crossed too guys. I can't take losing anything more.

2008-09-27T09:55:00.004+05:30

In reply to my previous post, Raven made the following comment beautifully written and very thoughtful comment:

"I understand the place of pain from which they come, though I don't entirely agree with you.

A very wise man once said to me, "You become the thing you hate." I think that's one of the most awful parts about acts of extreme violence - beyond the death and the immediate
suffering - is that they suck us into the very evil which we so abhor.

Personally, I think violence begets violence. I don't think killing discourages killing. Instead, I think it fuels the flames. Terrorists think of themselves as noble martyrs. Killing them feeds rather than deters such beliefs.

It seems to me that no matter how tempting and how temporarily it feels like you have gotten your own back, holding true to the law and the values of society is the best way to go.

Otherwise terrorism wins. More damage was done in my country in response to 9/11 than was done by the maniacs who flew into those buildings. In fear and anger we allowed our government to trash the very values they were allegedly defending. The terrorist just had to sit back and watch us destroy ourselves. The bombs are only the infection planted. The worst sickness came after in the world wide deaths justified in the name of defending ourselves against terrorism, in the acts of torture justified in the name of defending ourselves against terrorism and on and on and on.

My older sister was stabbed to death 20 years ago on October 2nd (Gandi's birthday). For me - killing her killer would not heal anything. It wouldn't bring her back. It would make me part of a kind of violence I know she would have hated.

I don't want to let hate and anger consume me. I think the bad guys win when that happens. I don't know what the answer is to terrorism but I don't think joining in the killing is it. In the end - creepy and vile as they are - terrorists ARE human. Dealing with the injustices in all our societies, listening to one another seems a better response, though a much slower and less certain one - than killing.

That said - I'm understand your rage and you have expressed yourself with beautiful eloquence and passion.

I wish with my whole heart that this kind of insanity could be put to rest and that nobody anywhere ever had to feel such pain again."

Raven, I had so much to say in reply that I had to write a post to do it justice.

Before I say anything in reply though, I'd just like to tell you a little where I (and most of my friends and people from my generation) come from. We come from a place where we learnt there are many religions, but when we played and fought and ate and cried together, we did so because we were friends and not because she was a Muslim, and I was a Hindu. One of my closest friends is a Muslims, she would always come attend the Saraswati Puja (Festival of the Goddess of Learning & Education) with me, and also place her books and pens at the feet of the Ma Saraswati for blessings. When she kept Ramzan, I would fast with her one day a week and celebrated Eid as well. I have celebrated Navroze (Parsi New Year) with my Parsi friend, and had langar (food prepared by the Gurudwara for people of all sects and communities) at the Gurudwara with my Sikh friend. We have celebrated Christmas and attended Midnight Mass , though none of us were Christians. For us, religions just meant that the God we pray to has different names.

People may argue that being from a defence background, I have been brought up in a more liberal manner. Maybe. I cannot argue on that since I don't know anything different. People may argue, that had I been from a smaller town or from a more conservative background, I would have thought different. Maybe. But the point is that since I am not from a small town or from a conservative background, I don't know anything different.

What I have seen is the communal riots in my country in 1992 over the Babri Masjid issue, the Gujarat riots in 2001, the blasts in the Mumbai trains in 2006, the blasts in different parts of India this year. What I have seen is the devastation caused by this - and this goes on both sides of the fence. I have read some of the Human Rights reports of the Gujarat riots, and what I read was horrifying. I couldn't read them. I was horrified at the atrocities committed by both Hindus and Muslims in the name of religion. I condemn that totally as a human.

I have read the Bhagvad Gita (Holy Book of the Hindus), but not the Vedas and Puranas (other Holy Books). I have read a little of the Quran (Holy Book of the Muslims) and the Bible (Children's Bible though). Nowhere have I read that killing another human being is justified because he belongs to a different religion or sect. I cannot believe that blowing up thousands of innocent people in the name of religion is justified.

Gandhiji said, when someone slaps on one cheek show him the other cheek. Then there is "An eye for an eye."

They are both two extremes. Today if I showed my other cheek to someone, his hand would not fall in shame, it would only lift to slap me again. Neither do I believe that because you have planted a bomb and blown up people, therefore that gives me the right to blow you up as well. Then there would be no difference between me and them. I cannot become them, because I am not them.

9/11 was one incident in the US. people are stiff suffering because of what happened in that one incident. There have been innumerable such incidents in India. Today if we hear there has been a blast, we no longer display shock, we only ask "Now where?" This is the generation which I have grown up in. All I wonder is why. If these people have any issues with society and government, they should state that so that the same can be sorted out mutually. What is the point they are trying to make by planting bombs and then claiming responsibility for the death of so many? Why do they need to hide? If you are proud of what you have done, then have the balls to say so. Why hide like a rat in the ratholes? Why not tell everyone what is it that they are protesting against?

It is a very sad but true fact that most of the terrorists are Muslims. Today if I meet a Muslim, I will not be my usual self. I will hesitate and think a hundred times before giving any contact detail, even if it is in the line of work. I am not proud of that. I hate this feeling that a wall has sprung up between me and that other person because he is a Muslim. I have not been taught that, it is something I have learnt to survive in today's India. This is not the kind of things I want to teach my children, but I would have to.

Killing your sister's killer would not bring her back, but seeing him being brought to justice would certainly give her soul some peace. I lost my brother when I was 16 because of a buss accident. I had a fight with him that morning and however hard I try, the fact that I didn't give him the usual "Good Morning" hug and a big cheery bye as he left the house will forever haunt me. There is nothing I can do about that. I cannot go trace the driver and run his bus over him. What would have however, helped is seeing the driver being brought to book.

Justice is every person's right raven. I am a lawyer, I am an officer of the Court and I assist the Court in reaching its decision to do justice. Justice to me is not seeing any random person being shot to death by the police because they suspected him. Justice to me is giving the person a fair trial. The man behind the Parliament blasts was tried. But tell me, Raven what kind of students would have a full arsenal of pistols and AK 47 in their home. In this one incident, where the police killed some of the terrorists, as a citizen I support them. I support the fact they are doing the best they can in weeding out these elements of society and protecting me and my family. These people have wreaked enough havoc on other's lives for no plausible rhyme or reason. They thought they were God's army on earth. God needs no army to spread His message.

Raven, my rage was with the Human Rights people who are only trying to get publicity and media . They cry foul at this one incident. Why? Because people who were the cause of violent death of so many thousands of people died a violent death themselves? We need to speak to people in the language they understand. There is a saying in Hindi "Laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahi maante" which roughly translated means that people who only work with kicks, will never pay heed to mere words. And "an eye for an eye" is the only language which they would have understood. These people stopped being human a very longtime back. You and I are human because we cannot even dream of killing in the name of God.

Human Rights not always right

2008-09-23T16:10:00.002+05:30

Kudos to the Delhi police for the recent encounter where they killed two terrorists. My condolences to the family of the brave officer who died fighting terrorists. I appreciate the prompt and much needed action in weeding out some bit of terrorism. I salute the officers who got this information.As a citizen, I do not condemn the action one bit. An eye for an eye my friend, is what is the norm of the day. Gandhiji's dictum of showing the other cheek would not really work today. We would be bombed out of oblivion by all the terrorists.

However I am appalled by the reaction of various alleged activists of human rights activists who say that that the police encounter has violated the rights of those 'men'. Men? What men? Oh you mean those men who planted bombs in various parts of Delhi on 13th September to go off in tandem killing many and ruining many more or those men who master-minded the various blasts in Jaipur, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Mumbai etc. You mean those men have any rights?

You mean that instead of taking swift action, the police should have taken them into custody, filed a complaint, be given all the rights of an Indian citizen, and then be given the opportunity to escape when their many friends will again kidnap some minister's daughter and demand the release of these men?

You mean that the police should now instead of actively tackling terrorism and questioning the men to get more information, should instead sit down and write lengthy reports for the NHRC and stand trial for why they shot dead a man who killed so many innocent Indians for no rhyme or reason?Go to hell Mr. Activist and may you be bombed from there by the 'men' who reside there. Men like these terrorists deserve no sympathy. They should all be rounded up and shot to oblivion. Set an example so that no other will again try these attention gaining tactics by blowing up thousand of inncent people again. They have been shot to death. They should be made an example for the rest of the terrorists hiding in their little cubby holes in other parts of the country. They have no rights. The only right they have is that they have none. Human Rights are for human beings, not for heartless soulless bastards who blow up innocent people in the name of Allah. They claim oppression? What oppression are they talking about? Dude you want to be something in thsi world. Stop learning how to make bombs and counting your success in terms of the number of people who died because of your bombs - instead learn how to build bridges literally and metaphorically. If you still think that you are oppressed, let's see why - Oh because your a Muslim and a minority. Umm what about all those reservations for minorities? And have you once thought why Muslims have a bad name today. Because of you. One rotten apple can spoil an entire basket of aples. A handful of misguided Allah's followers have given a bad name to the whole community.

So Mr. Terrorist, I am very happy that some of your ilk died a violent death.
You guys deserved that.

You guys deserve no sympathy.

You guys are not human,

You guys don't even know what is it that your fighting for.

You guys are cowards who hide behind your anonymity and do not have the guts to come out and state what it is exactly that your fighting for.

You guys are heartless.

You guys should all be publicly lynched.

You guys have given the enitre Muslim community a bad name. Today if I meet a Muslim, I am wary. And I don't blame myself for that. I blame you. One rotten apple spoils the entire basket.

And Mr. Human Rights Activist, if you think Mr. Terrorist deserves some sympathy, maybe you should go meet the family of the police officers who have died, or that kid who lost her father, or the wife who will never meet her husband again, or the artist who lost his hand, or the father who is still a missing name. Maybe you should go meet all those people who had the job of cleaning up the blast sites and had to pick up a stray leg here, an arm there. Maybe you should go meet the family who couldn't even cremate their son because not a single body part was recovered for the cremation. Maybe you should go meet all those poor people who cannot be given their compensation money since they do not have a bank account. Maybe you should go meet the family which lost its sole breadwinner and the huge job of supporting his family has fallen on a 14 year old. And then come and tell me if you still think Mr. Terrorist deserves any rights at all?

2008-09-19T16:56:00.001+05:30

Just because I am a woman, just because I don’t have grey hair does not give any motherfucker the right to scream at me. I don’t care if your older. If you continue acting unprofessionally despite a few hints, there will come a time when I will pull you up. I respect my elders – but I can’t respect people who are unprofessional and think they can get away with it just because they are older and are a male.

Just because...

2008-09-16T16:13:00.004+05:30

...I felt like writing .

..I have been just too bogged down by work

...I haven't written in a while

...A couple of you actually missed me and asked where I was missing

...Its nice to be missed

...To know that I have friends whom I haven't really met but still connect with

...I need to go shopping but just can't find the time

...I also need to exchange my library books

...I like the grey trousers and the black knit top I am wearing today

...I wanted all of you to know that I feel and look good today

...One of my transactions have almost been wrapped up

...We intimidated the opposite side sufficiently enough to make them pay up their dues

...No tax payable on capital receipts

...Termination as opposed to lapse

...Agreement borne out of a lapsed document

...I forgot to charge my Ipod last night

...We were all in office today after ages and went for a noisy office lunch

...The one day I go for an office lunch my phone keeps ringing

...I need to buy a new black coat ...again

...I need to lose weight

...I hope all those nameless cowards lose their own families in blasts

...May God give strength to all those who have lost their near and dear ones in the recent blasts

...Noone even knows what is it that those cowards want besides trying to strike terror

...May God give strength to my maid whose daughter has been kidnapped

...I was helpless that as a lawyer I could do nothing for her - not even accompany her to the police station

...I hate that she is resigned to the fact that she has lost her daughter

...I feel scared whether I will actually see my family tomorrow

...People die and I enjoy a reunion with my friends after years on the same day

...Work never seems to come to an end - its like that serpent - each time you strike one head off, another two come up

....Life must go on - picture abhi baaki hai mere dost

Who am I?

2008-09-10T14:10:00.003+05:30

I am a Bengali who traveled the length and breadth of my country (since my Dad was with the Indian Navy) before we finally settled down in Calcutta. I was born in Delhi. I started my schooling in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh. I did my Law from Pune University. Of two of my closest friends in Pune - one is a Keralite Muslim and the other is a Parsi while my roommate was part UP-ite and part Kannada. I have spent 3 years during my school life in Bombay, 5 years in Pune and another year working in Bombay before I got married and moved up North. I am married to a man who is part Himachali and part Punjabi. I stay in Gurgaon, Haryana and work in Delhi. My maternal grandparents have never lived in Bengal - they were from Uttar Pradesh. My paternal grandmother grew up in Rajasthan & Simla while my paternal grandfather migrated from Bangladesh. I speak English, Hindi and Bengali comfortably. I can pretty much understand and speak Marathi & a little bit of Punjabi. Arjun converses with my grandmother comfortably - she talks to him in Bengali and he replies in Hindi.

So what do I call myself? A Bengali by birth, a Himachali by marriage, a Puneite/ Bombayite by way of residence, education & work, a Delhiite by way of being born here and now work, a Gurgaonite by way of residence - I am really confused.

Mr. Raj Thakeray who am I? Since you have proclaimed that a person born in Delhi but working in Bombay cannot call himself a Dilliwala, what do I call myself when people ask me? Pray tell.

Broke really?

2008-09-09T14:52:00.006+05:30

We earn 5 - figure salaries today. We willingly spend 200 bucks for a movie ticket, another 200 bucks for coke and pop corn. We buy dresses for 10000 and shoes for 5000. We happily spend a minimum of 2000 bucks per head on a Saturday night party.

Yet on being asked to make a donation for a minimum amount of Rs. 800 for a charitable purpose, most of us end up pleading that we'r broke.

Two movies foregone by you could mean a year's education for a child.

One dress foregone and you could sponsor the education of 5 children for a sum of only Rs.6000/-.

Think about it. Missing one movie or not buying one dress is not the end of the world - but for that child it could mean everything. That child might even turn out to be the second Einstein if given a chance - and if not given a chance, just another child on the road with a bowl in his hand. Empower the child of today. Send in your cheque.

For more information go here.