Wednesday, 31 December 2008

Goodbye 2008

Finally the year has come to an end, it has been a roller coaster ride this year with loads of ups and downs both on the professional and personal front...

Lemme see, If I have to appraise the year that was...I can sum it up as follows...

1) For the first time in my life travelled alone (for fun and not on business), generally I am used to travelling in a group with the arragement taken care of by others, this year I managed to plan and visit Birmingham all by myself and had a blast of a weekend with friends who live there...

2) Started writing my blog (I have Vin to thank for this)...major mental block in this regard cleared...

3) Finally visited the Prince of Wales Museum...guys this is a must visit in Mumbai...all the history that is housed here really humbles you...it reminds you that you are nothing but a grain of sand on the shores of time...there were others before you and there will be many more after you, helps keep you in perspective...check out the painting section it is really awesome...

4) Finally drove a car on Mumbai roads...lemme tell you it took a lot of trying...my brother leaving for further studies was the last nail the coffin which actually drove (pun unintended) me to sign up for driving lessons...

5) Lost some serious weight :P... still have a long way to go before I look like Kate Moss...but then every little helps...

6) Made a spot of profit on the stock market...finally made some profits after two years of a losing streak...but still ending the year deeply in the red again...

7) Let go of loads of emotional baggage...learnt to live one day at a time...learnt that you can't have everything the way you want it to be...

8) Completed my collection of Jane Austen books...Yippie...finally :)

9) Gave my first live singing performance(Carols)...for the record it was a hit and I am still trying to get my hands on the recording of the same...

10) Learnt how to play the guitar...long time dream come true...

11) Got my first promotion within the same company...all other promotions in my life were on account of changing jobs...

12) Last but not the least made some great friends in blogosphere...

Guys, wish you a very happy 2009 and thanks for being part of my life, you rock and hope you continue rocking in 2009...

My message for the new year,

If you love something...set it free...
If it comes back...it is yours...
It is does not...it never was!!!

Cheers!!!

Sunday, 28 December 2008

Book Review : The White Tiger

Dear Mr Adiga,

This is in response to your matrimonial advertisement in yesterdays Times of India. Yeah, yeah, it was an interview in The Times, but shrewd and calculative me was able to see that you have managed to run a front page matrimonial ad for free. If this candid interview does not result in a shower of matrimonial responses, then I am not sure what will. I hereby present myself as a prospective Mrs. Adiga for I like your style, if you can hoodwink the Times and also win a Booker prize for The White Tiger, you have some serious survival instincts, me like it, me like it a lot.

I seem to be deviating from the point, so from here onwards a book review on your magnum opus The White Tiger it shall be. I have read the book and frankly have not been able to understand as to what is the message you want to give your readers. I grant you that I normally read a book three times to understand it and so far have read The White Tiger just once. But to make me read a book three times it must have something, that something maybe a plot, a conscience, a message or an inspiration. Even crap romance novels have a message, "Love conquers all in the end" or whatever mush, but The White Tiger...nothing!!!

What were you trying to say ??

1) That there is rampant corruption in India, and to make it big you have to grease a few palms...
2) That you should put yourself above others and forget all morals if you want to be someone in life...
3) That foreigners have better souls and conscience than us lowly Indians...
4) The foundations of every big empire is tainted with the blood of the innocent...

All the above happens all over the world, it is a dog eat dog world and it is the survival of the fittest, then why potray an already battered India to the world as such...

Your protagonist comes across as an unrepentant messenger of evil, right from the word go...he sucked up to all the wrong people, did grave injustice to the only man who treated him with some respect, continues to pay silence money...

Chances are I am not seeing the book in the right light...in which case pray enlighten me...

Your Sincerely
Sen

Saturday, 27 December 2008

Tagged ! Six crazy things while watching movie:)

Vin has passed on this contagious bug to me. I know I am infected for I see the symptoms, I have started blabbering about the crazy things I do while watching or going for a movie. I am not much of a movie freak (the-song-and-dance-around-trees routine kills me), so the VCDs and DVDs are a boon for the likes of me who can fast forward these bits and get on with the story (which is not there in most cases anyway)...Once in a while when I am in a masochistic mood I tend to make my way to the multiplex to watch movies...I am tagging Div & ,LV heheheh why should I alone suffer...so here goes...

1) Watch back to back duds...this is a phenomena which I have observed of late, this gives rise to another observation that I must be in a near suicidal mood these days, for under no other circumstances will a person watch Indian Jones (dubbed in Hindi) and Don Muthuswamy back to back...can you imagine the suave Harrison Ford talking in hindi, the dubbed dialogues for Indian Jones is something that I will remember to the day I die...a grown man mouthing dialogues like "Mummy kidhar hai!!" etc...etc, is not something you will forget in a hurry...

2) Anticipate when the lead pair is going to break into a song and dance sequence and say(loudly), "Guys not now, please no song, pls pls", I especially remember doing this while watching "Singh is King", there they were dancing and singing "Jee Karda" or whatever crap wearing little or no clothes...practically inside the pyramids...guys how about a bit of respect for the dead...that is centuries of history you are dancing on...and to think I went to watch this movie after buying a ticket, when just the previous day I could have gone for free kills me...

3) Pass Smart Alec Comments...This is my all time favourite pass time at dud movies...We were watching the Tanisha starrer "SSSSHHHH", where a killer is on the loose and he is slowly killing the members of the group..one of the girls whose name was Gehena was killed...the killer drowns her and her body washs up on the beach and the next shot is of her body being washed away again...our heads were already shot thanks to the lack lustre script and my friend N decided to liven up the atmosphere... he quips..."Gehena, pani mein behena" everyone within earshot practically erupted in laughter...

4) Watch horror movies and then sleep for the next couple of weeks with the bedside lamp on...I hate horror movies... I just cannot watch it, I normally watch the build up to the story and then walk out of the room when the really scary bits start...my mum has an interesting way of watching horror movies... she just mutes the TV when the scary parts start...this is really effective...you don't feel all that scared when the sound effects are missing!!!...the other side effects of watching horror movies is that you want company when you go from one room to another :)

5) Weep when the National Anthem is played...this is a mystery that I have not been able to solve yet, tears start flowing from my eyes when the National Anthem is played, it is a saving grace that the lights are switched off...or else people will think that I am crying since I did not want to see the movie and have been dragged to the cinema hall (which is the case most of the time) by force!!!

6) Advertisements, social messages and trailers...I love to watch the advertisements, social messages and trailers that are played before the movie begin, so I make it a point to be there before time, somehow the advertisements seem much more attractive on the big screen!!!

Tuesday, 23 December 2008

Yuletide Carol Singing!!!

Ok all you anxious people out there, here is the latest on the happenning in my office these past few days...with monthend and year end behind us...we had nothing better to do with our time and hence decided to venture into here before unknown and untapped pockets of latent talent that is hiding in the finance family (you see there is tremendous stress on the fact that we are like an extended family and a close knit bunch, the only thing left is to sing "We are family" before starting work each morning, you know, something on the lines of assembly at school, where we sang praises of the lord, country and school (Yes, my school (smirk, smirk) has a School Anthem, and I still remember it by heart)...

As it is Christmas Time, we decided to sing Carols, the smart ones promptly went on leave, the rest (read EL, myself and a few other unfortunates) "volunteered" to sing and the organiser went off to get the requisite approvals. By the time we did get the approvals it was Monday,22nd December and we just had a day and half to "practice" the shrieks and howls...

Monday, 22nd December 2008, around 8.p.m

We had a practice session, with El in the lead trying her level best to keep the singers in tune...honest we were really bad, there we were seven on us singing in seven different tunes...what with valiant El trying to keep the tempo with her Soprano like voice (she was part of the Church Choir), Saby lending the much needed tenor like voice, the rest of us sounding somewhere between bleating lambs and sandpaper being rubbed roughly on a hard coarse surface...half way into the session Saby doubled over and gave into a fit of uncontrollable laughter...We then decided to stick to the easy ones like, Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is coming to town, We wish you a merry Christmas...after another hour or so of lack lustre singing the group decided to call it a day. We tried to do some damage control by sweet talking V (the organiser) that we should restrict the singing only to the Finance Department, why expose ourselves to the ridicule that will be very liberally laid on us in other departments???, W looked so forlorn, he was like I will never be able to go to the Cafeteria, people will snigger and whisper "Yes, thats him, the Carol Singer", he was also worrying that his stud image will take a beating...But it was too late...V has already dropped a mail to All that a Carol Singing group will be coming to their areas!!! To say that none of us slept Monday night is an understatment....

Tuesday, 23rd December 2008


I tried to sneak out of singing by feigning a stomach pain, El promptly went to facilities and brought me a Digene for my poor stomach!!!...with a "what are friends for"...Yeah right...we had another practice session, the gods were kind to us and we were reinforced by some more people, somehow when there is a large group singing, it does not sound like noise!!!...also with the guitar accompanying us this time it was not sounding half as bad...people who heard us practicing also gave us their inputs and so finally around 5.30 in the evening after donning our Santa caps we were ready to give our first live performance...we tested our singing skills on the Finance Department and were greeted by "Bravos", "Fantastic", "Once More", "Best Hai" etc etc...we sidled up a few of the loudest cheerers and took them with us the rest of the department (Our own Cheering Squad)...after singing at the Corporate Area, KS, Ops and Cafeteria we returned to our desks !!!

Since I have not been able to get my hands on the recording of us singing, please go to this link, it is the nearest sound to us singing!!!

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=a9SO0xQ6aTw

Enjoi!!!

Saturday, 20 December 2008

Christmas time!!!

Ok, so Christmas is round the corner...everyone is in a celebratory mood, including the chaps in my office as the months salary will be distributed before Christmas...yipeee...so that means I start the new year broke!!!

This year the Finance department (which is viewed as the most boring department, where stiff collared and sense of humourless people abound) has decided to organise a group that will go to every department in the company and sing carols...yours truly has also volunteered to blast the eardrums of the unsupecting public with her singing...though I already warned the organisers that people run for cover when I sing...he just waved it off as a non hazard saying..."if you have the guts to sing, the job is yours"...El is to work on the motley crew of singers( most of us non-catholics) who would be singing carols for the first time(yours truly went to a church school so atleast knows the songs by ear), god bless her!!!...Psst, I intend to take a leaf out of our rock singers book, I hear they lip sync their songs at most concerts, so I will go along with the group and lip sync the song, my only worry is hope the rest of the "singers" are also not thinking on these lines, if they do, we will go down in history as the only silent carol singing group!!!...The Team has also organised something called as a Kris Kringle, kind of like Secret Santa...where you have to buy gifts for someone anonymously, I like this idea a lot...El if you are my Secret Santa, you know what I want gift wrapped :))

I remember one Christmas when I was about eight, the myth of Santa Claus died a natural death, I had just seen some cartoon films where Santa Claus leaves gifts for all children who have been good all year. I was heartbroken that Santa did not send me any gifts even though I had been good all year and also been sensitive enough to kept a clean sock hanging in the wash line outside the house, my logic for leaving the sock outside the house was, that since we in India did not have chimneys, which incidently is Santa's all time favourite route to enter a house, he may bypass our house and not leave gifts!!!

My wish is to celebrate a white christmas before I die, I know, I know, too many movies I hear you guys say, but the image of a cute little cottage covered in snow, with smoke coming out of its chimney, a partially frost covered window through which you can see a happy family sitting around the fire place exchanging gifts, while a Christmas tree with fairy lights and decorations, twinkles away in the corner is my all time favourite Christmas scene!!!

So all you guys out there wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Thursday, 18 December 2008

The day so far...

I woke up this morning determined to close my blog as I felt I had nothing more to write...but the day seems to have started with a bang, it is just 9.30 a.m. and so far...the water supply to my area has been cut off, due to some work being carried out at the mains( no water today and tomorrow, is the gloomy forecast)...my sister almost got mugged...I got extortion comments from, Ahem, Ahem, a far east country...have a townhall to attend in office, followed by Christmas Lunch ...yippie happy days!!!

My sister works for the Singapore location and has to be in office before six thirty in the morning, as she was travelling in the auto rickshaw (my family is dedicated to doing our bit for the economy by travelling by rickshaw, thereby ensuring income to the poor marginalised class of rickshaw drivers), she felt rather than saw that a motor cycle was moving rather close to her rickshaw. It was on her left, then went to her right, almost like a big cat stalking its prey. Then before she knew it, she saw a shadow like a head very close to her rickshaw door and a hand clamped down on her handbag and tried to drag it away!!!

She screamed, let me assure you I have heard her scream as a child, it is of the variety that freezes the blood in your veins...the jarring scream unsettled the would be thieves and woke up her still in dream land rickshaw driver... the thieves looked the otherway so she would not be able to identify them and sped off, the rickshaw driver transformed himself into a jockey and soon they arrived at her office, the rickshaw almost foaming at the mouth like a race horse...

More later...

Bai Bye!!!

J arrived and declared she spied S2 on her way to work and went on about how different and smart he looked. S2 arrived in office in t-shirt and jeans amid much fanfare (as he is essentially a jeans and shirt person so it is a welcome change!!!)...It turns out it is woman who brought about a se(a)e change in him…his maid servant or bai as they are commonly called in Mumbai has not turned up for work…so the dirty laundry has piled sky high in his apartment and he is having to dress in business casuals for work…

He and his roomies are having a tough time with their maid servant...the last one disappeared without notice and this new one joined on the condition that she will be on vacation in December!!! This reminds me of other bai's and their tantrums…

My ex-colleague was interviewing prospective maid servants to do the laundry at her place, one prospective candidate said she would join provided they paid her Rs.200 a month and that too only if they had a washing machine…my friend rejected her with the following comment, “Now let me get this right, you want me to pay you Rs.200 to switch on and switch off the washing machine!!!”.

My aunt once had a maid who was kleptomaniac, she stole stuff and hid them in her petticoat (a petticoat is a long skirt that is worn under the saree)… this resourceful bai had sewn extra cloth on this petticoat to make a kind of pouch and keep the stolen stuff there!!!...Once she had the audacity to steal large steel vessels, they jangled like crazy in the hiding place and gave her secret away!!!...She was sacked pronto!!!

Not all bai's are mad, crazy or thieves, Gulab Akka who lived with us while I was growing up is a person who redeemed all the aforementioned bai's, she is a gem and one of the rare breed of genuine people. All my childhood memories are linked with her….We were really sorry to see her go, but working as a house maid was hampering her prospects in the marriage market and so she had to leave us to work in an Office setup. She still calls often and meets up at festivals like Raksha Bandhan (she ties a rakhi to my younger brother) Diwali etc!!!

Wednesday, 17 December 2008

Chicken Soup for the constipated soul!!!

This piece is dedicated to the street foods of India. Finally, today my team succeeded in going for an outing which we have been planning and postponing for months. We went to Galleria for chaat, while we were waiting for the pani puri and dahi puri to arrive we started discussing the various street foods that can be had. What followed was a deep and insightful conversation around the taste and how it varied according to the proximity of the stall to unhygienic surroundings. All agreed that the closer the stall was to a dustbin or the lousier the personal hygiene of the vendor…the better the taste. Most of these foods are guaranteed to give your innards and you the much needed exercise as you run to and fro to the loo, a sure shot remedy for constipation …I might as well go down in history for coining the phrase “Chicken Soup for the constipated soul”!!!

A is a firm believer that the best non-vegetarian food at Mohemmad Ali Road is at the stall closest to the dustbins…The bigger the dustbin, the bigger the crowds at the stall. A normally cruises down the road and pick the stall which has the aforementioned qualities and attacks the food, satisfaction is guranteed!!!

S2 swears by the puchka at Lake Gardens of South Calcutta, the stall can be found just on top of the drains or manhole covers, usually the vendor is sweating profusely, adding to the Sodium Chloride content of the liquid filling. The fillings of the puchkas are made a special mixture of boiled potatoes with a fine blends of masalas, a liberal helping of the aforementioned and other tame garam masalas.,.S2 swears that you get addicted to a particular stall…I am thinking it is on account of the sodium chloride contributed by the vendor…

S1 is a fan of the chaat served between two gutters in his locality, one of the gutter is used as an open air urinal by the vendor, whether he washes his hands is best left unsaid. But, according to S1 this guy manages to sell Rs.5,000 worth of stuff between 3.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. daily. S1 also patronises as few stall at Khau Galli in Bhuleshwar, all the stalls or bakadas as they are called are over and between the numerous drains that criss-cross the city.

M remembers the Masala Puri she had when she visited down south, one morsel was enough to set your soul and mouth on fire, she remembers tears streaming down her face as she ate the rest of the dish (good girl that she is, wasting food does not go down well with her) …what happened the day after is better left unsaid!!! She also remembers the Pav Bhaji she ate at a proper restaurant after paying an exorbitant price; the same was served with sweet buns!!!

I remember being adventurous and trying the Bhel Puri down south, the same was served with all the possible sprouts, channas and without any chutneys!!!, I am sure all these health conscious chefs who go about selling low-fat Bhel Puri flicked the recipe from this particular stall!!!

You guys are welcome to add your own experiences with these soul foods!!!

Monday, 15 December 2008

Girls Day Out!!!

Yesterday Vin and I went for a loooong walk…I say long walk because we started at Andheri and ended up at Marine Drive, South Mumbai (alright you can stop giving me those saucer eyed stares, we took a train to Churchgate and then started walking).

Vin sent an SMS asking if I wanted to meet up, I agreed as I had nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon, other than pick my moms brains and her patience was running thin at the moment. We met at our usual meeting place at Andheri station and began deciding on the agenda for the evening. We had three options, Juhu beach, Bandra Bandstand or Marine Drive. After weighing all the pros and cons we decided to go Marine Drive. We decided to take a fast train as it would get us to Churchgate faster, accordingly we went to the platform and waited from the train. We had to leave a couple of trains as they were too crowded… we couldn’t get a finger in those trains forget our entire bodies. As it is I hate travelling by trains, on weekday I am a typical suburban warrior queen, trying to get in and out of trains but on weekends the crowds are even worse as it consists of families, harried mothers dragging kids, wailing infants etc, etc…you get the broad idea by now…finally we agreed that to maintain our sanity and wellbeing we better take the Andheri Local, accordingly we switched platforms and lucky for us a train was already waiting at the platform. After forty five minutes (it seemed like an eternity) we arrived at Churchgate. Part one of the mission accomplished. Part two being to find Marine Drive. Thing is, I may have lived in Mumbai all my life but I can count the number of times I have been to South Mumbai on my finger tips. Further I always get confused with the roads, Vin, being directionally challenged to begin with, is no help!!! She did put on a fight when I picked one road, saying we needed to go in the other direction, but soon gave up and followed, It was only when we arrived at a circle did I acknowledge that we were on the wrong road (Vin smirking with the I-told-you-so look), we asked for directions and retraced our step back and picked the right road and finally arrived at Marine Drive.

We walked along Marine Drive and on reaching the end of the road we sat down near the tetrapods, looking at the Arabian Sea and the ships which appeared like tiny specks on the horizon. In front of us we could see Malabar hill, the Mumbai Sky line, Girgaum Chowpatty in front of us slightly to our right.

To get to this end we had to walk past the now forlorn looking Trident and Oberoi Hotels, but the pavement opposite the hotel was bustling with activity, it was almost as if nothing had happened there. The crowds were unbelievable, given that it is just the 14th of December and is just two weeks after the tragedy!!! The hawkers selling, ‘channa jor garam’, bhutta, chips, water, juice, chats and what not… it was just amazing…just two Sundays ago the place was ringing with gunshots and now it is ringing with the crashing waves and giggles of college girls and shouts of glee from children flitting about like butterflies!!!

We sat there till it grew dark, we could see the city transform… it was almost as it she were changing from her dull work clothes into some zippy happening clothes ready for a night about town…gone were the dull buildings and in their place we could see tall shining minarets, the lights on Marine Drive were also shining, living up to the name Queens Necklace. The crowds were denser still…no one seemed to want to go home…reluctantly we decide to leave, but not before we had tucked in some delectable food at Shiv Sagar, which is a small but very famous, vegetarian eatery near Marine Drive. We reached around seven but the place seemed deserted, given its reputation as a gourmet magnet we were surprised, the guy at the gate assured us that in the next fifteen minutes there would be no place to stand here… we took his word and cornered the best table for ourselves and waited, and true to his words the place filled up, there were people hanging off the rafters in less than fifteen minutes!!!

We ordered Hot and Sour soup, Veg Pulao, Paneer Makhanwala and buttermilk. Vin also wanted to order a palak dish with rotis, but better sense prevailed and we stuck to the original order.

They waiter placed some plates in front of us and the usual pickles, onions, chutney, raita etc, I attacked the raita with much gusto serving myself a huge helping (later I realised the plate I used to eat the raita was actually meant to be used as a base for the soup bowl), the waiter who saw how embarrassed I was smiled and kept murmuring “koi baat nahi, hota hai"!!!, but made sure he kept the other plates far away from me on Vin’s side of the table, in my defence I want to say that there were half a dozen identical small plates on each table!!!

The soup was heavenly, this was followed by the main course, as we were tucking in we realised the kids on the next table who were waiting for their orders to arrive were much more interested in what we were eating…Vin and I started praying that the food arrived on their table a.s.a.p., it came to such a state that we were contemplating hiding behind paper napkins…finally the food arrived on their table and we started staring at their table as the food they had ordered was definitely much more appealing to the eyes!!!

Don’t miss the opportunity if you ever get a chance to eat at Shiv Sagar, the food is absolutely to die for, Vin and I have decided that we will visit the place atleast once a month (P.S. I am in love with the Hot and Sour soup). By the time the bill (less than Rs.300!!!) arrived we could barely move (the portions are pretty huge), It was getting a little difficult to suck the stomach in and walk like a lady, ultimately had to give in!!!

Vin declared she was walking all the way to Marine Lines station and then looking at the expression on my face hastened to assure me that she was joking.We arrived at Churchgate like two drunks, both of us seemed to be in some kind of a high…Vin wanted to throw some rubbish she had in her purse, but there was no dustbin in sight, we even had a crack at Knock Knock jokes…honestly there must have been something in the water…here goes

Knock Knock
Whose there ?
Where is the dustbin?
What dustbin ?
The thing that civilised people use to separate the crap from the non-crap…
Oh, so that’s where the non-craps live these days…

I know this is not making any sense…but both of us were in splits at this joke!!!

Finally we took the Borivali fast train and reached Andheri around 8:45 p.m., ending our day out and the “Walk”!!!

Thursday, 11 December 2008

"Sen"sational News!!!

OK, I am doing this because, Vin forced me to...thing is, my post "R ki shaadi" just got published on http://www.simplymarryzine.com/!!!, you guys have already read it, but can't help but give you the link to see it at this professionally managed website :))...

http://www.simplymarryzine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=495&Itemid=96

It began with an innocent mail from the editor that the post was very much like the content which they are looking for their site and with my permission, she would like to republish it with my name and picture. I practically fell off my chair, I mean, here I was forcing my friends and colleagues to read my blog and out of the blue, I am getting published in a e-zine of the Times Group no less!!! When I say force, it is literally what I do, I stand at their desks to ensure that they read it and also bug them till they post comments on it :)) ...EL, R, N, S2, P...You guys know what I mean right :)...

I quickly sent a mail accepting her kind offer and ask her to publish it under my pen name "Rita O. Sen"...."Senorita"..."Rita O. Sen" get it ???, but declined to give my picture...so the post is up at the site with a "dummy picture" (thats what the editor called it) of this gorgeous girl, poor thing got her lot linked with me, the things you have to put with when you are a model!!!...The resemblence with me ends at eyebrows and to some extent the hair...with regard to the rest, I can safely say, you know those ads, where they say, before using blah bhah product I was like this and after using it I am like this...I am like the "Before" person in advertisement and she like the "After"!!!

Sunday, 7 December 2008

Goodbye

The receptionist at my office passed away on Sunday, the exact reason is still not clear but it is rumoured that depression claimed her, no older than late twenties or early thirties...she leaves behind two young children. I can picture her in her smart suit, smiling, attending to the constant stream of visitors and chatting with the security guards and housekeeping staff in the lobby. A kind word and a kind smile for everyone. Never once did it ever occur to me or to anyone else that she suffered from depression.

I try to rack my brains as to when she join the company, in my memory she was always there somehow all the other receptionists seem to have faded away. Over these years I remember wishing her a "Good Morning" at 1.00 p.m. in the afternoon (my logic being, since I work the UK shift and it is morning in the UK, the greeting is correct), she always responded with that infectious smile. The next memory I have of her is of one traditional day at the office, she was dressed in the traditional dress called Jyensyem, consisting of two ankle length pieces of cloth gathered at the shoulders. EL and I, though we were on "Hi" & "Good Morning" terms with her, made her get up from her desk and twirl around so we could see the pretty dress from every side... To say that she looked pretty is an understatement!!!

I regret that I never asked her name, I always wanted to but never did, kept putting it off to tomorrow and now the day will never come...my colleagues tell me her name was Nicola...meaning "winner of the people"... If only I could turn back time, talk to her, get her confidence, maybe this tragedy could have been averted...

Dear Nicola,

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

You are deeply mourned by all whose lives you have touched and will be sorely missed...

Sincerely
Sen

Awards!!!

Karthik, you have inspired me to write about my friends, lemme start with Vin, I have known Vin practically all my life... we lived in the same society, went to the same school, same college (being the intelligent one she took up Science...but thats OK I have the looks...hehehe)...she is my two am friend.... I know that if I am in trouble and call her at two in the morning she will traipse across town to rescue me... over the years we have had our share of ups and downs...but I guess it is Karma, we are meant to be friends...She is so talented, the way she draws...I have been trying to get her paint for a while now... everyone who reads this pls pls pls join the cause and support me in bugging her till she take up painting and starts believing in herself... believe me she is good at it and should not let the talent go waste...

It gives me great pleasure in giving this award to Vin, in addition to having the coolest blog,she is also the coolest person I know, sweetie, cannot think of anyone better than you for this award my one and only chuddy-buddy!!!

Saturday, 6 December 2008

Time!!!

What do you do when every action comes to naught
You get defeat in all the battles you have fought
Sadness envelopes everything like a stifling smog
The future seems covered with the densest fog

Can someone show me the way I need to take
I have reached a point where I really cannot fake
Emotions, Actions and Thoughts at cross-roads
Time to take stock, let the truth come clean from the shadow of the shrouds.

Friday, 5 December 2008

R ki Shaadi!!!

Last Wednesday my colleague and good friend R got married, I am sure he is at peace right now...we in office have been ribbing and troubling him about his wedding for well over a year now. As Mr. & Mrs. R enjoy their honeymoon, let me narrate the events as to how the "team" managed to make it to the wedding and what transpired there and how we got back and how I got infected with conspiracy theories...I better warn you this is one long post with fine detailing of the events...

2nd December 2008
10:30p.m
N: So we meet tomorrow morning, will pick you up as I am planning to bring my car
Me: That would be great, J is also coming with us as she comes from Borivali, so we can pick her up at Andheri Station and proceed...but are you sure you want to bring the car ??
N: Yeah, I have no problem...

11:30 p.m.
Finally dukan band for the day and A and I leave, the rest of the gang have left at 10.30 p.m.(official time), A & me linger back..being the slow pokes that we are...we are running to catch transport as it leaves in 30 seconds...
A: So, we meet at the wedding tomorrow..
Me: Yep...have to go and unearth the saree that I am planning to wear tomorrow...

12:15 a.m.
Sen Residence
Me with my head buried in the cupboard, Mom hovering in the background...
Mom: Why can't you be a little more organised, you knew about this wedding for over six months now, why this last minute rush to find a saree and blouse...
Me :( triumphantly emerging from the cupboard with saree and blouse) Found it!!!

1:15 a.m.
Sen and Mom in ZZZZland

3rd December 2008
8:54 a.m.
EL calls on cell phone
Me in ZZZland...cellphone on silent...

9:15 a.m.
Mom: Wake up, you have a wedding to attend...
I wake up, was in the middle of a very disturbing dream that one of the journals is not getting uploaded no matter what I did...when the haze clears, I realise that it is only a dream and it is a brand new day with no mistakes...with this happy thought in mind and a song on my lips I check my mobile phone...there is a missed call from EL's sister phone (whenever EL is at home she always calls from her sister phone, she claims it costs less and that her sister does not mind)

9:16 a.m.
Call up EL on her sister's phone...Sister picks up, being the motor mouth that I am, I step into top gear and launch into the programme for the day as soon as I hear a "Hello"...realise later that it is her sister who took the call (in my defence I would like to state that their voices are similar)...I apologies (well-mannered chick I am)...EL comes on line...after calling her the Stingy No.1 etc...etc...ask her why she called?
EL: I think will also tag along with you guys, N is bringing her car right ?
Me: Yeah, she is, lemme check with her, and I will call you with the details
I ring off...

9:17 a.m.
I call N.
Phone rings for a long time... and someone picks up...I am little cautious after the EL fiasco...
Its N's mom.
N's Mom: Hello, N is in the bath, can I take a message for her...
Me: (still preoccupied) NO!!! ( a little too abruptly), then I realise I sounded too rude, I try to make up..."Could you please let her know that I called and ask her to please give me a ring, auntie?? "
I ring off...feeling a little too sheepish...

9:18 a.m.
I call J, am multi-tasking just now with brush in mouth.
Me: (muffled due to the frothy toothpaste in my mouth) Hello
J: Are you brushing your teeth?
Me: yeah, just a min.
J: (choking on giggles) what time are we meeting?
Me: N is bringing her car, so can you meet is somewhere in Andheri -E, we could pick you up on the way at XYZ place.
J: OK, meet you there are 11a.m.
I ring off.

9:45 a.m.
N calls me.
N: Hi...do you know where exactly the venue is??
Me: Nope, no clue, it is in Vile Parle near the station...
N: I am having doubts about bringing the car...we don’t know the venue...
Me: Yeah, let’s can the idea and travel by rickshaw, I will let EL and J know about the change in plan.

Accordingly I let EL and J know of the change in plans, EL decides to come directly to the venue and J to meet us at Andheri Station.

10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
I get into the saree, after I am finished there are so many pins all over my saree to keep it in place that it would put Elizabeth Hurley's famous SAFETY PIN dress to shame...apply my make up...and just in time as N arrives to collect me...I manage to totter on my 3 inch heels to the rickshaw and start breathing only once I am ensconced safely in the rickshaw.

11:15 a.m.
We arrive at Andheri station...but no sign of J...she calls that the train has just arrived at Andheri...will meet us at the rendezvous point in 5 minutes...we cool our heels, sweating buckets as it is sweltering hot and nothing like what December should be... we spy a florist and buy a bouquet of roses for the newly weds(later we realise that present were "compulsorily in blessings only")...

12:15 p.m.
After traipsing all over Vile Parle East as we had no clue where the venue was, we arrive at the venue....and head for the lift that will take us to the hall...
We are waiting for the lift to arrive, another guest also waiting for the lift get a call on her cell phone...and we are treated to a very good example of how people talk Marathi in English...or rather speak in Manglish...
Manglish speaking Guest: (speaking to someone on the phone) Hello, where are you, just now, I am outside the lift, just now (this is a literal translation of the Marathi line “Tumhi kuthe aahaat aata, me liftchya baaher aahe aata”) notice the use of “just now”.

J, N & I are stifling giggles.

The lift arrives and all of us get in and finally arrive at the hall, EL & S1 are already there and informs us that the newly-weds have gone off to change. We are asked to hit the buffet lunch.
We decline, as the truth maybe that we are interested in the food but decorum requires that we wish the newly-weds or at least wait for a sometime before we attack the food. The others proceed for lunch and soon we are surrounded by a group of people tucking into Puris, Veg. Kolhapuri and Basundi. J looks forlorn as she has not had breakfast and after a while gives in and hits the lunch table with much gusto. The photographers and video cameraman arrive to capture the lively scene of people eating food. This is something that I really don’t understand, why the wedding album is not complete without a dozen or so gross pictures of people eating food, the ones that make it to the final album are normally really horrid pictures with people with open mouths looking like fish about to gobble smaller fish.

The Newly-weds arrive and pose for pictures, R blushing more that his bride and we have a field day making him even more uncomfortable.

A, P, M & S2 arrive, Much to our amazement S2 heads straight for lunch counter...finally the rest of us also grab a bite.

All look at me and comment “You look different”...no one has the guts to spell it “You look ugly with your hair flying wildly all over the place”...EL is brave enough and comments, “you should have applied gel”...I retort ”Yeah and look like I have no hair on my head, I would rather go around looking wild like a savage than BALD”, you see I have very thin but wavy hair and even a drop of oil in it make me look bald so I avoid oil and gels of any kind like the plague...

1:00 p.m.
We finally go on stage to meet the newly-weds.
R introduces me to Mrs. R...
R: Meet Sen, she is P’s sister (my brother, R and R’s wife all worked together in the same company, R left it and joined our current company and my brother left it for further studies, R’s wife still works there)
Mrs. R: (Smiling) Oh!
Me: Hello, how are you ??( A nanosecond later I realise that this is a foolish question)
Me: (thinking aloud) what an idiot I am, what do I mean “how are you”...I mean to say “Congratulations”...

By now R & Mrs. R are laughing at me with much relish. You see, when I put my foot in my mouth, I ensure it goes all the way down my throat...I back track from the limelight and step straight on EL’s foot, poor thing stifled a scream as my three inch heel made contact with her foot.

After the mandatory picture is clicked, we make are way off the stage, me apologising profusely to EL all the time. We head straight for the lift, only to be told this lift is to be used only to come up and cannot be used to go down!!!...But the liftman was nowhere in sight, El and I decided that to come up the lift has to go down, and it will suffer no injury if we were in it on its downward journey, thus we took the lift and arrived on the ground floor. The rest of the gang had already collected there and are waiting for us, there were 10 of us we split as oldies in one car and young ones in the second car and headed to office.

I was travelling in P’s car, now P knows I hate Himesh Reshamiya and made sure that he played all Himesh songs on full blast, as he knew I jolly well could not jump out of the car. It is in this car amid the Himesh Reshamiya music, that my mind was contaminated by EL and P with the conspiracy theories ....

Wednesday, 3 December 2008

Disillusionment and faith

A few facts were brought to my notice that I never in my wildest imagination could think possible...


9/11 terror attacks conspiracy theory - I even checked this out on the internet...there is a movie , over 2 hours long, called Zeitgeist, which gives a very convincing account of the so called 9/11 conspiracy theory. I have not yet seen the movie but have been told it is compelling - This film have some amazing footage of the crash sites - both at the Pentagon and of united 93 - on which there does not appear to be any evidence of a plane being involved in the crashes.

This fuels speculations... this is not a place to discuss this complicated issue... but I am disillusioned, what state would do such an act to its own people...With the terror attacks in Mumbai, tongues are wagging that some forces in India tried to do some thing akin to the terror attacks in US for their own ulterior motives...this had left me disillusioned all of Wednesday...I kept pondering on the issues all day with a spillover of the same into Thursday...I kept thinking what is the point of writing about it when everything is a conspiracy!!!...I had decided not to write anything on this issue going forth...when it dawned on me that tongues wag...they have in the past,they are wagging now and they always will in the future too...It is not in our control to stop them...what is in our power is to ignore them and follow our purpose...I can think of two stories that my mother told me when I was little, they are very relevant to this scenario...let me recount them for your benefit...

Once upon a time a colony of frogs lived in a large well, as it happened one summer was exceptionally hot and the water in the well began to dry and the frogs decided to leave the well and look for an alterntive place to live. They began climbing to the top of the well, no matter what they did they began slipping back to the well because of the slimy walls...some of them managed to climb out but others began losing hope after numerous failed attempts and quit and consigned themselves to a slow death. Finally a time came when all the frogs except one gave up. The lone frog kept trying, inspite of his fellow frogs telling him to quit, the more they told him to quit the harder he tried to get to the top, finally after one tremendous burst of energy, he made it to the top!!!...when someone asked the frog why he continued to climb up when all were advising him to stop... it dawned on the astonished group that the frog was deaf...when he saw the people talking to him asking him to stop he thought they were actually encouraging him to keep climbing and thus was able to make it to the top!!!!

The second story....
Once a farmers donkey fell into a deep well, the well did not have any water and the farmer did not have money to hire people to pull the donkey out. So, he decided to bury the donkey alive by filling up the well with mud. He called the villagers and asked them to help him to fill the well. The work began, at first the donkey cried piteously when he realised what the farmer and villagers were doing. But then it became quite, and the farmer was surprised to see that as more the mud was thrown on top of the donkey, the donkey calmly shook it off his back and climbed on top of the collected mud...thus climbing higher towards the rim of the well and freedom....finally the well was filled in and the donkey joyously jumped out and walked free...

The reason why I have narrated the two stories in to jut make a point that just as the frog in the story did not listen to the naysayers we must not listen to negative influences and believe in ourselves and rise in life like the donkey, using the dirt or whatever is thrown at us in a positive way...

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...so my fellow Indians...step forward...let us begin our journey towards a better India...