Trip to Goa Part I - The Holiday Inn

A trip to Goa during the off season is not a really bad idea after all.
My vacation could be called a mixed bag. Considering that me and d Db are so different on our views on how a holiday ought to be, this holiday had something for both of us. We got ample of time without office and cool our heels while the last few days of the vacation we also managed to go around the place and visit a few places.

As we reached the Madgaon station, I was starting to feel terribly disappointed. It was raining badly and also because, for a place known to be a
major tourist attraction not just in India but worldwide, the Madgaon station was smelly like an armpit. It was also Bharat Bandh on the same day, and the idea of spending 12 hours in that smelly railway station was giving me goosebumps. But thankfully Holiday Inn decided to send us the pick up cab to the resort which they had initially denied because of the bandh. As we started cutting through the narrow roads towards the resort, my disappointment level was increasing by many folds. For a place which attracts many foreign tourists through out the year, I was expecting a more commercialized place. There were no rickshaws, no petrol pumps in the radius of 20 kms around, the roads were so narrow that it would make it difficult for two buses to cross each other, the town buses looked ancient...my Grandfather's village looked so much plush compared to this. Even Db's hometown Jeypore is also much more scenic than this, if marketed properly, it would do much better than Goa.

Such an over hyped place I thought...

The first three days of our vacation was pre booked at the Holiday Inn Resort in South Goa. It was raining cats and dogs when we reached there. The resort was nice, they had an amazing pool and a private beach. Our room was very cozy and comfortable and also pool facing...it was amazing to just sit in the balcony sipping your tea and watch the pool or the sea. The food was amazing, we had the buffet b'fast, lunch and dinner included in our package and we had a great time with the food that was served to us. With the food at the resort, I found my long lost taste of homemade curd...so much so that I am actually in the process of making it at home now.

I was earlier told by my friends that I would probably look terribly overdressed in Goa, since there would be many who would hardly be wearing anything at all. But we seemed to be the youngest couple in the resort (most of them were with one or two kids, or middle aged couples or corporates who had come for conferences) and with my shorts, I looked like the most under-dressed person there. I had got hardly anything from Bangalore that could remotely match up to the sarees and salwaar kameez or the full length jeans with long kurtas that other aunties were wearing there so I remained the most under-dressed person around.
Also, I was not keeping well (the regular women stuff)...and I was not expected to keep well for the next 3 days as well...so all I could do is watch people having fun from my balcony. Though it was not as bad as it sounds, but I could still do better by jumping into the pool or the beach. Though Db got his chance to have a quiet and relaxing holiday away from office, the fact that I was not enjoying didn't give him any pleasure.

So, on the second day of our vacation, we decided to hire a bike and check out the Palolem beach. I am still looking for the person who told us that the beach is just 20 kms away, since it was almost or more than 35 kms from our resort. And as luck would have it, the seemingly bright sunny day turned into a ghastly rainy one and we drenched ourselves on the way to the beach. Worse, the beach was lonely as a desert with only filthy dogs to give us some unwanted company. Disappointed to the core, we left the place in a few minutes. But the worse was yet to be...as we were returning back in the rainy afternoon, we lost our way and got a lot more wet and frustrated than we otherwise would have been. We reached our room by evening, and eventually decided to forget the beaches and enjoy our stay in the resort by using the internal facilities given here.


At the end of three days we had the option to either stretch our stay in the same resort for the next three days or move to North Goa. We chose the second option and booked another hotel from makemytrip for another resort in North Goa, near the Calungute beach. Then was the fear for the unknown when we checked out of the Holiday Inn and booked a cab to the north.

Luggage...I hate it !!!

When I was single, travelling home was not a teary affair for me unlike my other friends.

They would start preparing a month earlier by buying stuff for their family, piling them on the bed and not bothering to pack them into suitcases until the day of the journey comes...and the final result would be two pregnant looking suitcases for which hiring one coolie would look inhuman. On the contrary, I has something which looked like a schoolbag which I carried home. For a one week vaccation, It would have 3-4 T-shirts, my lens kit and may be a facewash, and some snack if I am being too generous. My roomies would look shocked each time(probably carrying more luggage than you need is a girly thing) and made sure they ask their parents to add to my luggage. So most of the time, my return trips were over burdened, my own luggage being just one fourth of the total luggage I'd be carrying.My worst ever experience was when one of my friend's Dad wanted me to carry a Rajai for his daughter to Bangalore. I showed him the size of my bag and he gave me this strange expression and offered me to give a bag too. But somehow I managed to wriggle out of carrying the Rajai.

The bottom line is I have always hated to carry luggage, I feel a huge luggage spoils the journey, half with the effort it takes to carry them and other half by worrying about it on the way.

But post marriage, the tables turned. Now each time I go to my in-laws place, I need on suitcase only for myself while Db has to make his own arrangements in another bag. For a one week vaccation, I need to carry five salwaar kammezes, a couple of sarees, bangles, gifts for the family and a teeny weeny makeup kit. Though my luggage is still far from looking like the pregnant bags of my friends, but they are still enough to irritate me.

Now this is a very novel feeling to me.
We are going for a week long holiday to Goa this week (yipeeeeeee!!!!). Thats one place I have always wanted to go. Also this is our first vaccation in 2.5 years of our marraige, I wouldn't call the Delhi trip as a holiday. I started my packing yesterday, and I have already packed eight Tees, two shorts,two slacks and two skirts and the bag is already half full while I still have a plenty of things to pack the essentials, the toileteries, my swim wear, my jeans, camera and need to leave some space for the shopping in Goa too.
Never felt so full.

BTW, we are staying in Goa for a whole 5 days and would be staying at the Holiday Inn. Howzzat!!!

Truth is stranger than fiction

The wake of the news of many models comitting suicides, provoked the thought of this blog post.
I know a lot of people who would die for the money and fame that these ladies were enjoying. Then why, a person who supposedly has everything in life would be drawn to an edge where they want to end their life. Agreed, showbiz comes with its set of challenges and pressures, but every profession has its set of challenges, each life its own set of problems.
I read somewhere where a fellow model has comented that, the fashion industry takes a lot of compromises, casting couches to reach at the top, and when you are not able to sustain it at the top that results to depression and eventually such drastic steps. My question is if something is so important for you to achieve that you are willing to tread the path full of nasty compromises, then you have no right to complain whatsoever...and aren't you a fool to believe that the fame and sucess will last a lifetime for you. So, you got to have a Plan B...right!!!
And why trouble his boyfriend for this. She chose to end her life after a fight, or breakup or whatever, why should he be blamed for that...makes no sense.

As I was given to believe, it seems films influence peope and the societe, everything starting from fashion, smoking, extra marital affairs...everything influences people. But reading more about the film and fashion industry, I feel their lifes is way more filmy than the movies they are a part of.

Did you know:

Hema Malini chose to marry the very married Dharmendra, but Dharmendra's wife was not willing to divoce her husband. hence they managed to escape through a small gap in the Indian Legal system, by converting into Islam.

Sanjeev Kumar never married because he was in love with Hema Malini who in turn chose to marry the married and father of two kids, Dharmendra. The then Actress Sulakshana Pandit wanted to marry Sanjeev Kumar but he kept refusing her proposal since he could never get over Hema Malini. Sulaksha Pandit in turn never married too.

MadhuBala died of a hole in her heart, the most common disease shown in movies during those times. She hid her ailment for a long time from people until she succumbed to her illness. She had an affair with Dilip Kumar and both wanted to settle down, but they had a rift over a court case where Dilip kumar chose to testify against MadhuBala's father, hence standing by what he thought was right. But this caused a drift between the two and she chose to become the second wife of Kishore Kumar instead.

Meena Kumari was abandoned by her parents when she was born but later brought back by her father. She died due to liver failure because of excessive drinking, post her divorce with Kamal Amrohi. It is said that she was as pennyless on her death as during her birth, there was no money to pay for her hospital bills.

Parveen Babi is supposed to be schizophenic, before she met her tragic end, another common subject choosen by many masala movies till date. read more...

Nargis was born to a courtesean but was kept away from music and dance to prevent her from landing into the same profession. She fell for Sunil Dutt when he saved her life in an accident (a common practice in Bollywood movies to woo a girl) during the making of Mother India and soon they married.

Guru Dutt chose to end his life after a failed relationship with his wife Geeta Dutt and Waheeda Rehman. The had also made two failed attempts earlier.

His wife Geeta Dutt died soon after suffering a serious nervous breakdown, she ran into financial problems and started performing at lower platforms like Durga pujas and other stage performances. She died of liver failure due to excessive drinking.

Asha Parekh never married because of a failed relationship, and because she believed her unapproachable personna repelled people to ask her for marraige.

I was unknown to most of them before I dug into it...and certainly I realize that all that glitters is not gold. The glittering glamorous world of fashion is cinema is probably dark and hollow within...and certainly what we see recreated on celluloid, happy pretty faces...dancing and cheering might be going back to a dark lonely life as soon as the lights are turned off.

Truth is certainly stranger than fiction.

Hopeless !!!

Me : Do you believe in mushy love stories?
Db : (makes a dismissive gesture while still looking at his laptop, which means 'No' for an answer)
Me : So do you think I was a fool to believe that I would some day have a magical love story to call my own?
Db : No not really. Hota hai!!! (happens)
Me : You know I always thought I would some day have cindrella kinda love story. I saw in some movie, the guy leaves the girl in the station, and while he is walking out he realizes how much he loves her. He turns back and starts running to stop the girl. But the train has already started moving, so he runs after the train with all his worth...but misses it. Frustrated, as he returns back, he finds the girl waiting on the platform. She didn't board the train because she believed he'd return to get her back.
Db : (Still looking at his laptop) Okay.
Me : You know, I always wished it happened to me.
Db : Hmm
Me : Would you run after the train to stop me?
Db : No, I know you would be waiting in the platform, so I'll walk.
Me : Hmph!!! Okay, say we had a fight and I went to my Mom's place...phir???
Db : I'll send a return ticket to your Dad and ask him to put you on the next train back.
Me : He wont do that.
Db : (Smiling) He will. Trust me
Me : (now irritated) he wont, he wont, he wont!!!
Db : Okay then, in addition to the return ticket, I'd insist that your Mom also comes to the station to recieve you.
Me : And how does that help?
Db : She'll anyway pakaofy you so much on the station that you would snatch the return ticket from your Dad and jump into the next return train.
Me : Whatever !!! **Hopeless guy**
Db : **Evil Grin**

The day I thought Jesus smiled at me.

It was a dull rainy evening when I started from office.

But I love the rain and unlike normal people who'd like to stay back for the rain to ebb, I like to drive in the rain. Also, Db was in Australia then and there was nobody waiting for me back home...I'd never get this chance again once he's back, he wont let me drench in rain. I must take this opportunity, but the only problem was the day being a Thursday and I am supposed to visit the Church. So if it starts raining more heavily on the way, I'll be stuck.

Anyhow, I decided to go for it.

While I had hardly crossed the Old Madras Road, it started raining cats and dogs. People stared parking their bikes at one corner of the road and taking shelter in nearby bus stops. The road was almost empty now, with only a few four wheelers here and there. I got down to wear my raincoat, the one that I lovingly call 'Master Deenanath's Raincoat'. I remember the day I started driving, Db had given me this raincoat and I went 'eeks!!! its so tacky, looks like straight out of some museum. I'll look like an grumpy Aunty wearing this.' . But when has he ever listened to me!!! The very day I was carrying the raincoat in my bike's storage and in a few days wearing the same in the rain. But God bless him, 'Master Deenanath's Raincoat' works like wonder in the rains.

I decided to continue driving, because the sight of the crowd waiting at the road side gave me a huge scare...'imagine the jam when all of them will hit the street when the rain stops'.

It was raining all the time, the rain drops whipping me across my face. My trousers are all wet now, so are my shoes, so is my bag. But I still continued, the empty road was a huge encouragement. I reached the ejipura signal, by then the rain had ebbed. I contemplated for a while...shall I go home, change, freshen up and start afresh, or do I go to church, finish up there and go back home and chill for the rest of the evening.
Since the traffic was pretty less and the rain has slowed down, I decided to take up the second option and took the right turn towards VivekNagar.

As soon as I took the right, it started raining cats and dogs again.
Ouch !!!...
I am already too wet to care for the rain anymore...but at least my bike is getting the much needed wash in the rain. I could see the smile coming on my face.

Damn I was skin wet when I reached the church. I reached the church parking, the security handed me a parking slip, which immediately turned into crumbled powder as soon as I took it my wet hands. Quite a lot of people waiting inside for the rain to come down including one couple who were waiting right where I parked my bike. I remember them because the lady smiled at me when I was making up my mind where to keep the crumpled parking coupon to prevent it from further damage.

I stepped out of the parking to a surprised crowd and proceeded to buy candles. The vendor was herself hiding from the rain when I came to her stall and said '4 candles'. She gave me the candles and a sympathetic smile, I gave her an enthusiastic one.

I proceeded towards the church main door to almost a hundred spectators who were waiting at rain secure places and were visibly amused to see a round shaped woman (no girl) in tacky Raincoat waking lazily in one of the heaviest rain that Bangalore had seen in a while, and at the top of all that smiling too. I reached inside and lit my candles and stood there still smiling at Jesus and eventually took the same path back to the parking to find the same couple still waiting right where I left them. The lady smiled at me as my bike's engine roared to life.
At the parking exit I handed over the crumpled remains of the coupon to the security with a two rupees coin and crossing the rest of the waiting crowd, I drove away to glory in the still heavy rain while I thought Jesus must also be smiling at me.

Finally, I reached home...drenched from head to toe in ice cold rain water and my clothes sticking to me like second skin but somehow still amused.
As I changed I helped myself to a cup of coffee, I thought to myself, if this doesn't please Jesus what will.

A Thought

A bug a day, keeps the build away.

:(

A Lazy Post

I haven't been blogging for a while now.
Its been busy all the while...the new job with new responsibilities.
There are quite a few updates though. Life's been moving, moving at a decent pace.

1. Db is back from Australia. Its been 3 months that we met. He's back with too many gifts...he's got me sooooooo many awesome dresses, but the sad part is they do not fit me well. I need to lose a lot of kgs to get into them gracefully.

2. Bhai has landed himself up in a descent job, in fact the job is good and I am very happy for him. But I would like to believe that I am not to happy, until he gets his first payslip.

3. My parents are quite happy and relieved with what Bhai has got himself...and the fact that they are happy, makes me more happy.

4. We are planning (well yes still planning) for our first holiday in the 2.5 years that we have been married. There has been no time all this while, and if we had the time there were other things that needed our attention. So finally we (rather I, Db is always in for a holiday) decided to live my life, stop thinking about others and give myself a break from everything else. While I have been punishing myself on the pretext of the responsibilities that came on me, others have obviously taken a chill pill. Its time I took one too.

5. We are planning to pay off the last installment for the plot in a few months. Then the plot is all ours to build our dream home.

There are more updates but all in good time.
Right now I am just waiting for the tester, as and when she raises more bugs...I need to push it to others in the team and (**yawn**) chill out myself. Seniority brings in a few good things too, and this is one of them.

Plus one

Its my b'day again.

**Grins**

Rajneeti...the kyuns???

I have a few questions to the Rajneeti makers.

1. What was the significance of having Ajay Devgan to play the illegitimate son. He could as well have been the Master Deenanath who had nothing to do with the politically influencial family, and the story would yet have the same. And the Kunti-meets-Karna scene...' tum mere jyestha putra ho' (still cringing). This could surely have been a modern take on Mahabharata, but the actress must have been possessed by the Kunti atma to speak those saskrit words...so lame.

2. The significance of women in the movie is just to say 'Mein Maa banein waali hoon'. How come all the women get pregnant by just making out just once?...so convinient !!!

3. Why did we need a accented Katrina to play the character Indu who aspires to be a part of politics. She seems to be very much been in India to have an accent, while the America returned Ranbir speaks pure hindi as well as Sanskrit words at times with ease. So much to create the hype of being a Sonia Gandhi inspired character !!!

4. Katrina plays a sports car driving, chewing gum munching girl who needs no license to kiss (license gaadi chalanein ke liye ya tumhe kiss karnein ke liye? cringing again!!!). Yet she agrees to get married to the elder brother of the love of her life and being thrown around like a commodity.

5. If Nana Patekar drops his idea of killing Ajay Devgan after knowing that he is the Kunti's Karna, how come he encourages Ranbir to kill him.

6. I am yet to find a politician who looks remotely half as good looking as Arjun Rampal??? Even while he is doing the Maa-Behen of the poilice commisioner, he looks hardly believable.

7. Can you really get away with killing your Chacha and cousins so easily, not as much as setting up an inquiry commission on it.

8. After the scene on the airport where Katrina tells Ranbir that she would get him back from New York, I was waiting for the twist when it would be revealed that the deaths were actually planned by her. But instead when Ranbir finds out the murderer, he turns out to be the oh-so-predictable Ajay Devgan. A very amazing twist missied to the story.

9. Why exaggerate so much ??? Do political families really go around on a killing spree, targeting their own family???

10. Why make the mokery of a veteran actor like Nasseruddin Shah? All he does is donate his sperm to the script .

Top 10 lessons learnt from staying alone in my house

1. Stay online as much as you can...and bless people who ping you. It reassures you that you are not an crotchety old lady who is sitting alone in a house.

2. Get addicted to facebook or orkut. Comment on everyone's status and like everything that anybody says or does. This way you make a good chance that when you start a thread, there are people replying to it and that starts a neverending thread and kills time.

3. Order in food. Since you can't finish it all by yourself because of the limited size of our stomach and your mental calculation to check your weight...the food easily lasts for two days.

4. Write on your kitchen whiteboard 'WATCH YOUR WEIGHT...DONT ORDER FOOD' and ignore it on the weekends.

5. Do a lot of shoppping on the weekend and bill it on the credit card your husband gave you. Watch your kurta collection soar while your bank balance remains unchanged. **

6. Check your weight regularly. Notice that despite what people expected that you lose weight sulking for your husband, you have actually put on a significant no. of kilos. Blame it on the weather.

7. If you don't find the remote, find it under the pile of clothes on your bed, or the pile of unread newspaper, under the laptop, in the fridge or bathroom.

8. Get a new hair cut in some expensive beauty salon and bill it on the credit card your husband gave you. **

9. At office, keep a visible expression of being sulky and sad for being lonely at home...so that they feel guilty to give you more (any) work.

10. Ask in a friend to come and stay over on the pretext of helping her in distress, and curse yourself every single day after thinking when the hell will she leave.

(** Sport a 440 watt smile on the webcam the next day, to make your husband feel better )

Bhage re mann kahin...

I feel happy and light today...why???...I donno.
I just feel like it.
May be because I managed to catch up with a old friend last night.
May be because I see things moving now...moving for good.
May be because Db will be back in a couple of weeks now...he wont be here on his birthday but will make it for mine.
May be because I feel I have lost some weight, an old trouser fit me today.
May be because I have finally succeeded in keeping away my blog from my teemies. **Victory Grin**
May be because I have resolved all the bugs assigned to me today.
May be because I finally managed my Sizzlers.
May be because I am listening to this lovely song after a long time...and it made my day.
Bhage re mann kahin...aage re mann chala...jaane kidhar jaanu naa.

As this old friend of mine said last night...
' You and tensions, come'on you are the koolest girl I have ever met!!! I can't believe you are telling me you have problems.'

I do babes...I do. Too many to handle. Each time I think I have reached the end of the rope, I am pushed one more time.
But I am happy happy today and it actually makes me feel KOOL like you mentioned.

How I wish it rains today !!!

Hangover

I am too sleepy today, could be the wine that I had last night.

And that was some experience.
I met Db's friends SSS and M around 10 in the morning. We started making plans for the day, the scope being from watching a movie to visiting the nearest pub for a glass of wine. But Db vetoed the idea of getting drunk since he didn't want me to drive in that case.
Finally we decided to go out for lunch, then go for the evening sow for Iron Man 2...and eventually we take a call on what we wanted to do for the rest of the evening.
So we started around eleven and went to Garuda Mall. Had lunch, and then killed time doing window shopping till 3. By the time we went for the movie, we were dog tired.
Now, despite of the fact that the movie was horrible, terrible and head ache inducing, what added to make the experience worse was, due to some technical fault they delayed the show by some 15 minutes while we were already sitting in the theater. Since I was too tired and the AC was heaven, I dozed off. And even 15 minutes after the movie started, I couldn't bring myself to keep my eyes open. And when finally I managed to open my eyes, the movie wanted me to close them again.
Well, we had dinner at Indijoe's in MG Road (Sizzler finally!!!). But I really wanted to have a glass of wine but I had to drive back, so it wasn't really a good idea. So I decided to buy a bottle of red wine on my way back home.
But by the time I reached Kormangala, it was already 9.45. It was already late, but there was quite some crowd on the road, so I decided to grab my wine from Spencers after all.

I got the wine and put it in the freezer to chill. Around 11 in the night, I pulled it out to have a glass of it. Okay, looks like it has a cork, but I think I have a cork screw at home. I try to use the corkscrew to pull the cork out, but the screw wouldn't penetrate the cork at all. I pull out Db's tool box, I try each tool to pull the cork out, but no help. I could see the hole created inside the cork, which had the other end of the cork, but I wasn't able to pull it out. Already 12 by then
Now, the only option I had was to query google devta. But he didn't help too. 12.30 now.
I was getting desperate, I checked my Google talk list to see who is online and could probably help, but no body seemed helpful.
Finally I tried to figure the cork screw closely. Its a pretty complicated one, but finally I managed to crack it and to pop the cork out. It was 1 PM by the time the wine was available to drink. Firstly it had turned warm by then, and I had no patience to pu it in the fridge and wait for it to chill. Secondly, as soon as I poured a glass for me, I could see the remains of the cork in the wine, which had come off and dropped into the bottle when I was experimenting with Db's tool box.
I used the filter which is meant to filter tea, to filter the cork remains out of the wine. (Jai ho Indian Jugaad!!!)

And finally I managed to have a glass of wine with some ice cubes. I struggled a lot for the sips till almost middle of the night, and with that effort, I am happy I still have the hangover.

Bachaoooo!!!!

Yes, I always wanted more readers on my blog, but never ever wanted to share it with my team at office.
I dont wanna change the title of my blog since I love it, nor do I want to hide it.
Hmm...Kya karron????

Gotta think of a new title fast, before people at office manage to catch up here.

Confused

My team had a plan to order in some food to office and then sit for a team lunch together in the cafeteria.
My manager wants me to take the responsibilty to order in the food and make sure it reaches on time. As the BA in my team put it across to me 'He believed you were the only one who would make sure it comes on time'.

Now there are two implications, the good one and the bad one.

The good one is, he belives I am a responsible person, and he can bank on me.
The bad one is, he thinks I am the most wella person in the team, so at least he'd give me something to work on...or, going by my size, he believes I would take food seriously and that would give me the push to make sure treat happens on time.

Aiyo!!! which one is the case???

The journey...

Last saturday at the wonderla, one of my collegues mentioned that he believed girls fights is far more serious than the guys fight. Well I do agree to that, the intensity of fight for girls might be a multiple degrees less than that of men nor do most of us indulge in the maa-behen walli galian, but while the guys can be friends again the next day, women can never do that. The remnants of the fight always remains in their memory. It takes a lot of time to heal up and they might or might not be friends ever again.

I have a guest at home since last friday...this is the a girl from my engineering college, who was from another hostel. But strangely she is the same girl who apparently hated me then. She would never let go of a chance to put me down, she had snapped on me on several occasions for no reason. Most of my friends also hated her since she had as reputation of taking panga with me. I maintained a safe distance from her since I am quite incapable of getting into a word fights with people.
Hate is a very strong word, but I think I was almost there. I almost hated her too.

We were different in more ways than one. She was the topper of our branch and knew only one thing to do...study and study harder. And I was a free spirit, I had lot of friends, I took part active participation in the fest each year and also in intercollege dance competitions and mostly won them too...while I also managed to score a percentage which was only 3-4% less than her. I believe she hated me because she actually wanted to be me but couldn't, since she couldn't get her books outta her head.
But at the end of the final year, she had a job and I didn't.
While I was terribly frustrated, she surprised me by coming to me, and for the first time in last 4 years she was kind to me...for reasons I couldn't fathom excatly the same way I couldn't understand her hatred for me. She encouraged me and said I would certainly land up a better job than others, since she believed I deserved it.
"Are you alright !!!" is all I could say then.
She smiled and left.
I smiled at her too...and that's the last memory I have of her.

I met her a few months back in ITPL. Being grown ups and professionals now, we spoke gracefully and also exchanged numbers. Last week she called me, she was going through some crisis and wanted a temporary accomodation for a couple of weeks. She asked me and I readily agreed since I was also put up alone...and here we are staying under the same roof since last 3 days.
Last evening we went for a short shopping, halted at the coffee day for a hot cup, went for a late night drive and muched on a road side chicken roll...later I clicked a few matrimony pics of her and we spent the rest of the evening trying to make necessary corrections and highlighting the pics on picasa. We shared a lot of experiences, cooked and laughed together.
I wonder if she is the same girl who I thought hated me so much, the same girl I wouldn't look eye to eye.

Lastly, last night she mentioned.
'I wasted 4 years of college only studying yaa'r. The marks don't really matter, nor do we need what you studied during engineering anywhere in the kind of job that we do. I wish I'd have enjoyed a bit of my life at college. I must say, you made the most of your time at college'
Me : Sigh !!!...' No, I hope I had studied a little more !!!'
And we laughed over it.

Its strange how women behave, oh-so-unpredictable, oh-so-complicated. May be this how God made women, we probably at times don't even understand ourselves.

It is my fault...it has to be.

I hate girls with their typical tantrums. I hate to keep waiting while the girl in question finishes her make up, I hate when people are not punctual and keep others waiting irresponsibly. And the worst part, the disgust shows up on my face. Also, I feel I become good friends with my team and soon people start taking me for granted.

Yes, I am cribbing. After a wonderful day at wonderla with my new team which otherwise is a quite fun group. Just that, a certain group of people with whom I have been close to in this team are probably a little upset with me, also upsetting me equally at the same time. I thought they were being unreasonable and the feeling was mutual.
I think quite some of it was my fault, because I was impatient despite of the fact that its high time I should accept that thats how most girls are, and if I need their company for some reason I have to learn to put up with it. As for the other side, I am amazed at the confidence people have, by being vocal and so in-the-face on things which they quite don't even understand. I wish there was a corporate training on how to talk to people and specially team members.

I have a problem...in all cases I normally find the fault with myself. My dissatisfaction is due to my impatience, its due to the fact that I let myself loose to people I probably should have been more professional with. Its late now but I guess I can still make amends. This was the last day I have let myself go, I gotta gear up and start keeping a distance.

Sizzling for a Sizzler

To start with


and more so if its a lousy weather and I haven't got much to do at office. I had to migrate the existing weblogic application to Tomcat which was no herculan job, I am finished and now I am bored out of my skull.

Today the hot topic of discussion is the cricket match that we played over the weekend and how we lost miserably ripping us off each shread of izzat that we had.

Anyways...I haven't got much to chew on today, so I am just blabbering off on my blog.

I want to have Sizzlers and only at Indijoe, but I dont have company. Normally, I don't wait for comapany...I'd just go and have my favoruite food at my favorite resturant...alone, if I have to. But the building on the old airport road, where Indijoe is placed is closed due to the recent fire in the carlton towers. The next centre is on church street and that's not the place I'd like to go alone. So I am desperate.
I was able to drag my friend J into it yesterday, but he was not keen to go as far as Church Street. He promised me the China Pearl in Kormangala serves Sizzlers and as good as Indijoe's. Reluctant, but I agreed...something is better than nothing, and also because he had a point. Going as far as 12 kms in the sun for a sizzler seems not worth it to a rational headed normal person (And we are poor people, we don't have a Honda City like one my rich Anonymous commentor..teheheee). But, to me it still felt worth all the effort...What!!! When did I tell you I was rational and normal!!!
Whatsoever, I was waiting at China Pearl exactly at 12.30 as planned. J reached 10 minutes late. Its rare to find a girl waiting for the guy to turn up. Anyway, while J was yet to come, I scanned the menu, to my horror there was no sizzlers.

Me : You don't serve sizzlers???
Waiter : No Maa'm.
Me : Is it like you don't serve sizzlers for lunch, or you don't have them at all? (Indijoe doesn't serve sizzlers for lunch on weekdays)
Waiter : No Maa'm...we don't serve them at all.
Me : Can I talk to somebody else?

Another waiter came to attend me.

Me : Are you sure you don't serve sizzlers???
The other waiter was giving me the Cloromint...dobara mat poochna look!!!
Waiter2 : No maa'm, we don't.
Me : Ok thanks. (J, you are in deep trouble !!!)

J arrived in a few minutes.

Me : Kaminey!!! They don't serve sizzlers here...grrrrrrr!!!
J : What??? (Snatching the menu from me) Impossible.
Calls the waiter.
J : You don't serve sizzlers???
Waiter2 : (Also giving the Cloromint look) No Sir.
J : Hey come'on. I have had it here several times. (Looking at me) Sacchi...
Me : *%@#$%$#&^
j : You had them earlier right! You must have taken it off the menu recently.
Waiter2 : No sir. We never had them on our menu.
J : Ok. (To me) I donno how its happening yaar...I have had the sizzlers here several times.
Me : Yes, in your dreams. I told you, I told you...grrrrrr again!!!
J : Sigh!!! Ok...(sigh again) lets go to MG road, Indijoe.
Me : No. I am not going anywhere and I am eating right here, because YOU spoilt my mood.
J : Arre!!!
Me : Yes...thats how it is. Now, you order and if the food is bad I am gonna kill you.
J was terrified of me for the next 1 hour or so that we spent at the resturant. He ordered the food very carefully and ate very less while serving me all the time.

As much as I was enjoying his plight all the while (I love to trouble him), my desire for sizzlers has increased by many folds.

Now what!!???

Bowled Over...

I hate it when people don't value my time, or for that matter any body's.You plan to meet me at ten in the morning and show up only by two in the afternoon...you make plans with me and back out at the last moment just because you feel like it...you plan to meet me for lunch and spend all day shopping around knowing very well that I can't stand the sport for any more than half an hour.

We had a cricket match today, among various project teams. Now, people promised and backed out at the last moment and most of them didn't even bother to inform that they won't grace us...so much so that we couldn't even form the team of 6 that was required. I don't mind people not joining the team, what irritates me is the fact that people commit and then don't turn up nor do they bother to inform before time...so least bothered of the inconvenience that we would face due to this.

Somehow, we managed to coax a few people outside our project to join us.

When we finally reached the ground, the opponent team looked pretty dangerous to us. They seemed all fit with flat tummies, tanned complexion and well dressed in proper jerseys which showed up the name of the team and the name of the player on their back. Looked like they were into some serious gully cricket.
The match started well...they won the toss and decided to bat. We gave only 20 runs in the first two overs and just 1 wide ball (I gave that **ducking behind the chair**). The third over saw more boundaries and by the fourth over they had made 51 runs.The last over was still to see the worst when we gave 4 sixes 2 fours and two wides (bowled by the jugadu player from the other project) which made the grand score to 85 while one of our key batsman got injured.
Soon it was our turn to bat, we started badly. I scored 6 runs before I left the pitch, all of them because the bowler served me wide balls (so no marks to me). While I was walking away from the pitch, I looked back to find another of our key batsman following me after getting out on the first ball. That made 2 wickets down in the first over.
We had just 3 more batsmen since one of them was injured. In the next two overs, we hit two boundaries and a few more wide balls, all summed up to 34 runs before all the batsmen were down

Apni toh balatkar ho gayi..now, thats some defeat.

And the end of it all, the jugadu player turns up to my manager and asks for a lift back home.
'Hey come'on, I played for you..and I played such that you don't have to play the next match...'

Yeah right !!! Thank you so much

Men will be men

On Sunday evening...

Me : I have something for you. Wait I'll mail it accross
Db : Kool. What is it, a picture?
Me : Nopes **wink**. Oh!!! its too huge, some 8 MB.
Db :That big!!! Some video is it?
Me : Nopes **wink**. Oh it hadly reduces the size by 500KB if I try to zip it.
Db : Arre tell me what it is.
Me : Okay I'll just send it across the way it is. It will take a while to upload the attachment.
Db : Okay

He recieves the powerpoint in 10 minutes. It has a few of our pictures starting from the day we met two years back till date. A little brief of our life together with some cheesy lines.

Me: You got it.
Db : yes
Me : I wanted to add some music to the file as well, but I couldn't figure out how to do it.
Db : Good you dind't.
Me : Kyun???
Db : That would have made the file heavier.

A brief minute of silence while he watches the powerpoint and I try to read his expressions on the web cam.

Db: Do you want to know how you could have compressed the file.
Me : ????
Db : What???
Me : You are so mean. You are so rude.I'll never make anything for you ever again.
Db : **smiling**
Me : What are you smiling at?
Db : nothing nothing
Me : Tell me **warning gestures**
Db : Nothing, just a comics that showed up in my (google) reader.
Me : You are so mean. You are so rude. You are.....

The Substitute

As kids, during such rainy evenings, Mum used to make hot pakoras with a cup of hot tea for us while we chilled ourselves at the balcony. The thought of it makes me nostalgic. Every single evening that it has rained here at Bangalore I have remembered my pakoras and tea. Tea is something that I still managed to get at office, but what about pakoras!!!

I have finally got my chance.

A cup of hot tea with Mc Chicken Nuggets on a rainy evening...NOT BAD!!!

The Groom Hunt Part III

The worst part of being a girl is you get easily emotional blackmailed into things. I wanted to take up the offer for a long term at London, but I was coaxed to get married ASAP. Every weekend I saw myself with one more of a kind across the table. So much so that I had almost learnt to sleepwalk through them.

Suitor : I saw your pic, I must say you are not photogenic at all.
Me : Thanks (I saw your pic too, must say you are way too photogenic) **animated smile**

What the hell am I doing here??? I could have been in London now earning convinient pounds and getting richer, or could have persued my MBA degree which I always wanted to do.
What is my future ahead...is one of these guys going to be my husband. If this is the quality of men that the Oriya Brahmin community produces (...there is something seriously wrong in our genes then), I'd rather turn into a nun.

Suitor : I must say you have a very interesting job profile. Great work. You even seem to earn as little more than me.
Me : Yeah, I switched my job recently so got a good hike.
Suitor : Great. Whether you work or not after the wedding...gimme sometime, I'll decide and tell you.
Me : (YOU decide on whether I work or not...KUTTE KAMINE HARAMKHOR @@%&!*!@#%)

Next.

Suitor : Are you ready for an arranged marraige?
Me : I guess yes (Why the hell do you think I am here then)
Suitor : You know, I feel no marraige can work without love. You need to fall in love first.
Me : So what are you doing in arranged marriage pool?
Suitor : Trying to find true love may be.
Me : (Yeah right!!!)
Suitor : You look absolutely my kind yaar. Lets try to fall in love.
Me : (Haila !!!!!!!!!!!!!) And how do you propose we do that? More so when I meet a new guy almost every weekend.
Suitor : I propose you stop that right away and lets see if we can fall in love. You know, we go out, buy gifts for each other, fall in love and then get married.
Me : (and not sing songs in chiffon sarees!!!???...Mummyyyyyyy)
I wanted to shake him...what are you??? straight out of some Yash Chopra movie????)

You meet all kinds of people here.
One thing I was hoping I would learn from all this was patience, and how to take nonsense from people and not get up to pull their noses to howling points.

Argh!!!! My Mom...

Conversation between Mum and me on the phone

Me: Mum, how do you make ridge gourd with poppy seeds (She is good at it, and this is my first time)
Mum: Okay. You got the ridge gourd?
Me : Yes Mum
Mum : And the poppy seeds.
Me : Yes got that too.
Mum : Remember to peel off the ridge gourd
Me : Yes Mum. Recipe recipe (repeating the words creates the impact...at least thats what I believed...silly me!!!)
Mum : Haan Haan. Did you taste the ridge gourd...are they bitter.
Me: Did that Maaaaaaaaa. They are fine.
Mum : Acha add a little more potatoes, since the gourd tends to shrink.
Me : Okay forget it. I'll look it up on the net.
Mum : No No wait. Okay...cut the onions, not too big in size,not too small either. Cut the onion from between, and each piece make three longitudinal cuts and two horizontal cuts. Got it!!! Or shall I repeat.
Me : Maaa. I know how to cut onions, I have been cooking for two years now for God's sake.
Mum : **Random BrouHaHa**

The outcome of this conversation : Bheja Fry.

Moral of the story : If you want to try a new recipe, move you God damned butt, switch on the router, switch on your laptop...and type www.google.com on your browser.

They are back

I am high on Cafferine today, because I am low on sleep.
I cant remember the last time I slept like a log...well I do actually. That was sometime last week. Because this week the bed bugs are back.
And when I call the pest control guys to complain that the bugs are back in 2 weeks after I took their service, they suddenly don't understand any language I speak.

So, today is my official cussing day.

I am gonna recommend this to the cops,CBI or whoever, to use this as a 3rd degree torture for criminals on remand. Let them stay in a room infected with bed bugs. i am sure its gonna work wonders.
Also, last week, I got this new Tee from lifestyle. As such I hardly find anything that fits me these days. Its like I go to a showroom, take a couple of things to the trial room and I go 'Oh it fits...bill it!!!'. And you wait all week for the friday to come and you wear this new Tee to office for the first time and you realize that it has a little hole at a very prominent place, and worse you don't know if it was defective when you bought it or its the bed bugs at home who have been sharpening their teeth on it during the day to come and bite you in the night...I feel like screaming.

I feel like hitting somebody. No, that's not abnormal...I do feel like it once in a while. i used to hit Bhai when I was at home, now I hit Db (sorry, if my SIL is reading this), and he happily obliges too, but he is not around.
So where do I vent my anger out???

I know where...I am gonna catch a few bugs at home today, put them into a little bottle and put them in the freezer and decrease the temperature of the freezer to the minimum and leave them there for the weekend.

The Groom Hunt Part II

Okay so lemme continue from my previous post...

This is the first ever guy that I met for marriage…and coincidently he worked in the same office building with me in the same company, Cognizant in Kolkata. The only difference was I was hardly a year old in the IT industry and he was a Senior Manager on the 6th floor of my building.
His father had called me up once to find my floor and project as well as cubicle no. so that he could fix our meeting. But to my horror, the second time he called he told me that his son actually came to my floor and saw me, and left…and he was kind enough to have liked me they wanted to take it forward. ‘So I don’t get to see him is it???’I asked. To which he said that his son keeps really busy to have time to meet me that’s why he chose to come to my floor and just have a look at me and leave...but don’t worry we’ll send a picture to you.

‘You got to be kidding me!!!’…I yelled at my Mom. ‘I don’t get to see this guy and the guy choose me by just taking a trip around my cubicle…on what basis??? This is not happening!!!’
And so he called the next week.
Suitor : So when do you wanna meet?
Me : You tell me
Suitor : Look I really don't have time for this, I keep really very busy all day. I will call you when I am free you could meet me in the cafeteria for a few minutes.
Me : Sure (I am assumed to to free, since I only hatch eggs in my cubicle all day)
So, finally he calls at 6.30 to fix the meeting at 7 in the evening.

I reached 5 minutes early and he arrived 15 minutes late. As I saw him enter, I had my doubts if he actually is a Senior Manager. He was my height 5.4", half my size...too thin, and looked like a college drop out. I made a mental note to go back and check on the Outlook if he actually is a Senior Manager, which later I found he indeed was.
Suitor : Hi...I have a meeting in 10 minutes, a discussion the appraisals for the team. I excused myself saying that I have a cousin waiting for me at the reception. So you see we have just 10 minutes.
Me : Oh Okay. Lets keep this for another day in that case.
Suitor : No No. Lets just get this over with...its always equally busy day for me.
Me : (okay get me over with...compliments me too well. You got to show you are busy to prove your seniority, particularly to your would be...err...might be wife)
Suitor : You know this meeting was not important. My parents like you, that’s all that matters. But I believe you insisted to meet me...so what do you want to know?
Me : (I want to know which way is the exit) That’s okay. I guess its time for your meeting. We’ll talk sometime when you are free enough. Thanks for your time.

And I called my Mom right then telling her I would rather jump into a well than marrying this moron.


Now this one is special, since this is the first one I met in Bangalore and the first one I met soon after my breakup. We would kinda observe his orkut account regularly and used to address him as 'Tusky' among our group. I hadn't got a chance to speak to him, but I spoke to a lady over the phone a couple of times who claimed to be his cousin sister. She had fixed our meeting on the next weekend at Pizza Hut in the forum mall.
As I entered Pizza Hut, I couldn't find a table with just one guy or one with a guy and a lady, I could only find groups sitting around. And suddenly a lady, who seemed to be in her late twenties approached me and introduced herself as his cousin who had been calling me all this while. She led me to a table, where to my horror, I could see six people including her. Of the five men seated there, I couldn't recognize who was 'Tusky', I guess the photo he had on Orkut was a quite old one.
I was introduced to them, turned out that the lady I had been speaking to was not 'Tusky's' cousin, she was his classmate from college. Of the five men one of them was her husband, 2 were 'Tusky's' college friends, one was his roommate and the last one was 'Tusky' himself. I was hoping they would leave soon, since this crowd was making me uncomfortable, but they all stayed on till the length of the meeting. I was alone on my Morcha, while the other side were a battalion of people and just the thought of being judged by so many people who had no business being here was bothering me. They started shooting questions at me, I was getting a faint impression that they had actually come prepared for the meeting, since each one of them had average 15-20 questions to ask me spanning from my carrer to my culinary skills and my family to my pets.
I contemplated to excuse myself and flee, but the Pizza arrived just then and I wondered what harm would it be if I stayed a few more minutes and finished my share. 'Tusky', I must say was very energy efficient, he didn't speak a single word through out the meeting and used all his conserved energy only to tear the pizza to his mouth. All through the meeting he was just smiling, having pizza and yes he did pay the bill.

While decided to leave when 'Tusky' joined me till the forum main door. This is the first time he spoke in one hour,
Tusky : Well...it was nice meeting you. But I will like to meet you again...sometime next week???
Me : Ahem!!! I work most of the weekends.
Tusky : Really!!! Whenever you are free, you could gimme a call, we can meet. Would you like to keep my number?
Me : Err..okay
He gave me his number, I saved it on my mobile.
Tusky : Can I drop you home?
Me : No, I'll be fine...thanks. (That was sweet)

As we said good bye and I turned my back to him, I opened the contact on my phone. I had saved it with his fully qualified name this time and not just 'Tusky'.
I read his name to myself, low self confidence, insensible guy...who didn't think that bringing 5 of his friends on the first meeting when the girl is coming alone is not just unnecessary and ill-mannered but outright rude too.
I pressed the delete option on the contact.
'Delete Contact?' Yes/No.
I looked back, I saw him walk back towards the Pizza Hut. He had a moustache too. 
eeks!!!!...I pressed 'Yes'.
'Contact Deleted'

The Groom Hunt Part I

They say empty mind is devil's workshop. My mind has turned into a workshop, though I guess not that of a devil.
I reach home by 6 in the evening, I have the entire evening to myself. I have so much running on my mind...i feel like painting but I don't, I feel like blogging and I do it sometimes, I feel like watching a movie and I do sometimes too. But something I always wanted to write about.

I wanted to write about experience while groom hunting, for me as well as my friends...which started with being funny, to tedious and finally humiliating. Lets call them all Suitors.
Lets start with the initial ones which were amusing.

Though not the fist guy that I met, but certainly one of the most memorable one. This one had a an Engg and MBA degree and had come down from the US to meet not just me, many girls. We met at Baskin Robbins in Kormangala.

Suitor : So what would you like to have?
Me : Something in chocolate flavour.
Suitor : Have you tried Banana Split?
Me : No. But I don't like banana and mango flavour.
Suitor : But you should tried the banana flavour here...its amazing.
Me : I hate the flavour itself
Suitor : Just try it once.
Me : No I am gonna waste it I know. I'll like to have chocolate flavour.
Suitor : Okay
And he returns with two banana splits
Suitor : (Looks super excited) Try it!!!
Some part of me wanted to get up to smash the banana icecream on his long nose. How pushy!!!
Me : (With a forced smile, I just a minuscule of it) Its terrible.
Suitor : (Surprised like he just saw pigs fly) Oh!!! You didn't like it!
Me : No (Nor did I like you) **animated smile**


The next one was in late twenties, also working in the US who came down to meet me at Bangalore. He had called me once from US and I was pretty much okay with him, except that he was good 7 years elder to me. We met at the Coffee Day in Kormangala.
After some casual conversation...

Me : So what are your expectations from your wife?
Suitor : My Mom and my sister are a little to the rude side. They kinda speak their mind however rude it is. I don't expect my wife to be the same.
Me : Oh! (Thanks for telling me what I was getting into). You are quite settled, why do you choose to marry so late? .
Suitor : I am not a virgin some women have a problem with that.
Me : (????? Ouch!!! appreciate your honesty...but too direct for a first meeting)
Suitor : Are you like...you know!!!
Me : What!!!
Suitor : You know
Me : Err....does that matter???
Suitor : No I guess
Me : ( Bhago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I guess the guy wasn't interested in me and was trying too hard too shoo me off.
Well...more coming up in the blogs to come...I have all the time on earth now.

Office Humour

A perfect (mis)fit

I feel I am stuck at the worst period and worst stage of my life.

Physically I feel my state is the most difficult one. I am neither thin, nor to fat…rather let’s just say I have put on some (good amount of) weight. So I am probably travelling in the middle of the bridge to motiness. I f I was on the thin side of the bridge then I would have been the happiest person, if I would have been on the other side of the bridge i.e. already too moti, I would have accepted it and taken it in my stride. But I am somewhere midway, that makes me a self conscious someone, who is trying (to try) too hard to lose weight. I wish to reach at least some side of the bridge someday, hopefully the thin side.

On the second note, I also find difficult to fit into any age group. The unmarried singletons probably find me an Aunty, while I don’t find their jokes funny anymore. Most of them seem silly, immature and outrageous to me. I find it difficult to join a group which likes to sit at a coffee shop during wee hours in the night while chatting endlessly to nothing.

While with the seniors I stand out like a sore thumb. They find me silly, immature and outrageous.
I don’t think I would ever be able to talk or behave like one of them, I am just not wired like that. When I got married, I had told my SIL that if she treats me like a friend we can have a healthy relationship, the day she starts behaving like a SIL, it will make me uncomfortable and the relationship will become more pretentious. Over these years everybody on my in-laws side accepted me like this, may be they were just happy that ‘okay…at least she is not pretending’.

So now where do I fit, that makes life difficult for me. The worst worst phase of my life...really!!!
Ok...now. Looks like the temporary singlehood life is taking its toll on me.

Its Kool...

Just last night I was complaining that its getting hot here at bangalore...and its already raining today.
Love the weather today, but its a pity we have to work today, and worse I am not supposed to take leaves for the next 5 months of my probation period and the worst that Db isn't here.
Have a long weekend starting day after tomorrow. No clues what I am gonna do with it.
Yes, I am slowly starting to get bugged by my temporary bachelorhood.

Temporary bachelorhood

Now, this is my time for self glorification.

There are times when you feel like patting your own back, when you can find reasons to believe that you are superior to most of the others in your species, you believe that this is something others probably couldn’t have done.

The first time I had felt this was during my graduation days in hostel…when late one night, ‘Leen’ went to the roof to hang her clothes, and came screaming down saying she saw somebody draped in a white saree on the roof top. Our entire gang gathered together but it was only me who said ‘what bullshit is that!!!??’ and walked up to the roof alone and came back with her balti which she had dropped in panic up there…I was alive and not possessed.
On the contrary, I almost fainted when late another night while I was coming back from the roof top after hanging my clothes, I heard the hostel landline ring, I picked it up and the voice on the other side said ‘Hey…can we have s** on phone???’. I was obviously not aware then that guys from the boy’s hostel were so funny.

Well…coming back to the present I have had many such moments this week.

The pest control at home. Trust me it’s not an easy thing to do single handedly…to dismantle the house and join the pieces back later, more so you have a nosey nose like mine.

I went to watch a movie alone at PVR. Many of my friends went ‘Awww…That’s so bad…you could have called me na!!!’. But I did not feel bad at all, in fact I have done this several times when I was single…Big Deal!!!

One of these days, I felt like gym after office. The gym is in the roof top of our apartment. Late in the evening when I went to the roof, it was huge, dark, quiet and deserted. I paused for the while and thought ‘am I scared??’. But I was not. I unlocked the gym…It was quiet. I worked out for around 40 mins and came back. I dare you if you can do that, more so if a family of 3 had committed suicide in the apartment just above yours a few months back.

Well…I could go on but I think I should stop blowing my own trumpet now.

I am expecting a friend from office on this weekend. Its time I arranged my temporarily bachelorized house to some kinda standard expected from a married woman (no girl). So this evening I have got something to do.

I have never waited for a pay check as badly as this month. First…I am running out of cash while the hoosband is not here, second I dying to know how much I will get in hand in this new company and finally…next week is a long weekend and Db is going to Sydney with his friends, so before I die out of boredom I wanna shop shop shop till I drop.

To which Db says:
Cool , I’ll make sure the credit card has enough limit available for u.

which basically means he is gonna pay off for what ever I have already spent on my card.
I can't tell you how much I adore this man.
Ahh!!!...the joy of having a good hoosband!!! Touchwood!!! :)

Ants in my pants

No, I dont literally mean that, I thought this kind of a title will make my blog look more catchy...not sure if it actually served the purpose.

No ants, but worse...I had bed bugs in my house. They started in my bedroom some time early this month. But for some unfathomable reason, they never attacked Db. Not that I would want him to be bitten by bed bugs, but why the hell me all the time. We didn't know there were bed bugs then, I thought it were mosquitos giving me a tough time, and Db thought it was psycological for me since they never made their presence felt to him.
Nevertheless I tried everything I knew to fight against mosquitos...all out, kala hit spray, mosquito coils...but it didn't help. That made Db's case stronger, that it was psycological fo me.
Hmm may be.
I tried not to think about them...didn't help.

And, one fine night we saw them, just two weeks before Db was supposed to travel to Australia. They were clinging conviniently to the mattress, we carried the mattress to the balcony. I had no prior experience of bed bugs, thankfully Db had.
It was his idea not to kill them, it seems they reproduce from their blood. So we started collecting them in a little bottle or flushed them down the toilet. Looked like it worked, but we shifted our base to the living room bed nevertheless. I slept peacefully for a whole week before they started attacking our drawing room bed as well.
Awhhh...there was no rescue. Another week of cleaning the mattress and drying them in the sun, didn't help too much...but in a few days Db had to travel and I was left alone in the house with the bed bugs to gimme some unwanted company.

Those were the worse days...probably the bed bugs are also like pervert men, who want to hit on a AKELI LADKI.
I tried a small experiment. I have a huge tweety bird at home, a soft toy, who is big enough to be mistaken as a human kid in the dark. I placed it on the bed one night and switched off the lights. After half an hour I suddenly switched on the light to find the tweety bird lying helplessly while 7-8 of the bugs were trying to feast on her. So now I know how it looks on me.
'Awhhh...I'll kill you, I 'll bloody kill you all'. Someday I'll write a blog post on it, if I can get rid of them.

As my 1st move, I decided to consult Google Devta, he knows it all. I came accross this. I decided to take up the duct tape solution, sicnce I cannot take up a pest control session in the middle of the week.

This is what I wrote to Db the same day.

I found a way out to torture the pests...one sadistic way. :D :D :D
I found this on the net
I have bought some duct tape here, I am gonna paste it around the bed and the mattress.
When the bugs come having dinner on me, they ll all get stuck on it.
In the morning I ll dispose the tape and add one more the next evening.

Think this should work. :D

And the next day Db queried:

Any interesting adventure ? did the duct tape work ?

To which I replied:
not exactly.
It was a long night 4 me yesterday.

I came late from offc, while I came back from the church it was already 9. So picked up my favorites from Magnolia ;)
soon after that started the tape work. Since I didnt find duct tape which have adhesives on both sides, I had to manage with single side tapes.
it took me 2 hours to seal the bedroom matress.
Though I couldn't cover all of it.

I slept almost peacefully all night, sine the bugs obviously couldn't reach me, except a few smarties, who eventually got caught and flushed.
But contrary to what I expected, I didn't find a single bug stuck to the tapes in the morning.
though I found a few wriggling on the floor, and they eventually also got flushed.

Any way I have fixed the appointment with the pest control guys, they assure me in 2 sessions they would be gone.
hope it works out.

But it was still the middle of the week, 2 more days to go for the pest control. So I kept using the tapes every day, at least I could sleep peacefully...well almost.

This weekend I got my house pesticied. I was a difficult day for me, since the house was totally dismantled. Also because I have severe allergy to dust, smoke and any kind of sprays, so it kind of left me panting for fresh air. I finally sealed the house for next 5 hours but I didn't know where to go to kill that amount of time. So I went for a movie at PVR, called Lahore. The movie was good, but intension was just to kill time.

I came back around 5 in the evening with a severe headache and the consequences of the alergy still prominent. My house looked more like a refugee camp to me then. I had asked my house maid to come to help me in the evening, I was expecting her around 6. So I cleared a part of the drawing room, spread a small bedsheet there, opened all windows and switched the fan on at full speed, covered my nose and went to sleep for an hour. For a second I had the feeling of self pity which I hate to have. Woke up with my maid calling on the door. She helped me a lot in clearing off things and arranging the house back to normal.

my house is cleared of bugs, for as of now. I have been sleeping peacefully since last two days, except for the persticide smell which still lingers.

My idea of bliss

NB : I didn't want this to be my first post soon after Db left for Australia, the pun is absolutely unintended.

The bug I had been working on all day, gets resolved exactly at 5.34 for me to leave the seat at 5.35 to catch the 5.45 bus. The traffic is mercifully too less and I reach Kormanagala in 45 minutes square...with the lovely melody of 'iktara' swarming from my Ipod and bottle of Thumbs up tantalizing my taste buds, while I take this 15 minutes walk home from the bus stop in a lovely breezy weather...and reach only to find that the yummmm chicken curry I prepared yesterday is still waiting for me in the fridge and a portion of the forgotten strawberry ice cream you bought for your guests last week awaits you.

MMMMMMMMMMMM...I love my life, but I miss you love!!!!

On Leave today

I am on leave today, while I am not supposed to. While on the probation period in here, I am not supposed to take leaves. But I guess I had to.
I have a bad stomach upset, I had a bad pain in my stomach, not to mention the no. of times I have been running into the loo all day, also running a little fever
I wanted to keep my sick leaves, since I normally need to call in sick at least once in the month. But that reminded me of a story, and I stayed back.

Once there was a poor old man. He had a gold coin. He decided to keep the gold coin to use it during the worst time of his life.
Life gets tough for him, he is left with no money. He goes around begging for food, but he doesn't use the coin in order to keep it for a worse time. And one day, he dies due to his poverty, still having the coin to use it for a worse time.

So I stay back to use my leaves while I need them.

Random Nothings

It’s been a while that I wrote something here.
Well!!! There’s been not much updates though.

Now that I have finally adjusted with the work timings and travel factor for the new office, they are moving my project to another building in the Old Madras road. So starting from 29th of this month, I am gonna ride a vehicle all the way to office from Kormanagala to Old Madras road, crossing the major bottlenecks of the city…the Inner Ring Road, Indiranagar and the CMH Road (Anybody who can suggest me a better way from Sony world signal to Big Bazaar in Old Madras Road, is my angel).

Work has already started for me in the new project…even while the KT isn’t quite finished. There was another guy who had joined with me here, but he is more or less kinda absconding. This guy has loads of attitude problem, though he doesn’t look like one could carry such attitude. He hasn’t come to office in the last 3 working days and didn’t feel necessary to inform anybody in the team.

There are no updates regarding Bhai, we are pretty much where we started from.

Times have changed for me. When I started my career in the IT industry, I had this team mate called Debu. He was a non-stop nonsense, doesn't-know-what-he's-speaking-about kinda guy. But we were good friends, despite of the fact that I tried to keep a fair distance from him since he had a tendency to get flirtious at times. Now I have a bit refined version of Debu in my team now, but somehow it doesn't matter to me anymore. May be I am getting too old and all these just look like baby talk to me. Pata nahin!!!

Db is travelling again. This time for a minimum of 2 months. So going back again to a temporary singlehood life starting sometime next week. But this time around I have a few friends, so hope it wouldn't be all that bad.

So that pretty much sums up the last 3 weeks for me.
The next to next week is gonna be a little lonely for me.
*Sigh*

About Kids...

Kids…I love them. But I think it’s just convenient to say I like kids when they are other people’s kids.

No…I am sure, people who have their own kids are happy to have them, but I feel having a kid is a huge responsibility or as Db would like to put it…the ROI (Return on Investment) is very bad.

I do want to have my own kids at some point in life (donno when though), but I am not sure if I can handle the responsibility it comes with. But there are times when I look at other people and feel that I could have done a thousand times better than them. As I told Db the same day, it’s been a while that I met a kid whom I found sweet.

We went for one of Db’s nephew’s 5th b’day party this week. Now, I come from a nuclear family, I have never got to seen so many kids together. Here there were too many kids, most of them seemed to have both working parents.
Now, I believe there is a very thin line between pampered and spoilt, mischievous and ill mannered. Like I feel, I am a pampered kid but I was never spoilt, mischievous but not ill mannered. I remember Bhai and me to be quite well behaved as kids.

These kids were spoilt to the extent that they refuse to speak Hindi or Oriya even with the elderly people in the family, yell at the guests whom they have never seen before ‘Ae…you get out of that sofa, I have no place to sit!!!’…while their parents watch and smile in silence ‘Awwwww my baby is cho chweet!!!’
The kids had all kinda firang names, who believe that speaking, yelling and swearing in English is kool. They refuse to listen to their own parents. Now, what will they grow up to…a confused generation, who would probably have an identity crisis.

I mean...I have nothing against speaking English or beahaving like firangs, but I have a problem when they say ‘I don’t speak my mother tongue’. Even my Oriya is not great, I was brought up in Rourkela, which had a more cosmopolitan culture, and also Oriya was not mandatory in our school then. We got to speak our mother tongue only at home, or within the family and relatives. Despite of the fact that my father is a renowned writer in Oriya literature, me and Bhai have only got a descent knowledge in Oriya. But that is not something we are proud of, nor are we shy to speak in our mother tongue. That kinda shows your upbringing.

I really don’t wanna have a kid and bring him up this way, so that he grows up to a confused individual, and unable to identify himself among any group, American or Indian. I want to bring him up so that he/she can adjust himself in any group, with family he can be as pleasant and charming...mischevous okay but not ill mannered, and yet can be at par with the kind of friends he mingles with.

My first blog from my new office

Now this is my first blog from my new office.

Being a bank, they have some real serious security procedures. Too many passwords…way too many. To set up the minimum no. of passwords to let me access the internal sites and internet took good one week. But my software installations are still on its way, so you see I haven’t got much to do.

Though I am yet to check out the code base, yet going by the technical documents given to me, the project is hardly any challenge. We used jdk 1.5 earlier (planning to upgrade to jdk 1.6 soon), hibernate and springs, and ajax and rich faces in my earlier project…but here they work with jdk 1.4 and JDBC…that’s it!!! So you see, technically its pulling me back to where I was 4 years back. Since this is the IT division of the bank, there isn’t any competition from other servicing companies. So people take a chill pill here.
So it’s not a good feeling at all…kills your enthusiasm.

I have to wake up at 6.45 every morning, contrary to my earlier schedule at 9 am. I have to walk to the bust stop, a 15 mins walk from home, two times a day. I can’t manage to sleep a blink on the way, in the bus. I reach home around 7-7.15 in the evening, saving hardly 2 hours compared to my earlier schedule.

So am I complaining???

No I am not.
Hmm…well let’s just say, not yet.
The reason being the team and the office. The office is the coolest I have ever worked in.
People reach here between 8.45-9.15 in the morning and leave at 5.45-6.15 in the evening.
It’s a good change to find non-frowning faces around.
The team is a bunch of mad caps (most of them), but an otherwise fun loving team.
The HR and Finance are very friendly, and the managers are friendly and enthusiastic.
The food in the IT mall is great…so I gotta watch my weight again.
I walk quite a lot all day, so might lose all that I gain at the IT mall.
The tea at office is very nice, and needs no coupons.
It’s nice to work in a carpeted office after a long time.
They have 13 holidays all though the year, my previous employer had only 9.
I have *Drums roll please* 32 leaves in a year, out of which 26 are mandatory, meaning they are not to be carried forward to the next year. With all my provious employers I had 18-20 leaves per year. Also getting the leaves approved was a huge pain in the neck. Here they are pretty flexible with the leave system.
I have a personal IP phone at my disposal, at all other places that I have worked earlier, 3-4 people used to share one phone.
I can carry my I-Pod inside which none of my previous employers allowed.
There are quite some short term onsite travels here, to Egypt, Paris, Russia among other places (yipeeeee!!).

So it’s kinda great, except for the everyday travel to office and the technology I am to work with. I will certainly try to find out some good projects around and see if I can get through them.

Second Happy Walla Anniversary...

Db: So you are a housewife now.
Me: Howzzat??? I am gonna start my new job on Monday.
Db: So what??? You are not on anybody’s payroll for the next two days, so that makes you jobless.
Me: But these two days are weekends.
Db: So what?? You are not paid for the next two days, so that makes you a housewife.
Me: Big deal!!! So what if I am a housewife for a few days.
Db: So behave like one.
Me: As in????
Db: Make me some good food, mere pair dabao, meri sewa karo.
Me: Huh!!!
Db: Nothing doing!!! For the next two days you have to behave like a housewife.
Me: Okay.
…Dal is getting so costly these days, and all Gobi’s in the market are damaged….what do I cook?? …My friend nam got amazing diamond studs last week, you haven’t given me a single piece of jewelry in last one year,
…The neighbors next door got a new Honda City, we don’t even own a car.
…Nam went to Srilanka for a vacation on this New Year, you haven’t taken me any where ever since our marriage.
Db: ??!!!!??
…. Your Mom called yesterday, wants me to visit the temple everyday, who has the time for all this. Grrrr!!!
…Your siblings are not doing well in their academics, lemme tell you, I am not going to take their responsibility.
…When are we going onsite?
…This house maid bugs me so much, get me a new one.
…Take me to a movie…Shahrukh Khan!!! I am bored…take me shopping.
…Why are you with your laptop, talk to me!!!
…Where are my Saas Bahu serials.
Db: Okay…I lose. Don’t you dare ever leave your job, work till you retire.
Me: **GRIN**
Let the madness never end. Happy Anniversary Love!!!

NB: Since this is my blog, I prefer to write about only those arguments that I happen to win, which again happens once in a blue moon. But my blog is my business…so Meri Marzi!!!

I'm calling it quits

Today is my last day at office
I had finished the farewell mail sending business late in the evening yesterday, so that my clients at US get a chance to respond back to me. My team held a small farewell get together for me, and they gave me a nice surprise, a huge TWEETY BIRD as a gift to me. So all z been well here.

But I am not feeling sad or guilty while I leave today.
Despite of the fact that my managers have been facing the music because of my resignation. My clients were extremely unhappy with my resignation, more so since another key member also resigned with me. It's also come up to the extend that my clients are reconsidering the contract they have with my employer.
My clients have been ever so sweet with me. I not for my employer, I do have some kinda camaraderie with my clients. My team here was very pleasant to work with. Less of team mates and more of friends. For sure, the best team I ever got to work with. That's one thing I am surely gonna miss.

But somehow it does not matter to me. Not anymore...
May be because I firmly believe they did deserve this, may be because life has taught me to be selfish...or may be I am just, plain and simple, happy about it.
I know that once I get my relieving letter in hand at 3.30 in the afternoon today, I am gonna run off in top gear, without even looking back once, even if calamity strikes. If tomorrow I have to join back here for some reason, I will think (1000 X 1000 X 1000 X 1000) to the power 1000 times before I do that.

Finally when I went to meet a few people before I left, they all greeted me with a congratulations first, and then an all the best...and I completely understand.

And right now I am just waiting for the clock to strike 3.30, so that I can just get over with it all. Monday I am starting with another company(yes!!! No break for me), hoping the management there wouldn't be as bad as here, and hope the team be as good as the one I had here.
And puhleeease gimme some simple work there, nothing too difficult, for which I have to stay too late at office.

And before I call it quits, I would like to say farewell to all those who I leave behind, in our national language अलविदा कमीनों !!!

Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

I am sure for every person in his 20's and late 30's, Mile sur mera tumahara would be an iconic song. I remember, I grew up with it. Those were the days were hadn't heard of mobiles, cable TV, play stations or video games...all we had was a old colour TV with just one channel called Doordarshan, DD1.

Those were the days, when the celebrities were mysterious for us, there were no channels airing every single detail about the celebs. Unlike these days, when a (non-)actor is a star even before their first film is released (Deepika Padukone anyone!!!), those times we hardly go to see them out side the films they were a part of. So it was through the 'Mile Sur' and 'Baje sargam' kinda stuff where we got a glimpse of our favorite actors not trying to be somebody else but just themselves.

While I say this, I feel like a old granny. A feeling akin to when my Dad said that he started with a job which paid him 300 rupees a month, and he was called a genius for that.

Well...not deviating from the topic, when I first saw the 'Phir Mile Sur' on TV, I couldn't help but compare it to the old version of the same. Certainly, its a great idea, re making the iconic song with people from this generation who have made a mark in the society.
But I was terribly disappointed.

The remake looks more like a commercialized khichdi, very unlike the original which looked so genuine and had the heart in the right place. It more looks like a marathon of bollywood actors and non-actors (call them stars), again trying to be somebody, and not themselves.

Picture these:

- The length of the segment is annoyingly long, and the individual segments look very detached from each other, most of them looked very forced.

- Salman Khan sitting amidst variously disabled children, looks less up for a social cause and more for a Rupa Baniyan or Rin Supreme ad.

- Deepika-overhyped- Padukone, my first reaction when I saw her was, arre eske kapde kahhan hai (where are her clothes???). She stands with a reveling dress on a ramp like pose looks less talking about national integration and more like advertising champi with parachute hair oil, before shampooing with fiama di willis shampoo.

- Aamir Khan doing his Bum Bum Bole act yet again with a group of kids, looked like a total caricature.

- Sonu Nigam looks like he is straight out of a mental asylum. He is a good singer, no doubt, but he should avoid the forced koolness and acting like plague, as much as Himesh Reshammiya should do the same.

- Aishwarya-plastic-Rai, redoing her look-I-am-so-pretty act yet again, and Abhishek lurking behind her back in a consolation 3 seconds role for being the son and husband of a talented father and plastic beauty respectively. Wonder why Jaya Bachan was missed out, since the Bachans kind of expertise in making all occasions a family get together.

- Shahid Kapur has this I-am-a-rockstar-but-they-wont-let-me-dance look.

- Ranbir Kapoor in a pyjamas, looked like he is straight out of bed and hardly interested.

- Shahrukh with his ever constipated expression, stretching out his hands wide doing his typical Shahrukhanisms synonymic to saying 'My Name is Khan'.

- The Olympics winners Bindra, Virendra, had in a blink and you miss contribution.

- What's Kavita Krishnamurthy doing with her entire family??? Trying to give competition to the Bachans is it!!!

- Its all bollywood bollywood all the way, the sports icons were conveniently missed out. I would have loved to see veterans like Om Puri, Lata Mangeshkar (who were a part of the original version) and Naseeruddin Shah as well.

Terribly terribly disappointed. Bole toh akha memory ki watt laga dali.

Some old memories that I still visualize - I

A real long post on a few gems that I can clearly visualize from my past.

A real long post with a few censored stuff.

Sexy Sexy Sexy mujhe log bolen. It was sometime during my class 7th or 8th when this legendary song was released, which went into troubled waters due to the repeated usage of the word sexy. They later replaced the word with Baby which they believed was more milder.

During those days, we had just one smartie in our group...Lekha.

During the biology class I whispered to her

Me : Why did they ban the song?

Lekha : Because it had the word sexy in it. Its not a nice word you know.

Me : Why!!! What does it mean?

Lekha : You donno??? Sexy means somebody who shows off her sex.

Well!! Given today, I believe that was a very straightforward and smart definition of sexy that she gave. But back then my grey cells were underdeveloped.

Me : So, whats wrong in it. We wear skirts to show that we are females and the boys wear pants to show that they are males. So that makes us all sexy right!!!

She didn't reply anything, but somehow I vividly remember the expression on her face, half disbelief, half confused, half oh-you-dumbass and half well-you-have-a-point look on her face. PRICELESS!!!

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My maths sir at school was not very fond of me. I was a 80 percent scorer in all my subjects, except maths, wherein I always scored less than 60. I went on to believe that I am weak in maths, and decided to take tuitions from the sir who taught us Physics at school. When my tuition sir reviewed my maths terminal answer sheets, he found that I should have at least got 70. It turned out that the maths sir was liberal with marks for people who took tuitions from him, while he would treat the rest with an iron hand. When I confronted him, saying I deserved more marks, he shouted at me humiliating me infront of the whole class.

The next terminal,which was the last terminal of my 10th std, I failed maths with 38 marks.

I again showed my paper to my tuition sir, who believed i should have got at least 6o something in this paper. But I was scared to confront him. So my tuition sir decided to confront him all by himself.

I am not aware what happened that day. The next day was our last day at school, we had a 15 day holiday after which we had our ICSE board exams. My tuition sir called me to the staff room, he pulled out a notebook from my bag. On one of the pages, he wrote a 90 on it and put his signatures below. He gave the notebook to me and said, don't show me your face if you cant pull off more than this in the board exam. He left.

I scored a 92 in maths in the board exams which was the second highest in my school. And yes, I did show my face to him.

I still have the notebook with me, one of whose pages says a 90, signed by Mishra sir below it.

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During my hostel days, somebody would steal away our undergarments from the rope on the rooftop. Never did we hear a case when dupattas, jeans, t-shirts, handkerchiefs or skirts were stolen, it was just undergarments. Later we found out that the guys that stayed around our hostel (our hostel was inside the city) used to climb up to the roof top and steal away things.

During one of the late night gossips in our room,

Me : What kind of chindichors steal undergarments man!!! I mean at least steal better things to gift your girlfriends, what sense does it make to give them used underwear!!!

Others in the room : ROFL

Well!!! Now I know why guys would steal female undergarments.

Thinking aloud

Five things that would have bothered me if I hadn't resigned

1. My manager, either he would have killed me or I would have done the same to him.

2. My promotion was shelved. I am the only one in my team who did not get the promotion. And worst of all, despite of repeated reminders from my end, they made it out to be a careless mistake. On the day the promotions were announced, my manager actually came to me to ask how much hike I got.
Oops !!! It seems I missed to initiate your promotion. He said
What???????? who made you a manager!!!

3. The dissatisfaction in the team has been increasing exponentially because of lac of motivation from the management side. Its getting more and more difficult to get them to give their best at work.

4. PAISA!!! Duniya kya maange, money money!!! Well that could have been the fist item on the list.

5. I have been in this same project for more than 2.5 years, needed a change after all. If I would have asked my manager for a release, then please read back point no. 1

Five things that makes me happy for my resignation

1. PAISA again!!! I got a bhayanak hike. I have got coins glued on my eyes right now.

2. I don't get to see his face again...do I need to elaborate who is 'he'!!!

3. People who have got promotions, have hardly got an hike of 5-6% on an average. I mean that looks like some kind of charity given to them. And the best part is, my salary is still way higher than anybody else in the team. And still read point 1 again.

5. I have got my confidence back. The fact that I have got almost 3 offers already makes me want to pat my back myself.

I have another interview lined up in Db's company, TW. They have a unique recruitment procedure, a tough one at that. If I get through that, I will be on cloud nine.

So I Quit...

I quit my job this week, the very day I set my foot in Bangalore from my vacation. It was a little difficult since two more people also resigned with me on the same day with me, hence it certainly is a huge blow to my project.

Now my days are getting busier than ever. Conducting interviews to find our replacements. I am also trying to pull in some of my friends into the project. The times had been bad, and now that I have the power, I want to pull in some of my friends who have seen bad times in the last few months. I wish I could do something for Bhai though...**sigh**

So I would be on another payroll early next month. I am happy, will be happier if my friend gets through for my replacement coming Friday, and would be happiest if Bhai strikes gold.
God please gimme this news that we have been waiting for since months, I promise I wouldn't ask for anything else...ahem...at least for one year.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

I thought I'd forgive him. I have just landed in Bangalore after a really great vacation, the after effect of which tends to calm me down.

I was just happy with the fact that I am resigning today, and will get rid of him soon...who else...mera manager!!! But he has to take panga with me.
A personal attack, a God Damn personal attack, with a mail CC'ed to the who's who of the project and the HR as well...subtlety blaming me of conspiring with my friends in the team to resign on the same day. Gawd!!! Do these people go through some managerial training at all before being thrown in to sit on our heads.

Dude!!! Blow fire as much as you would like to, you can't change the fact that 6 people have resigned from the team in last two days, and that's due to your arrogant behavior. Your ass is on fire now, go figure out how you are gonna explain the resignations.
I will have the last laugh.

Last day of my vaccatiom

I am writing from my Dad's desktop, from the city Rourkela while its freezing cold here, like 4-5 degrees and it literally feels what Jack said Rose, it feels like a thousand needles...no marks for guessing the movie.
Its just a simple twist of fate, lest I would have been in the train to Bangalore right now. But the train has got rescheduled, delaying it by 7 hours, which is now 4 in the morning. So you see I haven't got anything better to do.

Its been a good vaccation this time. The plot deal was done,met my in laws, went to Puri and the Jagannath Temple, had a blast at the new year carnival at the local club at Rourkela(an entire post coming up that shortly with elaborate pictures), caught up with an old friend...and most importantly had a great lazy time at home, chilling...yes literally. The house miraculously got cleaned, the clothes miraculously washed , the food was miraculously ready. Nothing like it **Yawn**!!!

Now Bangalore looks so far to me. I feel when I would reach Bangalore day after tomorrow, the city would have changed, the people would have changed, my company wouldn't recognize me any more, everything seems just so alien. All of a sudden, I almost feel like forgiving my manager...such is the effect of a good vaccation.

Well, as the reality strikes, I have a train to catch in 6 hours, I have to resign from office day after tomorrow, and as I had expected that my resignation is gonna trigger two more resignations, one is already pipelined one day after I resign. So lots of action awaiting me back an Bangalore...so gear up gal!!!