My World Within

Fitness time!

2007-06-10T14:56:00.000-05:00

Warm up

Bent knee crunch

Bicycle Crunch

Long Arm Crunch

Pilates
*******

100 Pilate

Pilate Swimming Exercise

Pilate Hip Circle

Pilate Single Leg Circle

Rolling ball

Saw exercise

Single leg kick exercise

Cockscrew exercise

Thought for the day

2006-12-11T20:06:00.000-06:00

Don't be troubled if life doesn't treat you well,
Remember, everything that happens - happens for the good.
All troubles have a silver lining,
A lining called hope!

A light humor to start the week and a Monday!

The picture on the right is a true/real picture taken in a zoo. There were a bunch of monkeys enclosed within a glass window. All the others were playing around, and one particular monkey was positioned as though life had taken its toll. There was no beginning and no end for this fella. He was frustrated! If only monkeys could talk we would know!

Random thoughts!

2006-12-10T19:51:00.000-06:00

Happy are those who sleep knowing that they are the most fortunate,
Happy are those who have everything in life,
Happy are those who have no worries,
Happy are those who know that every cloud has a silver lining,
Happy are those who know they have made the right decisions,
Happy are those who wake up knowing today is going to be a great day!

Happy are those who know the meaning of love,
They know it only because they love and have been loved.

Often to realize the importance of a person,
Being away from them,
Opens the door of acknowledging them,
Opens the door of missing them,
Opens the door of anxiousness to meet them,
Opens the door of joyous moments when meeting them!

It's morning!

2006-12-07T17:33:00.000-06:00

Pat-pat-pat
Those were loud hits,
Was it the wind?
She yawned.
Boy! was it going to be a cold walk to work.

She switched the radio on,
Not concentrating too much on what was said,
She casually got about doing her morning chores.

"Snow showers"
She stopped - could it be?

Nah, they always forecasted "flurries and snow fall"
It always seemed like any other day. Dry as ever!

...........

All set for her 20 minute walk to work.

"Snow showers!, accidents, drive slow" - were the messages on air.

………..

"Let me take a peek"
She stood there frozen.
Frozen to see everything in white!

Could it be?
The first snowfall?

She grabbed her camera and ran outside...
Click, click, click!

Only minutes later she realized that she should have covered herself!
IT WAS FREEZING!!!

She quickly warmed herself back inside,
Covered herself,
And set out for a special morning.

A walk to work on a snowy morning!

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

Based on a true life incident ;-) (so are the pictures! Click on pictures to feel the winter effect!) It felt so good to walk in the snow today... Played and kicked it, as I walked to walk. Got myself covered with snow by the time I reached ork. Oh well, it was so worth!

A day in the life of

2006-12-05T16:57:00.000-06:00

...... a team lead!

This is my calendar for tomorrow. Got just 2 hours free. Take a bet, by 10 AM that would be full! I'm surely going to relish my 1 hour lunch break :-D

Ah.... to be a team lead! Blissful :-)

Jigsaw

2006-12-03T23:23:00.000-06:00

Itz been ages....

I miss the days when I used to come home from work and immediately switch my comp on to blog.
I used to think of multiple thoughts to write on my way back home in the company bus.
The traffic jams just added more time and got the creative juices flowing.

Those were days when Mom was there to do EVERYTHING for me.
I was a mere princess!
As such even princesses’ wouldn’t have had the life I had with no responsibilities!

..................

Present:
I've evolved.
Do I regret?

You must be kidding!
I've seen both sides of the grass,
And both are equally good.

Responsibility,
Maturity,
Seriousness, (when needed!)
All part of the game

The game of growing up and learning.

I'm 25, but maturity knocked late.
But the important part of this all is -- never loose the child in you.

So what have I learnt?

A lot!
How to handle clients,
When to speak and most importantly what to speak
How to cook :-)

Cooking is as easy 1-2-3
(1) Open your refrigerator and check for available resources. Choose the resource that will play the highest role in the project
(2) Off to google.com. Type in the resource name followed by the keyword "recipe"
(3) You will be presented with multiple options, choose the recipe that matches all the other available resources in your project!

The results = a variety of food.

So as you can see, cooking has taken a lot of my time.

Back to the list -
I guess the most important thing I've learnt is how to understand and deal with people especially newer folks. You go thru this phase where you get hurt, luckily those phases were back home when I had my family's support, more importantly their love to get me out of it. When you are alone, you can't risk getting hurt and wasting time. Those seem trivial and you tend to have a lot of other better stuff to do like cooking :) or household chores!

You learn to keep your eyes open at all times, and learn to trust less. I guess trust is the word that gets me into trouble. The more you trust others, the more painful it is when those people break your trust. The less you trust, the less or should I say, there is no pain. Makes life much simpler!

*************************************************************************
This is quite an absurd post, so I'm going to name it a Jigsaw. Stealing this title from one of Jewel Ray's previous posts. (Hope you dont mind :-) Jewel)

At the end of the day, I know one thing - God has blessed me with the happiest life in the world, and I have all the special people in my life to thank to give me this happiness. I swear to this!

If only eyes could speak, you would know exactly what I mean!

Calm waters

2006-10-29T21:20:00.000-06:00

And a touch of Autumn!

The power of editing

2006-10-29T20:53:00.000-06:00

Amazing and surprising, what editing can do to a picture...

Before ....

And now to present.... ta da...

A.F.T.E.R.

Yep, they are the same exact picture! (Click the image to view it at it's best!)

Refined

2006-08-23T18:16:00.000-05:00

Every step...

2006-08-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

I am watching you.

Was tough..

2006-07-29T17:11:00.000-05:00

But managed to get all 4 in one shot :-)

(Taken in Shedd Aquarium (Dolphin Show), Chicago)

Nature's beauty

2006-07-28T17:24:00.000-05:00

A trip to Geneva (@ colleagues place) Part I

2006-06-21T11:01:00.000-05:00

@ The boarding point

View from the balcony

Fire place

Hall

Dining Hall

Waiting room

Guest room

Huge master bedroom

A trip to Geneva (@ colleagues place) - Part II

2006-06-21T11:00:00.000-05:00

Window peek

Kitchen view

Oh yeah, I had a HUGE bite :D

Full view

Around Geneva (Part I)

2006-06-21T10:57:00.000-05:00

(the wet road...) (my fav in this lot)

Around Geneva (Part II)

2006-06-21T10:56:00.000-05:00

After the shower... followed the ...

Sunset clicks!

Why?

2006-06-14T23:36:00.000-05:00

Why is it?
That even when a mistake happens once,
My tendency is to forgive
And I allow it to happen over and over again?

Will I ever learn?
I wonder.

"Once bitten, twice shy."
Doesn't apply to me - one bit.

One theme!

2006-06-13T23:52:00.001-05:00

Only she!

She knows when I'm happy,
I can hear the happiness in her voice.

She listens to my voice,
And can tell my mood.

She knows instantly,
Just by my sound,
She feels the pain,
Every inch of pain I go thru,
She knows that I'm down.

Her voice consoles me,
Her words boost me up,
Her advices gives me the stregnth,
To live each day.

Mom, though far far apart,
But every breath I take,
You are with me.

My eyes long to see you,
And to be with you,
Close to you.

I miss you.

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

I've learnt the hard way,
That life isn't a bed of roses,
Mom and Dad have always been there,
To keep me safe and protected.

The protective shield ceases,
When I am apart from you,
Makes me want to run back,
Into those caring arms.

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

There are lots of things life can offer,
But family is the most precious gift.
With family comes individuals,
Who are special - way beyond words can describe.

June's entry

2006-06-11T16:43:00.000-05:00

Whoever said that "3's a crowd",
Really experienced that bitter hell!

At the end of the day...

2006-05-12T14:27:00.000-05:00

It comes to just one fact....

Everyone is selfish!

Lincoln Park Zoo

2006-05-07T00:49:00.000-05:00

**** My favourite picture of them all. Managed to capture John Hancock and Sear Towers at one shot! I'm improving my photography skills ;)

**** There is a squirrel out there somewhere (I clicked it and forgot to focuss on the squirrel and concentrated more on the background.. lol..)

**** This one scared the daylights out of me!! It looked so real and trust me lizards ain't my favourite!

**** Seen them on T.V, that was a big scary looking spider!

T.I.M.E.

2006-04-09T19:26:00.000-05:00

Guess who decided to pop in... :)
Yeah, it's been a while.

Life has been going just great.
When I was back in India, I had Mom to do everything for me. I just had to get to work and everything else was taken care of. I had ample time to do other stuff, like blogging. Now the scene is different.

Now Mom is far far away from me, and I'm here, in this big country. In addition to working, I gotta cook my food, wash my clothes, keep the house neat and tidy.... and the list goes on.

No, no, I ain't complaining. I'm enjoying all this. It is a first time experience. For 25 years I was like a queen at home, and now I'm on my own.... I'm independent.

I guess the worst part about being here, is when I feel homesick. That time, I just feel like running away from this life, but thankfully since we are a group from work over here, it isn't all that bad.

Today was especially fun. Been 3 weeks over here, and eating non-veg seems to be something great coz we cook it occassionally (Mom nahi hai na....) We had a grand lunch with chicken fry, chicken curry, whipped up some salad, dal, chapaties and rice. It was nice :)

I was a person who never entered the kitchen when I was at home.... and now, check my chapati size.... it's round.. :) You know what they say "Necessity is the mother of invention!" When you have to do something, you can and will do it. Nothing is impossible.

And T.I.M.E. is surely flying by quick. Every day has something new in store, and ofcourse I could actually write a book about my daily blunders in the kitchen :)

Every second is good :)

Chicago Snaps

2006-03-26T02:29:00.000-06:00

Views from Millenium Park:

Chicago ...

2006-03-25T13:02:00.000-06:00

PIZZA!!!!!

We all got a treat from our boss here in a place named Giordanos. Chicago is famous for its stuffed pizza. And after you see it, you'll know why. There are two types: thick crust and thin crust. The thin crust is pretty much like our Dominoes in India. But the thick crust is just unbelievable. It is huge!!! And I ain't exaggerating here. One medium sized pizza thick crust can fill a family of 10 easily!

Check the size of a single slice out!

I was totally house-full!!

White carpet

2006-03-23T19:31:00.000-06:00

It's been exactly a week after landing here in Chicago.

It was 3:45 PM Thursday evening, 16th March 2006 when the plane approached the airport. From the window I could see a white layer all over the place.

Flakes of snow!
I reached my hand out,
To feel it,
I was locked in.
The window sealed me in.

I couldn't wait to get out of the plane. It kept circling around. There was some delay. My hands itched to feel the snow.

Out of the plane and into the airport. All sealed! I wanted to get out in the open.

Next stop: Immigration check. That was a long queue. Needed to show documents to the immigration authorities. That went smoothly.

Next stop: Get my luggage.
Slight Fear: Since it was a connecting flight from Bangalore to Paris, Paris to Chicago, there were high chances that luggage could get lost.
Patiently saw each box carefully as it ran through the belt. Got my first box quickly, but the second one didn't seem to be anywhere around. Patience is the word. I finally got both and gave a breath of relief.

Got my luggage and finally saw the Exit sign. I was so excited. I was going to feel snow for the first time in my life. It was awesome!

Flakes of snow!
I reached my hand out,
To feel it,
I was covered in gloves and a muffler.
I removed my gloves to feel the snow in my bare hands…

Ouch… it was cold.
It was ice!
Ice in a soft form,
That melted immediately.

It felt like rain,
Only colder.

Flakes of snow,
Covered me,
It tasted cold.

It was one of my best moments ever.

........................

My colleague and I caught a taxi. It was our first time in the US. The city was covered all over with a thin layer of snow. Cars had ice, trees were covered with snow, buildings were covered with snow, the road was covered partially with ice. It looked so beautiful.
It was a 30 minute drive from the O’Hare Airport to Downtown.

........................

A week has passed. It hasn’t snowed after that day. Winter is almost over and spring is around the corner. But we were so lucky to have gotten the chance to see and touch snow for the first time. It felt like a grand welcome to a new country from the Lord above. As they say a red carpet.... I got a white carpet!

It was something I longed to see and I was lucky to have seen it .

One word!

2006-03-17T23:26:00.000-06:00

There is just one word to describe the US of A....

and that one word is....

AWESOME!!!

Think twice!

2006-03-12T03:55:00.000-06:00

Always wear comfortable footwear.

Girls - this is a serious suggestion. You never know what may happen and when. You could be decked up, all pretty and tall with those high heels, and it might so happen that you might have to run -> Would those high heels help you then?

I'm sure you must be wondering, what is Icy talking about. Well, read on and you'll know exactly where I'm coming from.

*************************************************************************************
Dad and I went shopping last evening. After all our shopping was done, Dad wanted to fill petrol in our scooter. Fair enough, we headed to the petrol bunk. We both got down from the scooter and after filling it, Dad started the bike.

I was about to sit, when Dad accelerated and moved forward. It was coz there was a queue and Dad didn't want to delay others. Fair enough.

I walked towards my scooter following Dad behind. Suddenly Dad accelerated once again, and moved to the other side of the road. I assumed it was coz of the traffic and he wanted to cross the road. I could easily cross the road and jump on. Fair enough.

Suddenly Dad on the other side of the road, just speeds on. That is when I realized that Dad forgot about me, or he assumed that I was already seated behind.

Icy think, think, catching an auto -> Out of the question. Shopping drained my purse. I had no money at all. Icy RUN, RUN, RUN. Run behind the scooter, scream out Dad's name, clap with your hands to catch Dad's attention.

..........
..........
..........

And I started running. Running like it was the end if I didn't catch Dad. Running, yelling out "Daddy, Daddy", clapping with my hands (Oh, that didn't help in anyway, except hurt my palms)

It was a dark lane, thankfully. So no traffic at all. There were humps on the road, so Dad slowed down for each hump. And I took advantage of that and sped up.

And suddenly Dad stopped. He turned back. I had reached the scooter by then. I burst out laughing, and was rolling on the road laughing away. Dad burst out too. It was hilarious. Hilarious to the core!

Dad then explained that he was under the impression that I had already sat on the scooter. It was after he spoke and found no response from my end, that he turned around and then saw me not seated behind him but running towards the scooter.

Two conclusions:

(1) I'm so light that my weight is hardly accounted for when I sit on the scooter.
(2) I'm fast :-D even now. I was an athlete in school 10 years back, and have put on weight (after all it is 10 years!) But I was glad to realize that I still have my speed with me :) And Dad even gave me a compliment (once in a blue-moon kind of thing) "I'm faster than a scooter"

We had a real good laugh - father and daughter. Even now as I type this, I'm laughing away thinking of the way Dad forgot about me and me running to catch my Dad.

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

So what exactly is my point? My point is I was in flat sandals and was able to run. I was in comfortable footwear and was able to move around quickly.

This is just a light incident, but what if it were something more serious, like someone chasing you, or trying to rob you, something on those lines.

Footwear is important, especially important to be in comfortable ones. Think about it!

Dear All,
Got a chance to fly to US and will be leaving India on Wednesday (15th). Been busy with those formalities and haven't been able to give my attention to my blog and to all my wonderful blog friends too.
This would be my first trip and I'm very excited :)
I will not have access to the net, until I get my laptop (company sponsored :D)
So please excuse my absence and will be back checking all your blogs once I get everything in place.
Take care and keep smiling.
Huggzzz,
Icy :)

The walk

2006-03-02T12:23:00.000-06:00

A long walk to the shore at night.
The sand was one foot deep.
She wasn't exactly in the right attire,
While he was covered from head to toe,
With shoes that were thick enough to keep the sand out.

She walked slow,
She was worried about her sandal,
It was her favourite and yet thin.

He cared for her,
He took his steps slow,
To keep up with her pace.

A long walk in the cool sand,
Her feet enjoyed the sand as they played along with her toes.

The place was filled with people of all kinds,
A few cheap people tried to brush against her,
Seeing this, he asked her to move to his left,
He cared for her.

The sound of waves were distant,
Her ears longed to hear the sound.
Her eyes longed to see the waves,
It was a long walk.

The breeze of sea,
Blew against her face,
She knew she was nearing the sea.

And finally they reached.
She couldn't stop herself,
She had to have the waves flow in,
She took off her sandals,
And pulled her pants up till her knee,
Into the water she went.

The cool waves rushed in and out,
The feeling was amazing.
Droplets of water fell from the sky,
A slight drizzle.
The moment was defined to be just perfect.

He didn't want to be part of that.
Though she tried to persuade him to enter too,
While he took care of her sandals,
She enjoyed the joy of nature.

It was time to leave,
Her pants were wet from below,
Her feet soaked in sand,
She had to walk bare-foot back.

With her sandals in her hand,
She took each step carefully,
To avoid getting hurt on her feet,
By the litter around,
Especially by the broken glass bangles.

It was too much of an effort,
In the one foot deep sand,
With wet feet,
The sand sticking to her feet and pants.

Ouch, the poke from the glass bangle hurt!

He cared for her.
He walked slowly,
He was by her side.
In one hand she held her sandals,
And in the other she held his arm,
She squeezed it tight when she got small pokes,
And he understood that she was in slight pain.

It was a long walk,
But it didn't seem long at all.
They both walked away from the shore.
It was the best moment.

As they headed back,
She dried up and had her sandals on,
The moment was lost.
Everything was back to how it was before their visit.

They had to cross the road,
The traffic was flowing,
He ran ahead,
While she waited,
He caught her by her hand,
And pulled her along.
Hand-in-hand they crossed the road,
And were safe on the other side.

Better moments were in store for her.
She knew it and smiled to herself.

The word!

2006-02-25T11:10:00.000-06:00

It's a four-letter word. Unfortunately it comes out unexpectedly. We really can't stop it. It needs a lot of will power if we wanna stop it. However when in a comfortable situation, we don't really bother about it. It is free then.

I blame society. It is society that has set the path, that it is wrong. And we follow it blindly. Yet, when in private or with people we are very close too, we care less for the society. We be ourselves.

....
....
....

I'm talking about the four-letter word.
It's starts with an F.

Why is it that we should be polite in public?
Why can't we just be ourselves?
We are looked with disgust if we were to spoil the rule of the society.
Ultimately making us feel embarrassed.

....
....
....

My question is simple.

Why is it that we can't "fart" in public?

I agree it does leave a foul smell, but even then, it is something natural. If we were alone, we would fart and fart away.

Hold on, I need to ~~prrrrrr prrrrrr~~

Yeah, so where was I? The four letter word that leaves us embarrassed if let out in a public place. And forces us to do that extra jamming to stop it from getting released and letting out an embarrassing sound and in worse situations, a foul smell.

It's isn't wrong to fart in public. It is after all natural!

My Day :)

2006-02-22T11:26:00.000-06:00

I just couldn't resist. Today there just had to be a post in my blog (despite my busy schedule).

My day started at 12:03 AM with a phone call. Probably the first time till date that I am actually up on my day. I didn't have the phone in my room until recently, so I'm making good use of it. And the calls lasted till around 1:00 AM. Sitting in the dark, talking away, with friends who actually care for me. Friends who think about me. Special people in my life.

I owe my special friends this day for making extra efforts to make my day extra special.

Especially for the lovely red roses,
Especially for the box of chocolate cookies,
Especially for the perfume bottle,
Especially for the cute teddy,
Especially for all the phone calls I got today,
Especially for all the mails and e-cards I got.

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

10 beautiful red roses,
To signify 10 years of friendship,
Just to make me realize that distance is not a barrier,
To make me understand that the world is indeed small and round,
The flowers made my day!
It felt so good to hold the bouquet in my hand.
I would always gaze at girls who carried bouquets, today I was one amongst them.
I had a beautiful bouquet sent to my office,
It felt great.

A box of chocolate cookies,
Yummy yum yummmm,
Carefully put on my table with a lot of planning by two heads,
One the master sitting in US and the other sitting in Bangalore,
One planned while the other executed,
It was a pleasant surprise to see the packet as I entered my desk.
Came home and ripped open the box,
It was all gone soon,
Lot of hungry wolves around!

How can I forget,
12:00 AM (IST) was booked by you,
But you were tied up with "production issues",
And 12:00 AM turned to 12:38 AM,
But all was not lost,
You decided that you would call me at sharp 12:00 AM in another time zone.
If not IST, then some other time zone.
And you stayed awake till 4:00 AM (US time) to make that happen.

Thanks Midhs for taking such a lot of pain for me today. You being in US, yet you made me feel that you were very near. All your master plans were carefully executed and perfectly executed. It made me feel very special :)

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

Made plans to meet my good friend in the other company branch.
He was ill for the past 4 days,
Yet he told me that he would come to the other branch,
Just to meet me.

All plans were made,
But unfortunately, I couldn’t go to the other branch.
And I had to go directly to my branch.

A 15 km drive from Branch 3 to Branch 4,
Just to meet me,
Just to add that extra touch to my day.

Varkey, that was the sweetest thing you did for me. I felt so bad inside, that I ruined our plans. Yet you never got annoyed and willingly volunteered to come to my branch. The perfume bottle was just right for me. I smell good now :)

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

The first call I got after I turned 25.
First time, first call.
The thought of remembering me,
Felt good inside.

And the unexpected gift,
The cute teddy,
Which now hangs near my monitor,
Absolutely sweet.

Thanks Deepak for being there for me on this day. It came all out of the blue for me, and I’m happy to know that you care for me.

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

Last but not the least, all my dear dear relatives, my close girlfriends, and friends who remembered me on my day and added a pinch of happiness with their phone calls, e-cards and mails.

I’m 25 today,
Matured,
Older,
Wiser,
Yet extremely happy and thankful for all the special people God has made me meet.

Why Oh Why!

2006-02-15T19:02:00.000-06:00

A fundamental question I just don't get about the male species. Why is it that guys find it so difficult to appreciate a girl when she has done something good, something to prove that she isn't dumb. The term 'dumb' too being graciously given by the male species to indicate girls are nothing but dumb!

It isn't that I have encountered this from just one of their species, in fact I find this a common characteristic in all of their species. Strange! They feel appreciating a woman affects their ego. Another characteristic in-built in this other species. Their ego comes ahead of them using their brains. I feel a lady has just two entities - her mind and her heart. But when it comes to the male species it is just one - their ego. Everything they do revolves around that entity - ego.

Take these 2 scenarios:

Scenario 1: My team partner at work. Belonging to the male species. We both work together for the same client. It so happened that he had a doubt and was stuck at a problem. He tried and tried and I saw that he was struggling. Offered to help him out, but he said 'NO'. Eventually, yeah eventually, he wanted the work to get done with, and he asked for my help.

I solved the problem for him and this was his reply. "I just wanted to test if you knew it or not! I already knew it, so looks like you passed the test."

What more can I say about this male species!

Scenario 2: I fill my water bottle and enter my bay with a cup of water in one hand and my bottle in the other hand. One of my colleagues played the fool and hit the cup of water. No water fell the first time. I looked at him and told him that I would pour the water on him if he did it again. Obviously we both are fooling around. He does it again. Nothing fell again. This time I changed the angle in such a way that if he hits it again, it would definitely fall on him. He hit and walla, he hit too hard, my angle changed too much and his pants were all wet.

To think that he would leave me! All in the team saw. He took the cup from my hand and just threw the entire cup of water on me. I was wet like a dog wet in rain. And I was in white.

Which is why I said, guys don't have that element called brains in them. They do everything based on their ego. Cmon, water would dry up eventually, but his ego was hurt in front of the team, that he couldn't bear to walk away without getting me back. So he had to soak me and embarrass me too. I could have might as well poured my entire bottle of water on him, but realized guys are just fools.

Weird is their species and they think we are dumb! Ridiculous.

...............
...............

PS: Need to take an unexpected break from blogging coz of work... Will be back soon, hopefully. Keep the comments rolling in, will reply to all of them soon.

Cheers! and good day to all,
Icy

W.E.L.C.O.M.E.

2006-02-12T00:40:00.000-06:00

The new member of my family. Yep, my family has one more additional member. No, No, I'm not married yet, so no kids in the picture (yeah yeah! I'm a good girl and I'm waiting for the right moment ;) )

Yesterday was a big day for us at home, contrary to the week before that passed with shock.

Dad and me brought home our new "kid" of the house. He is getting a lot of attention, lot of care, lot of prayers and a hell lot of love. Yep, it is a "he".

............
............
............

Our new Kinectic Honda arrived yesterday. Grey in color. Slick and brand new! A sheer beauty. Of course we are still disappointed about our loss, but then we have something to celebrate for.

I don't know much about number plates and stuff, not the superstitious kinds. Because before my scooter (LML Trendy) was sold, my number plate was KA 03 X - 7033 - a sum total of 13!!! Many said it was bad, but I had the smoothest journeys with it.

-- My stolen Kine, had a sum total of 11. (KA 03 U - 1622)

-- Ironically my new Kine is a sum total of 11 too! (KA 03 EV – 272)

-- My old number plate had two 2’s (1622) and my new number plate has two 2’s.

-- My new number plate has a 7 in it, which is a sum total of 1+6 from my old number plate.

Does that mean that the new kid on the block is going to get stolen too? Nah! I don't think so and I don't believe so either.

Looking forward to having many good "rides" with my new baby! :) There is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, after all!

Pretty Boy

2006-02-11T11:57:00.000-06:00

Ahhhhh.... I've fallen flat... flat flat flat...

There is this character in Kasuati Zindagi Ki (KZK) and I think he is the cutest Indian alive!

Today I did a google search to find out his real name. He plays the role of Prem a.k.a Yudi. This is the only Hindi serial I watch and the reasons are pretty obvious. Google helped me a lot, gave me an amazing picture of him and his real name - Manoj Bohra.

Till date I always thought that Sonu Nigam was the cutest Indian... but I have to admit that Manoj just rocks! So in my dream list Manoj stands first and Sonu second. Gosh, I sound like a typical teenage girl... hehehe...Let me just continue to drool drool drool on Manoj Bohra while this moment lasts!

Tell me who all are on your dream list? Type on...

2006-02-08T09:52:00.000-06:00

I didn't imagine that today would be my last day.....

The day began like any other day.
My Dad started his Kinetic Honda and I quickly jumped into it to get a lift to my bus stop. Otherwise trust me, it's a long walk!

As any other day, my day began at work.
In between I got a call from my Mom. Her voice was highly panicky and extremely nervous.

Mom: Our scooter got stolen!
Me: What?
Mom: Someone stole our scooter.
Me: How and where?
Mom: Dad parked his scooter right in front of the ATM, turned his back to withdraw cash, and when he turned back, the scooter was gone.
Me: Did he leave the key in the bike?
Mom: No
Me: Then how can they take it?
Mom: Dad said it was some professional thief who knew in and out of scooters. Might have had some key.
Me: Shit!

Stolen by some screwed up asshole. Filling an FIR took 4*2 hours; 2 indicating the number of times Dad had to visit the police station.

That's it. We just have an FIR in hand. The police - screwed up bastards! I'm ashamed to be in this country with such undependable police force by our side! They were least bothered about my Dad woes, and took 8 freaking hours to give us an FIR. By now, I'm sure my scooter would have reached Chennai or even Kerala! Believe me, the police haven't lifted an eye-lid. Least bothered to the core. Is this the police we depend on? Pathetic.

Now as I think back over the events that took place, my family is still without our scooter. It is a materialistic thing, but it is a highly dependable materialistic item which was with us for 10 years and is still in perfect good condition. We have zero hopes of finding it back unless a miracle happens. Probably if this were to happen somewhere outside India, I would have had hope.

For now I just hope my scooter black Kinetic Honda DX - KA 03 U 1622 is still alive somewhere!

Little did I imagine that today was the last day I would sit and get a ride on it!

Captain....this is for you!

2006-02-06T07:35:00.000-06:00

It was the worst weekend ever!
I thought it was all over.
All my hard work,
Just gone down the drain.

Yeah, that's pretty much how my weekend was. There was some problem with my blog. A very weird problem too!

If I typed in a comment, it would disappear after I refreshed the page.
If I republished my blog all new entries vanished.

I felt that there was some kind of hacker code inserted. I checked all my blogger friends sites and all were working fine, except mine.

I realized the importance of my blog this weekend. I realized that my blog is equivalent to being my best friend. It has seen me through my good days, happy days, sad days, disappointed days, all my days, all my moods.

At 1:00 AM Sunday morning I thought of asking Arz000n for help. I left a comment in his blog asking him for any suggestions to my problem. You won't believe it, but in less than 2 minutes I got a mail from him asking me to log on to yahoo. We exchanged yahoo id's and at 1:02 AM two heads tried to figure out what the problem was.

We didn't quite find any solution but he gave me a link http://bloggerforum.com and I checked it out, did a search on "Disappearing comments" and found the thread rather relieving. There were quite a few others who were facing the same problem as me. Made me realize that it was a common problem for just a few and I was one amongst them.

Since this was the first time I encountered a problem with blogspot, I never once thought that it could be a common problem! Phew!

It was just a matter of time for the blogger team to set things right.

Arz000n, the time you spent for me, meant a hell lot to me. And this is my way of saying a huge "Thank you" by dedicating this post to you.

Thanks a million Captain!

I will always remember that night when you were there for me.

Test

2006-02-05T22:22:00.000-06:00

Test post!

Food for thought

2006-02-02T09:48:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my colleague and I took half day from work, as we had some work in college. We hadn't received our MCA Degree certificate even though we passed out from college in 2004. Applause to the Bangalore University!

Our visa stamping day is fast approaching, and hence we require this document as proof, or else, we can kiss our US trip goodbye.

We approached the office and they informed us that they had no idea when the certificates would come from the University and advised us to write a letter.

No worries we thought!

Write a letter? Two software professionals who depend ONLY on Notepad and Microsoft Word. We didn't even have an A4 sheet to write the letter in.

I approached a group of guys whiling away their time in the college campus.

Me: Excuse Me, but would you happen to have an A4 size sheet of paper.
One of the guys: Yes (and he opens his bag, takes out a file, searches for a clean sheet)

One of the other guys not missing his opportunity, strikes up a conversation with me.

Other guy: (Smiles at me)
Me : (Smiles back)
Other guy: Which combination are you in?
Me : (Wonder in silence. I passed out 2 years back!) I've already passed out of college.
Other guy: (red with embarrasment) Ok

The first guy managed to find a sheet and hands it over to me. I thanked him and just smiled at the other guy who was red in the face.

After I left the group, he was ragged the living hell by the remaining guys. Felt good to be back in college and missed the fun we used to have.

Ultimately my colleague and me struggled with words and managed to get the letter complete after a mere just 2 hours. We are so used to the Backspace Key and Delete key on the keyboard to help us when we make mistakes. It felt weird to hold a pen! Each alphabet was craved out with it's own shape and size.

We made many mistakes in writing the "official" letter!! And we didn't have to worry about A4 sheets! Yeah, there were plenty of guys ready to lend us a hand ;)

I'm a lil tied up with work...ok, not just lil...really tied up! Will check all ur blogs out during the weekend. Cheers! Icy

Who?

2006-01-30T18:13:00.000-06:00

Crap! He was pissed.
I had seen him pissed before, but this was probably the extreme of what I had seen.
More than he being angry, he was hurt.

Very hurt.

Who is to be blamed?

On one side, there is my Dad. And on the other there is my 13-year-old brother. My brother pushed my Dad to his limits.

This is what had happened. My brother had some skit practise after school. And my Dad being the protective and caring person that he is, takes the responsibility of picking and dropping my siblings to school.

My playful brother asked my Dad to pick him up at 5:45 PM. Fair enough. Since the practise was not held in school and was in one of my brother's classmates house, my Mom asked my Dad to leave a little earlier, just in case, my brother doesn't have to wait alone if it got over soon. Their pick-up point was the school, since my Dad had no idea where his friend's house was.

So my Dad reached at around 5:00 PM and waited for his beloved son.

Waited,
Waited...
Waited.....

Finally he saw this group of children walking arram se without any worries. They were laughing and giggling.

Time: 6:45 PM

My Dad waited for this boy for almost 2 hours, and this boy didn't have the nerve to understand. If a time was fixed, my Dad blamed my brother that he should have told his friends that he had to leave. To top things, he wasn't in the least bothered.

.........
.........

At home, my brother got a solid dose from my Dad.

I wonder is it a 13 year-old boy's fault, whose life revolves in his own world or is my Dad to be blamed for shouting at my brother?

Yesterday and Today

2006-01-29T00:30:00.000-06:00

She didn't know what to do,
She didn't know how to react,
She didn't know what to say,
She is in a state of ??!

Just yesterday he proclaimed his love for her. Her happiness knew no bounds.

Today, he said that too much was going on in his mind. He said that it was too stressful. It was due to pressure from his supreme court.

Confused and surprised, she didn't know how to react. Was it all over? Was her dream going to be shattered? Were the plans they made, all just going to end like that?

The nights seemed longer,
Her days felt weirder,
Still she had this faith in him,
That he would stand up for himself.
At least for their love!

.......
.......
.......

So far, he didn't.
Complete silence from his side.

There's a danger in loving somebody too much!

She had to pay the price.

Strange

2006-01-28T04:24:00.000-06:00

It is weird how things happen,
Just like that!

Unpredictable!

It could be...
Just about anything.

And at the end of the day,
You end up with feelings of mixed emotions.

Strange!
Such is the game life plays with us.

Post a Mug!

2006-01-26T11:43:00.000-06:00

To Ghost Particle who started this:

Here's the image of my favourite mug :)

Feel free to tag yourself :)

Tringggg Tringggg!!

2006-01-23T23:55:00.000-06:00

Tringggg Tringggg!!

Is it 6:00 AM already? Why do I feel so tired and sleepy? Oh No! This is going to be one long and tiring day for me. Yawnnnn!

I get out of bed and head to my table to switch my alarm clock off. Next swtich the light on.

Strange Mom and Dad are still asleep. The house is all dark. Looks like they've slept off and today for a change, I'll be waking them up.

I head to their room and scream "Get up it's already ...." I have a glance at the clock. It's only 4:30 AM. Oops! I'm dead meat.

Mom being a light sleeper wakes up and stares at me. After apologizing, struck two and two together. I smell a 13-year-old boy's hand in this!

My brother, played around with my alarm clock the previous night, and I in my hurry to sleep, just switched the button on, without checking. I do that everyday!

Thinking of plans to kill him, but a better thought struck me. I have another 1.5 hours to sleep. Within less than 30 seconds I was fast asleep. Ofcourse after setting my alarm to the correct time.

........
........

Someone is in deep deep trouble!

Not bad!

2006-01-22T17:31:00.000-06:00

After the test on "how weird are you", I also took up another test.

You're an Passionate Kisser

For you, kissing is about all about following your urges
If someone's hot, you'll go in for the kiss - end of story
You can keep any relationship hot with your steamy kisses
A total spark plug - your kisses are bound to get you in trouble

What Kind of Kisser Are You?

I have no complaints :-)

Tag-gy weekend!

2006-01-22T05:30:00.000-06:00

I got tagged by True Blue Guy a month back. High time for me to do this tag :-)

10 years ago...

I was 14 years old. Wow... I was small then. I was in the 9th standard. Innocent!

My life revolved around sports, sports and sports. I didn't care for studies at all, and had no clue where my life was to go. Thanks to the wonderful guidance of my father which set me straight. I was stopped from going for any sport activities and was forced to concentrate on my studies. I didn't realize it then, but I salute my Dad now, for doing that. He was obviously wiser than a 14-year-old girl, and knew that a career in sports is tough, and he taught it to me the hard way.

But I am extremely proud of myself that I excelled in sports when I was in school and my Dad gave me the chance. And today as I look back, I couldn't have imagined my life to be as perfect as the way it is now.

5 years ago...

The toughest period in my life.
The biggest test of my life.

I just finished my B.Sc and wanted to pursue my MCA. And there were very few seats in my college. My college is one of the best in Bangalore. I didn't get through the MCA entrance test, and was devastated. Ouch, that was a tough period. I felt like a complete looser in life. But by the grace of God, it was just a matter of time, and I managed to get a seat in my dream college. All that ends well!

Last year...

Completed a year of work life. My first job, first company, first battles of life, first experiences of how things work outside! The good side and bad side of the corporate world! Still with my first company, though I have tried to switch. But looks like very soon my patience is going to reward me. Fingers crossed!

Yesterday...

Yesterday being a Saturday, I was at work attending a training on Cross Cultural Sensitivity. It was a major timepass. The training was for those employees who were travelling to US this year. Well, at least it wasn't boring. Made new friends, heard their experiences of life outside India; it was interesting. And I'm very excited for my first trip. Hope all goes well.

5 Yummy things...

(1) Chocolates with nuts
(2) Mom's biryani (no one cooks it as she does!)
(3) Mom's rice and dal (yeah, I'm a fan of my Mom's cooking)
(4) Pasta
(5) Chocolate cream cakes

5 Things I Know By Heart...

(1) The day I received my Gold Medal for MCA from the Governor of Bangalore :) (my proudest moment till date)
(2) The day I got my first job
(3) My scooty's number (which is now sold and is somewhere in Andra Pradesh. I miss my dear scooty so much *sob*)
(4) My email account passwords
(5) Birthdays of my family and close friends

5 Things I'd Do If I Had Lots Of Money...

(1) Buy a house near a beach
(2) Buy a Honda CRV - Black in color
(3) Travel to different countries
(4) Donate to church
(5) Buy clothes :D

5 Places I Escape To...

(1) My bed and my head under the blanket
(2) My computer
(3) My room
(4) Church when there is no service going on
(5) My loo (used in case of terrible situations!)

5 Things I'd Never Wear...

(1) Short shirts
(2) Tight tops
(3) Bright and loud colors
Three fits me fine!

5 Fav TV Shows...

(1) Scrubs
(2) F.R.I.E.N.D.S
(3) Johnny Bravo
(4) Fear Factor
(5) Any dance programmes with good dancers and good music

5 Things I Enjoy Doing...

(1) Sleeping
(2) Being in a interesting conversation
(3) Watching comedies and anything funny
(4) Laughing my guts out!
(5) Blogging

I have to tag 5 people now ... Take your time, but it is fun, trust me :)

No.1 - Amy
No.2 - Vishnu
No.3 - Keshi
No.4 - Rebel on loose
No.5 - Doll

(PS - Varkey u were on my hit list No.1, but since u begged me not to include ur name, have taken some sympathy on you. I'm fair! But others who do know Varkey, tag him tag him.... ! :D)

The 8 Things Tag

2006-01-22T05:18:00.000-06:00

Miss Amy has tagged me and gotten me into a dreamy mood now :D

***The 8 Things Tag***

The rules of the game are:

1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the target.
3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.

Sex Target : The one and only rare species: Male!!!

I look at my Mr.Icy Blue to be:

(1) Romantic
(2) Supportive
(3) Naughty
(4) Tall with a good body
(5) Honest and loyal
(6) Accept me as I am coz I ain’t perfect
(7) Ambitious
(8) Clean shaven!

Yep, that’s how I see my “him” to be.

And the next 8 people are:

(1) True blue guy
(2) Nayan
(3) Scribblez to Wakeup
(4) Doll
(5) Dinesh
(6) Cool chap
(7) Still figuring out
(8) Fauzan

Icy and Weird?

2006-01-22T04:30:00.000-06:00

Amy wanted to see the weirder side of Icy :-) Amy dear, this is dedicated to you :-)

The Six Weird things:

(1) If something/someone amuses me, I would just laugh to myself while seated in a group, and everyone else would consider me as a gone-case.

(2) Mosquitoes: The weirdest thing about me is that wherever I am, mosquitoes just get attracted to me, and have a feast at my expense. They don’t pick on anyone else but me.

(3) I love to drive on long roads with no traffic. My mind just free, thoughts just flying around, good weather with a few drops of rain, I just love it.

(4) When I’m really down I cry more when I see myself crying in the mirror. I can’t see myself cry! (Amy you and I are pretty much alike here)

(5) I got myself a nick as a “sloth” by a good friend of mine, because of the fact that I can sleep anytime, anywhere, any place without any trouble. (It’s God gifted I tell you!)

(6) Last but not the least, I seem to get attached to people sooner than I should. Weird! when I should be cautious and sometimes end up getting hurt with no one to blame but myself.

This was fun Amy, got all my rusted brain cells thinking, lol.

Oh yes, I took up the test too. I was just 30% weird, though I feel I should be 100% weird! Let me take it up once again, and see if anything changes.

You Are 40% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird...
But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

Aha another 10% increase.... so I just need to take it up another 6 more times, to reach 100% ;-)

So the two next lucky chosen ones are: Varkey (muhahaha) and True Blue Guy :-)
(Take your time pals, but make it fast ;-) )

Ponder

2006-01-16T19:43:00.000-06:00

It was disastrous,
It told me that my plans were going down the drain,
It showed me that I am to fail,
It made me realize that somewhere ahead, I am going to fall.

Only time would tell!
Dreams!

I strongly believe that dreams predict something in the future. It might not be the exact scenario but definitely 80% of it does come true. At least for me it does.

I speak from experience.

Today when I woke up,
I had a series of dreams,
And in all those dreams,
I was trying my best,
Alas! I wasn’t successful in any.

The situations in my dreams wouldn’t come true,
But I deeply believe that there is a hidden message lying somewhere.
I ponder.

Only time would tell!

I did it!

2006-01-12T09:54:00.000-06:00

He is caring,
He is loving,
He is considerate,
He is softhearted,
He is funny,
He is naughty,
He is the sweetest person I know.

And yet, I took him for granted. For the sweet person that he has been to me, I neglected him.

Why did I do that?

I didn't mean too. I always felt that he would hang around, and he wouldn't mind. I always felt that he would understand. Rather I took it for granted that he would understand me.

I was selfish. He didn't admit it, he denied it, saying that it was alright.
His voice reflected the pain. Yet, he denied it.

I feel so bad inside. I feel hurt to have hurt such a special person in my life. He is special in his own way and I don't know how to make it up to him.

Sorry is such a small word. A five-letter word. But it doesn't make up for what I've done. I still feel bad inside even after apologizing.

I feel miserable..

My very own A and B

2006-01-09T19:11:00.000-06:00

A: "It is all your fault"
B: "What do you mean by that? What the hell did I do wrong?"

A: "Now when everything is screwed up, you ask what you did wrong?"
B: "I feel hurt as it is, and I don't need your 'kind' words now"

A: "Ha! Hurt! You should be ashamed of yourself. When I was there controlling the situation, you searched for excuses and I just shouldn't have let you take over. Now I blame myself, to have lost it to you"
B: "I did my best to keep it going. I didn't screw up, and wanted to prove to you that you are wrong and I was correct. And I succeeded the first day"

A: "You succeeded? You succeeded? You screwed your image, ok? You ignored me completely. Oh ya! You felt on top of the world, didn't you? You made sure that you showed everybody that they were wrong and you were right. You felt proud of yourself"
B: "I was right! I was in no way wrong. And I proved myself and the faith that I had. And yes, I was very happy. Happy with the situation, the circumstances, the victory"

A: "You talk of a victory! You have lost the battle. You never admitted it, and even now you don't want to. But the plain truth is that you have badly lost, and it's time to get up. This is a stone in your path, but get practical."
B: "I was very protective and cautious. Not a minute was I not alert. I knew the threat that lurked around. And in no way was I going to let my battle be lost. And Day 1 went perfectly fine. I just don't understand what went wrong the second day"

A: "You played your cards wrong. You had lost the battle a few months ago, but you were adamant and you never listened. You always lived with a trivial hope. A hope that was already dead. You can blame yourself, you can blame him, blame anyone, but I would always blame you. When something is lost, only then you realize its value?"
B: "It was a 50-50 balance! Day 1 went my way and Day 2 went your way."

A: “And what about Day 3? Day 4? The days to come? You are never going to have the Day 1 you had again. Learn from this and move on. Day 1 was a sheer mistake. A stroke of plain luck. You fell for it, and now face it!
B: "If I didn't fall for it, I would always blame myself for having the opportunity and not taking it. Ignoring a chance. My eyes were open, the opportunity struck me and I took it."

A: "Truly deep inside are you feeling happy today?"
B: "No, I don't. I feel so much of pain. I have questions, for which there is no one to answer. I feel so lonely and empty inside. The pain pierces me."

A: "Then give me the control. You are way too weak to handle this and we both have to work together to get out of this. Not as a loser, but as a stronger person. "
B: "I know I've tried my level best and now this is my only prayer.
Dear Jesus, teach me to be strong.
Let me not lose heart when things go wrong.
Please make me strong in everything I do;
Never let me part from You."

A huge boulder in my life. The pain of losing a good friend. Everyone thinks its "love", but both my A and B very well know it is not. It is every attempt made from my side to keep a good friendship going. The friendship is over. Neither my A nor B can answer why. My A and B, you are my everything. You make me! Being adamant will not help in this situation. Please stop battling it out with each other and work together. A would win at times and at times B, but the bottom line is your objective is common.

My mind and heart!

Lamb v/s Sheep

2006-01-09T04:05:00.000-06:00

An advice I don't think I can forget!

"A lamb is vulnerable,
Grow up into a sheep!"

Do you feel you are strong enough to be called a sheep?
A sheep who has had experiences and have learnt from them?
Or are you vulnerable?

Yawnnn!

2006-01-08T21:45:00.000-06:00

yawnnn...
I just got back from a 2 day trip.
Was extremely fun, but I am dead tired.
My eyes refuse to do any work today.
Every inch of my body is aching!
Now I'm cribbing too much.
Need some time to recharge myself :D
yawwwwn...

Is it?

2006-01-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

Over an interesting discussion during work -

Scenario 1:
Love Marriage - Definitely the first night is going to be their first night. High chances are there that they already did "it" before marriage, nevertheless.

Scenario 2:
Arranged Marriage - Here goes the conversation between J and me.

Me: Definitely I wouldn't sleep with a man whom I've seen a couple of times, and known for just a short period of time. I require some time to get to know him, because "it" is not a mere satisfaction of lust, but has an equal amount of feelings involved too.

J: Come out of your old mindset and come into reality.

Me: What do you mean?

J: "It" is a sheer entertainment for guys. A guy is taking the biggest risk of his life by marrying a girl, so it is a fair deal. If the girl is ready and seeing most girls of today, "it" happens very much on the first night of marriage. Girls are more interested in "it" than guys are!

Me: So you are telling me, that a person who hardly knows his/her partner, would jump into doing "it" on the first night of marriage?

J: Pretty much!

Me: Where is the meaning and emotions that are encapsulated with having "it"? Why is being a virgin so important before marriage?

J: Marriage is for "it" and looks like you seem to differ, although I'm sure you are the only one who would feel that way. Lady, you really need to open your eyes and see what is happening around you!

Me: Out-of-words!

All I can say is that the meaning of a marriage is lost now-a-days and people are all in a hurry to have "it". It's all about "it". They forget about the simple essence of a relationship; understanding the other person, learning to adjust, accommodating one another, live for one another.

Dimensions of a day!

2006-01-03T08:43:00.000-06:00

6:15 PM:
It's time for me to pack up and I head towards my company bus. Almost 80% of the employees use the transport provided by the company. The scene at six o'clock is that of a swarm of bees exiting their hive when shaken.

All the buses are lined up one after the other in a single line, beginning from the exit of the company gate. The sequence begins from 8 and ends up to 30. My bus number is 25. I have a small distance to walk to reach my bus.

Interestingly, I over-hear a few conversations.

(1) Group conversation -
"What the F##K does he think of himself? He hardly knows anything and he tries to show his power! I'm so pissed off with him"

Somebody surely had a bad day at work!

(2) Mobile conversation -
"Buy tomatoes and onions, before you reach home"

She is in a cooking mode worried about what she'll feed her family. Looks like work is pretty much off her mind after she left the office gates.

(3) Mobile conversation -
"Yes dear, I've just left and ********************* "

Ok, I didn't quite get to hear the entire conversation as it was a quiet romantic one. Ah, to be in love and at work.

(4) Group conversation -
"She looked sexy today! Just felt like ......... "

Bachelor guys, waiting for their lucky chance!

(5) Desparate mobile communication -
"Hey, ask the driver to wait, ok? I'm almost near the bus"

A poor employee who most probably got some last minute job and just managed to complete it, before the bus leaves. In her hurry she doesn't realise that there is still a solid 5 minutes left for the bus to depart!

A single day,
Different in it's own way,
Different for each individual,
Dimensions of a day!

Feels good...

2006-01-02T02:27:00.000-06:00

It feels great to be back,
And I for sure missed my blog friends and the blog world.

A New Year,
There are many ways to celebrate this day,
My Dear Blog friends,
How did you spend your New Year?

Call me old-fashioned,
But I spent this day with my family
And watching T.V!
*smiles*

Happy 2006 everyone!

To All of You

2005-12-22T18:57:00.000-06:00

This post is dedicate to all the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. people I've met in blogsphere!

my unveilings: Amy dear, the most loving person I've met in this blog world. Keep smiling and have the best Christmas and a fantastic 2006.

keshi: Miss.Warmest personality, I know you'll be on vacation for a week. I pray that you have the best vacation. Merrrrrry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

true blue guy: Mr.Cool Attitude, I think it's a little late for me to wish you, since you've already begun your 2 week vacation. Happy Birthday (advance wishes) and wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.

still_figuring_out: Miss.In-Love, Hope you have a special Christmas and a New Year with your sweetie.

Vishnu: Icy2Vis: Buddy, looks like you are drowned in work, haven't seen you around. Have a great Christmas and a Happy 2006.

Varkey: My hot water dost, I'll see you next week :)

Nayan: Mr.Awesome writer, Glad to have met you, and absolutely enjoy reading your posts. Have the best Christmas in Cyprus, ahhh... Happy house hunting too, and have the best Happy New Year :)

rijuwebs: Guessing you'll be in Bangalore and pray and wish you the best Christmas for you and your family. Happy 2006.

coolchap: Mr.Coolchap, hope you have a good time at home, and get to watch all ur T.V. programmes :) Happy New Year.

Dinesh: MR.UK... enjoy your first Christmas in UK.. Happppy New Year!

arz000n: Taken volutanary retirement from blogsphere coz of work pressures. Don't think u'll read this, but in case u do, Merry Christmas and a Happy 2006.

To all my new friends, I've met and haven't gotten a chance to know you better, but hope to in the next year:

Rebel_On_Loose, Ash : Merrrrrry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May all your dreams for the next year come true. Looking forward to get to know you better in the next year :)

Gals and Guys, I'll be on a voluntary retirement for the next week, as I'm going on vacation. A break from work (phew!) and I'll miss all of you, reading your posts, your support and your lovely comments.

Once again Season greetings :)

Lotsa luv,
IcyBlue :)

Lotsa Luv

2005-12-21T18:41:00.000-06:00

He was never close to me.
He never felt comfortable with me.
He felt that I wasn't worthy enough to be shared secrets with.

It hurt. Especially when you know a person for more than 13 years. A person who has seen you grow-up and you seen him. Times when he fell, I was there by his side, to take care of him, love him, kiss him. Times when he was happy, I was always there by his side, to share that with him. Times when he needed support, never was I never there to stand by him, to encourage him. But now suddenly times have just changed like that. There is no pain that pricks so badly.

I composed myself.
After all it was wrong of me,
To expect something from him.
Cut-dry on my face he spit 'I don't feel comfortable with you'
Even tears weren't enough to release the pain inside.

........
........
........

Yesterday before I went to bed, he whispered into my ears. "I've got something to tell you." It was a routine for me to beg him, until he tells me something, but I'm a curious person, so I didn't mind. After sometime of begging, he told me. It was about a girl.

I was elated for him.
I teased him,
He blushed.

........
........
........

My 13-year-old brother got his first Christmas card from a girl in his class. It was signed "Lotsa Luv". And he shared this and showed me the card. He felt comfortable to share his secrets with me. Only a few months back, he didn't. He broke my heart that time, when he said that he didn’t feel comfy telling me about his personal stuff.

Guys! Just can't understand them.

But here I am today, the privileged one, and the chosen one, the one whom my brother relies on. I am the happiest person today.

Sometimes!

2005-12-19T09:19:00.000-06:00

I'm not a kid anymore.
I'm a grown up.
I stay with you.
Doesn't mean that I can't make decisions on my own.
This is honestly annoying.

Ever had one of those days, when you want to do something and the supreme court in your house gives you the negative approach.

Just feel like running away,
Staying alone,
Being independent,
Making my own decisions,
Doing my own thing.

........
........

This is just one of my bad days. I sincerely love the members of my supreme court and cannot quite imagine my life without them. They just make my life complete.

Yet this is just one of "those" days when I think otherwise. I'll come around!

Holi-nights!!

2005-12-17T08:30:00.000-06:00

Vacations...
Holidays....

A break from everything. Time just for yourself. Time to enjoy and chill.

I had one particular holiday a few years back.

Source: Bangalore
Destination: Shillong

After 3 years we were going for a vacation. I was 15 that time. Was traveling with my Mom, brother and sister. My brother was just 4 then, and my sister was just a baby, 2 years old.

The journey was a long exhaustive one - 3 days by train. We booked tickets for the AC coach, and waited at the station for the arrival of the train. We weren't boarding from the main station, but one of the stops wherein the train waits for exactly 5 minutes. We have to stand at the exact place where our coach had to stop at, as there was just 5 minutes to board.

When the train arrived we learnt that the AC coach was cancelled due to some technical problems. To replace it, they provided a second-class coach. To top it all, the coach was at the other end. We had to run from one end to the other.

Running alone was no issue. Imagine this, a baby in your arms, a 4-year-old kid clutching on to your fingers, and luggage. I took charge of the latter.

With the help of the TC, I managed to get into the correct coach. I heard the whistle. The train began to move. Suddenly I realized, Mom and gang were missing. I didn't panic as I was under the impression that they would have entered into one of the coaches.

I heard a familiar sound from outside the train. A crying. It was my baby sister. I looked outside and saw them. They hadn't boarded as yet. The train was moving.

.........
.........

Immediately I put my hand outside the window and waved. Followed by a loud scream "Mom, get into this coach".

Boarding a moving train with 2 kids, now that was an awful sight.

We reached Shillong after 3 days, thankfully all of us together. We learnt one lesson; board a train from the main station. That gives us an ample 45 minutes.

Our holiday was excellent, even though it did start out with a bad note.

Would you have any such incidents, any holiday nightmares (holi-nights as I like to call it), that you would like to share? Go on... start typing.

Two

2005-12-16T11:26:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: Hidden message in the post below.

A new day had dawned.
Two was the name of this day.
Not one but two to be won.

This was no day for a looser,
This was the day for payback.
It was payback time!

Time to prove who she was.
She had taken enough of sh*t
She was alone,
She had no one to support her,
She didn't lose heart.

She set to begin the battle.

The day passed on,
Focused as she was,
Each step ...

The first battle was a piece of cake.
Her target fell like bowling pins,
She had hit right on target.
Perfect mind reading!
Bull's eye!

Her first victory did come with a bitter surprise,
But that was all right.
She had the satisfaction that she did well,
She made herself proud,
And proved herself to the "others"
She was no looser,
It was the faith that helped her.

Her second battle was a mere disaster.
It was all going wrong.
She tried extra hard,
Alas in vain!

As she sat on her chair at work,
She re-collected the events of the day.
The day was done for,
And it was time to leave.

On her way out,
Out of the unexpected,
She banged on target.
Rainbow indeed.

The day was made.
The battles were won.
She was indeed proud of her achievements.
She didn't have to worry about tomorrow.

Her head held high,
Her moments of happiness,
Her beautiful smile.
"This day is done"

Justify or Defeat ?

2005-12-14T10:48:00.000-06:00

I was in a conversation a few days back with a friend of mine.
He complained that I didn't know him well, like the way he knew me. To prove his point, he challenged me to a game of 5 questions. He asked the questions, and both of us had to answer each other's answer. And there was negative marking of -1 for every wrong answer.

For example: Favourite color - I had to answer his fav color, while he answered mine.

The questions were fairly simple - birthday, fav color, fav country, fav music and number of crushes/bf/gf's.

The scores: 3 to 1. He proved his point. I accepted defeat, as I really couldn't justify myself.

I just wondered, was this just enough for a relationship to build up, in any category (best friends, friends, lovers, partners, etc.)

If you ask me my Mom's fav color, I would put my head down in shame coz the honest truth is that I really don't know. But we have such a special and unique bond.

It's how I gel and blend with a person that matters to me, more than knowing answers to particular questions. Don't get me wrong here, I ain't defensive! It's about the comfort level that I share with a person. We might talk about nothing at all, yet I would feel very secure and comfy *smiles*

...........
...........

Do you feel I should have accepted defeat or should I have justified myself?

My first ****

2005-12-09T11:31:00.000-06:00

It was my first time.
It was my first date.

I ain't old fashioned but never did I go out on a date at night with any guy.

The venue was a theatre. Not just the ordinary expensive one, but a theatre with a difference.

It was an open theatre and I was going for the first time to this place.

Was I excited? Yea, I was. I eagerly waited for the day to turn to evening. I reached home after work, changed into some comfortable clothing, and my date drove me to the venue.

The night was extremely chilly. ~~(Bangalore sure is chilled at nights.)~~

The movie was a total comedy.
I laughed my guts out and so did my date.

In between the power went off. "Drat! Of all the days!" I told myself. My date was not the patient kinds. He was restless. I insisted we waited. (Yea, no generator system)

After 30 minutes of sitting and talking in the cold, it finally came. The show started and within 2 minutes Poof! it went off again. My date was really impatient this time. "Chuck the movie! Let's go", he told me. I'm born stubborn, I didn't budge. After all what's the fun of watching a movie half way through. My stubbornness won! *smiles*

It didn't take long for the power to come back and 5-6 minutes later the show continued.

By 11:00 the movie got over. And I was literally an ice cube by then. But I didn't complain.

It was after all my first time.
Just the two of us,
In the cold,
Laughing our guts out.

..................
..................

Though I'm always busy or my date is busy,
We never really get time to spend with each other - alone.
Today was different. Not only did we watch a movie together, but we also sat and talked in the shivering cold night.

..................
..................

It was my first time.
It was my first date.
My first date with my Dad.
I'll always cherish this day.

Morning Mishap

2005-12-07T03:09:00.000-06:00

6:45 AM:
I'm off to take a shower

7:05 AM:
(ya-ya.. I need 20 minutes)
Wrap myself in my towel and head to my room to get dressed.

7:06 AM:
I feel a trickling sensation on my back.
"Must be drops of water" I told myself.
Head to my room and lock the door.

"Ouuuuuuuuchhh", I yelped.
Something isn't right. Since when does water droplets sting ?

Immediately got the towel off me, and looked at my back in the mirror.
It didn't look like drops of water.... It was *GULP* an insect. An ugly one.

In biting pain ~~(and naked)~~, managed to find a long scale and get it off me.

Recap of events that took place before I entered the bathroom.

(1) Opened my balcony to get my towel.
(2) I had forgotten to pin it up to the clothes line yesterday.
(3) Thanks to the natural forces, it was lying on the floor.
(4) I picked it up.

...............
...............
...............

Owwww.... It hurts behind.

Other side of the coin

2005-12-05T08:51:00.000-06:00

So our part is out in the open.
We've all decided that keeping the past, ain't that a good idea.
It is all about the right timing.

When your conscience gives you the GREEN signal,
You take your giant leap.
You spill the beans.

You've never felt on top of the world.
Your heart is light,
Your mind is relieved,
Your soul is in peace.

Your better half has accepted you the way you are.
You're in ninth heaven.

Now, what if your better half, doesn't think like you do.
Your better half hasn't been honest with you.

Months/Years have passed by,
And one fine day,
Fortunately or unfortunately
Your better half's "bitter" truth is revealed to you.
His past stands in front of your eyes.

When you could be open about your past,
Why couldn't your better half?

Would you still stick around in such a relationship?
Would you feel betrayed?
Would you lose trust in your better half?

What would you do ? Remember this is one very important person in your life.

My opinion:

I would close my eyes,
And let the past be the past,
I would not let some past,
Ruin my fantastic present and future.

A blessing!

2005-12-04T09:50:00.000-06:00

Years have passed,
Many people I have met,
People who have come in,
And people who have gone out.

Some brought me happiness,
Some brought me intense pain,
Some brought me unexpected surprises,
Some left me wondering!

Some have left their footprints,
Some I care nothing for!

Some have made a difference,
With their kindness and true words!
A real true friend!

A friend who just needs to look into my eyes,
And can read my heart inside out,
And know my exact state of mind.

A friend who cares truly for my happiness,
A friend who is worried when there is sadness in my eyes,
A friend who is always there!

Truly I am blessed to have such a true friend!

Fear

2005-12-01T17:34:00.000-06:00

You've met this new person.
This person appears to be just perfect for you.
You have a lot in common.
You understand this person well, and so does this person.
It's been going great so far.

You have a past.
You believe in trust.
You believe in honesty.
You don't believe in hiding and forming a fake relationship.

You want to tell this person everything.
But something stops you,
Fear.
Fear of rejection.

Had it been a close friend it was easy.
You can spill the beans out immediately.
You don't fear, because your friend wouldn't reject you.
Coz friends are special,
Who accept you as you are,
For who you are.

What would you do in a situation like this ?

Hide the past from the new person ?
Does this mean that you can marry only your close friend ?
Does this mean that you have to fear knowing someone new ?
How would you know if the person would accept your past ?
If this person doesn't, are you going to go through the rejection in pain and sorrow ?

Fear,
Fear of rejection,
Life is scary with this fear.

Seeing is believing

2005-11-30T07:45:00.000-06:00

It's easy isn't it?
Damn easy, I bet!

Take this incident -

Something was missing in the house. The first person to blame!
The only outsider in the house. The maid-servant.

She is poor, and earns her living by cleaning houses.
She is weak, and gets bossed over in most of the houses she works in.

But is there anyone, who would stand up for her?

From what I've seen, NO. Anything missing in the house, she is the first and only one to be blamed.

The shameful pity, the missing object comes out of hiding within a few weeks. It was just misplaced from it's original place. And then, a feeling of shame covers us. But do we feel that shame? NO.

She's uneducated,
She poor,
She needs to earn her living,
She knows not of what is right or wrong.

We use her weakness to cover our mistake. We "rich" people feel we are angels don't we?? It's damn easy to accuse a person, irrespective of whether the person is right or wrong.

Is it that she is poor, that she needs to steal?
Is it that only poor people steal?

It's wrong. Unless you see someone committing something wrong, don't accuse. Don't fall prey to rumors that people spread. Seeing is believing! Accusing falsely is a sin.

It's easy isn't it?
It's easy to point fingers at others.
Damn easy, I bet!

Let me know your thoughts on what you would do, if something were missing from your house?

Smile

2005-11-29T02:46:00.000-06:00

Ever had one of those days,
Where you feel free and happy,
Happy not just from the outside,
But from within.

Your soul,
Your mind,
Your heart,
Every vein in you!

You feel on top of the world.

All worries dimmed away,
All tensions faded,
All problems - just disappeared.

A smile from deep inside,
Not fake, just to show the world,
But a smile, which makes others wonder,
"There's something different about this person today"

A happy soul.

I'm having one of those days. *smiles*

I wanna sleep

2005-11-28T07:54:00.000-06:00

Saturday: It's around 12:00 AM or 1:00 AM, I can't really tell. I'm tucked in fast asleep (early bird - like to sleep early and get up early) Feel lazy to get out of bed and check what time it is.

I hear a loud thumping

I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem
I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone

A very familiar sound, I hum along in my sleep. After it's over, my sub-conscious, instructs me to sleep.

I cover myself with my blanket, all set to once-again re-visit dreamland.

...................
...................

And once again the thumping starts. The same song, in hell-loud volume.

I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem
I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone

Now I'm awake, wide awake. What the hell! It's definetely late at night, coz I don't hear any vehicles, or honks.

So he or she is through with Savage Garden. Next it's Celine Dion "That's the way it is" ... Again in a loop twice.

I wondered, will I get any sleep today!!!

5:45 AM: I'm awake and wonder if I was just dreaming all that loud music.

Sunday night:

Once again, Savage Garden, TWICE, followed by Celine Dion, again TWICE, followed by... I covered my head under my pillow and somehow forced myself to sleep.

Monday night:

Hell I hope I get some sound sleep!

Ahhhh... the disadvantages of staying in an apartment. Guys and gals cmon, listen to music, but don't disturb others.

PLEASE, I WANNA SLEEP!

I'm thinking too much

2005-11-27T00:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we spoke.
I spoke my heart out to you.
Told you that our friendship was disturbed,
We weren't close as we were before.

You had changed,
You wouldn't admit it,
You know very well that you have changed,
You smiled,
Said "I was thinking too much"

I felt so relieved inside,
Blamed myself that it was all my fault,
Just a big misunderstanding from my end,
I misunderstood you, so you say.

I blamed myself,
Decided to end all negative thoughts,
And start afresh.

Yesterday as we parted,
I parted with the hope of starting all over again.

You smiled,
Said "I was thinking too much"
I believed you.
Yesterday everything seemed fine!

Today I looked at you,
In the same way I looked at you when we were close,
I walked up to you,
We spoke.

But you were different,
Less than 24 hours,
You changed,
Same as before,
Talking to you was in vain.

Am I thinking too much?
I don't think so.

It's time for me to stop wasting my time,
Thinking of you,
Worrying about you,
Caring for you,
Protecting our friendship,
Everything!

I've tried.
Now you've lost me,
And I've lost you.

I'm moving on.

Stumped

2005-11-25T23:50:00.000-06:00

She: I really don't understand.
How can you watch a re-run of a match that happened 5 years back again, with so much of enthusiasm?
You know who won.
You know who scored each goal.
And you also know the exact time when the goal was scored.

He: How can you watch a serial whose plot was the same 5 years back?
5 years back she was crying.
Watch today, she is still crying!
In one episode she's crying on the left side, next one she's on the right.
You watch 5 such serials everyday and the plot is all the same.
If there is a re-run you'll watch it again as though you were watching it the first time.

.............
.............
.............

Case dismissed.

Spare me

2005-11-25T02:22:00.000-06:00

This ain't some hire shop.
Arrrggg, I don't wanna.
Can't you get your own, instead of asking me for it.
I don't ask you for yours, why can't you too not ask me for mine.
Yes, you and I are different.
What a pity!

I just don't like it. I don't like the idea of sharing it either, with ANYONE. It's mine and mine alone. So stop asking me for it, as though I was a running a rental shop. And for Pete's sake, get your own one.

Issue : Headphones

Problem : Sharing of MY headphones or earphones.

We're privileged at office to listen to music. What's more, we each have a set of headphones sponsored by our company. (Lucky us indeed!)

When you have one, and come up to me and ask me "I've forgotten mine, could I please borrow yours?"

This question pisses me off. I can't possibly say "No" and I'm forced to give it to you. If you've forgotten yours, forget listening to music for a day!

Your hair is oily,
Your ears are filled with wax,
I can see white dots on your head from here,
And you want me to lend you mine.

Arrrrggggg.... Anything but not my headphones, please!

Beauty of life

2005-11-23T08:20:00.000-06:00

I made her cry,
The most precious person in my life!
I made her cry.

It was her birthday,
And this year I wanted to do something different,
Not just the usual card and a small gift to follow.
She badly wanted something.
But it was way out of our reach to buy it.

I gifted her with a cheque that cost me two months of my salary.

She didn't take it when I handed it over.
After a little forcing, she eventually took it.

............
............

Tears rolled down her eyes and my heart cried in pain.

Tears of joy,
Tears of happiness,
Tears of appreciation,
Tears of un-expectation.

Mom, Happy Birthday.

Today I learnt something. We work day in and day out, save up a balance and watch eagerly as the digits increase from 4 to 5 to 6 and more.

Money v/s Life. One life.

Is money worth just saving up and having a huge balance, or having a life with it? Rarely we realize that life has a lot to show us, but we are ignorant fools. Including me, the biggest fool of the lot.

I saw true happiness today.
True joy, in my Mom's eyes.
I can never forget those tears.

The look

2005-11-22T10:09:00.000-06:00

He had the look. The look that made her tingle. Over lunch he always caught her attention whenever he was around the cafeteria.

She's seen the rainbow.

He was good-looking. He very well knew that. Girls flock him for quite obvious reasons. He was way too busy with them to even notice her.

...................
...................

"The lift!! Hold it!” , she managed to squeeze in without the "Overloaded" sign flash by.

From the 6th floor it moved downwards floor by floor. She saw a familiar figure that made her heart skip small beats of joy.

"He wouldn't even give me a look", she thought to herself.

It halted at the 2nd floor. She followed his eyes as he moved out.

Before leaving he gave her a special glance.

"Was that a wink??" , she questioned herself.

"Wishful thinking!!", she teased herself.

Is this a new ray of hope? Or is it too soon?

Determined, she set out in search of her pot of gold.

So you think your great?

2005-11-21T08:21:00.000-06:00

Mr.TL working in company X visits after a long time. Me working in company Y greeted him.

(Not boasting, but my company is 100 times bigger than his. Check the conversation out)

WHILE (Me != 'Bye, gotta go')
LOOP

Mr.TL : My company X was just rated No.10 ~~(or 5 or whatever)~~ in the best companies in India.

Me : Good!
Inside : Big deal, my company features in the best companies in the world!

Mr.TL : My company X gave all the employees "Titan" watches.

Me : Great! How fortunate!
Inside : Check my room out and see the souvenirs I have. To hell with your “Titan” watch.

Mr.TL : I got the best employee of the quarter award.

Me : That's cool. Congrats!
Inside : What's so great in that, I've got even better awards!

END LOOP;

And it went on and on.

Made me realize, do individuals boast as an outcome of their insecurities? Do they feel inferior? I didn’t have to portray that I was in a greater position or in a bigger company. The meaning of a conversation is not to put others down and yourself up, but to accommodate one another and put the other person at ease.

All I know was I wanted to run from there because I had other stuff to do that listen to an insecure person blabber.

Beats me!

So near, yet so far

2005-11-19T09:02:00.000-06:00

He was close to her and he cared for her.

At least that is what she believed!

They were colleagues at work. She didn't exactly know how to term her relationship with him. They weren't just good friends but they were intimately involved with one another. So near!

Yet he never suggested that they go steady.

She liked him more than a friend. She knew that deep inside. Though she never showed any signs to him for the fear of rejection. Deep down, she also knew that their intimacy meant a mere physical satisfaction for him. Yet, she treasured those moments when she was with him. She felt weak whenever he was around her.

He was behaving strangely lately. His attention seemed to be elsewhere. He wasn't the same with her. A distance was being formed.

It never bothered her. She was in a way glad that this would help her get out of the situation she was in. On the other hand, she felt hurt.

His association seemed to be closer with a new member who joined the team. He preferred spending his free time with the new her.

She didn't react. She patiently watched.

He spent lesser and lesser time with her. The distance widened.

As the days rolled by, she realized, that she was needed no more.

Jealous she went. Green! Her conscious now proved that he was just using her. She was just a weak hearted person used like a doormat and thrown away. Yet so far!

She closed her eyes in disappointment, and the tears rolled on.

Juicy news

2005-11-17T21:13:00.000-06:00

"Hot news! Hot news! Hear all about it"

What !! Really!! Don't tell me !

So your the chosen one. Juicy news has just been bestowed on you. Let me add "confidential juicy news"

Category 1: Trust-worthy
The word "trust" holds high importance to you. You won't blur out a single word.

Category 2: BBC
Feels great to know this.
Eyes itch to find your next chosen one
"Hey wait up, you won't believe this"
And the news is out.

Category 3: IF
"I'll tell you this IF you promise me that you won't tell anyone"

Category 4: Slip of tongue
"Oops I wasn't meant to tell this to anyone, but it kinda slipped out.. "

Updated New Category (dedicated to varkey)
Category 5: 50-50
"There is this news... "
Ears all ready to hear the news!
He tells you part of it, and leaves you guessing the remaining.
The most annoying of all the categories.

So which category would you fall under?

Fox and grapes!!

2005-11-17T11:39:00.000-06:00

Sometimes when you least expect you get to hear of nice surprises. Unexpected surprises! Surprises that give you a pleasant hope.

I didn't ask for it, but I don't deny that I didn't want it either. But was graciously waiting for the opportunity to be bestowed on me.

And sooner than I expected, I was given that opportunity with an IF condition. The way things were going, I was sure that the IF condition was merely trivial.

Everyday my heart bounced with the expectation that sooner the IF condition would go and I would be able to live and enjoy that opportunity.

However, life - a sea, with its calm waters and turbulent waves, didn't quite go my way.

The Opportunity - A chance, rather my first onshore project.
IF condition - Resource had to be free and available from the current project.

Yes, everyone waits for that first chance to travel abroad courtesy your company. It shows that you have proved yourself and your supervisors have the faith and confidence in you, that you will do a great job ahead. And I was so close to getting it.

The mere trival IF condition turned out to be a big hurdle, so huge, that the chance I would have got, was given to another member of my team. Today I got to know that I was extended for another 2 months in my current project. The onshore requirement was immediate.

I'm not sad,
I don't want to be disappointed,
But as I close my eyes today,
I want to do it,
Not unhappily,
But with a new hope,
That another even better opportunity will come my way,
And whatever happened today, happened for the best.

I sound like the fox with the sour grapes! Today it just suits me fine.

Live and let live

2005-11-16T05:25:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: I'm not here to offend anyone, but here to post my views. Sensitive topic. Read at your own risk!

"Dinner at Windsor Manor!! Your kidding!"

Wow! Royal treatment. I'm game for it.

A client visit and we get to visit an expensive hotel in Bangalore. Boring presentations that go on endlessly but after that, it's royal treat for the tummy. No complaints

Indian count - 100.
American count - 1.

Fast forwarding to the main agenda. Dinner time.

Menu - Veg and Non-veg

Scene: Couple of us seated around a table which accomodates 8 people. Food is served. Self-service. We head towards the buffer counter and get our plates back to our table.

Out of 8 -
6 : pure Non-veg
2 : pure veg.

Here's the situation. All of us seated at our tables, ready to dig into yummy chicken curry with Romali roti, followed by delicious Mutton biryani... When the 2 odd ones: look at us, look at our plates, look at us again with DISGUST, pick up their plates and move to another table.

Point 1: We are grown ups, not kids in school/college, to behave like that.
Point 2: We work in an IT environment where these sensitive issues are cared a hang for!
Point 3: We aren't asking/forcing them to have non-veg.
Point 4: We mind our own business and expect them to mind theirs.
Point 5: Thinking from their perspective, they have been brought up in a conservative manner where having non-veg is a SIN! Your view respected
Point 6: There are others who feel killing animals is bad. Your view respected

The fusspots were ladies, but I wouldn't agree that guys have a broader sense of view. I have colleagues (males) who look down at you, just because you have non-veg and they don't! Ridiculous and absurd!!

My point here is that in this world, you cannot expect others to follow your principles and belief. We all have different belief's, cultures, traditions. After all no one is born alike! It doesn't mean that you have the right or authority to disregard someone elses life. I wouldn't redicule your culture or tradition or belief! Can't you too not do that??

Repect one another instead of criticizing them.

Live and let live for God's sake!!!

Drops of Rain

2005-11-15T11:59:00.000-06:00

They walked towards his car. It was a dark and late night. The car windows had droplets of rain which poured in the early part of the night.

He pushed her against his car. She leaned against the door.

Before she knew it, his lips were touching hers. A soft and gentle kiss. Her eyes closed and every vein in her shivered.

The softest kiss ever. One of its best!

She quickly slammed the car brakes. A loud jerk was heard. Transported from her day dream relieved to the narrow escape she almost had.

The moment was lost. Sheepishly she drove on in the pouring rains.

Win some, loose some

2005-11-14T03:30:00.000-06:00

Sunday 13th Nov '05

Time: 2:00 PM
All assembled after lunch for the post-session of the training (mind you: technical training )

Time 2:30 PM
*THUD* A sound was heard
Rolls of laughter followed.

The instructor got the picture. All that she was teaching was in vain. The clever lady that she is, she quickly got each individual seated in the training room's attention.

.......

Time 5:30 PM
Rolls of laughter and zero signs of sleep. She was truly a magician. Her trick, read on!

.........
.........
.........

Psychology! Diversion from Oracle to Psychology!! (can't complain that it wasn't interesting!)

Who wouldn't want to know about oneself (~~that too free of cost ;)~~ )

I learnt a few stuff related to "psychology." How far it is true, can't say, but at the end of the day, she said some nice stuff about each one of us, and that kinda made our day!

We all went home with a hidden smile, but there was this other side where we were disappointed coz we didnt gain anything technically.

Oh well... You win some, you loose some!

No!

2005-11-12T21:20:00.000-06:00

Me: "No...."
Me: "No.... I don't wanna...."
Me: "C'mon ... let go for just once"

Voice: "Hey, relax... "
Voice: "It'll be worth the experience! ~~*No signs of it going down*~~ "

Me: "Take a hike! Not today... some other day"

Voice: "Don't play a spoil sport! "

Me: "No...."

Me: "No.... I don't wanna...."

....................................

Me: "Get Lost! And let me sleep. I don't wanna attend any stupid technical training on a freaking weekend!"

Shame on all the dirty minds who thought otherwise...... :D

PS: Voice: was my inner self pleading with me to get my a$$ out of bed!

PS - CS

2005-11-12T09:42:00.000-06:00

Just got my hands on Photoshop CS (after a series of begging and pleading.... and finally installed it...)

So here's just one of my starting creations :) (more to follow... )

Cubicle stunts

2005-11-08T03:36:00.000-06:00

A normal day at work.
Get a nature's call to attend... and immediately head to business.

My amusing visit to the loo!!

I'm inside one of the cubicles doing my job when suddenly I hear a sound from the cubicle next to mine....

Voice: 'Yeah, maybe... will need to check'
Long pause

Voice: 'hmmmm.... '
~~Unknown source: 'prrr...prrrr......prrrr...prrrrrrrrr..prr...prrr...'~~
Short pause

Voice: *angrily* 'But why??'
Long pause

Voice: 'hmmmm...'

It didnt need Einstein to guess what was happening.

And then I heard the flush running.

Gro-ss!!!! How can you talk with someone on the phone when your peeing or shitting..??? Is detaching from your mobile phone too much to ask for for 2-3 minutes?

Amusing! So darn amusing!

My mom only had one eye

2005-11-06T05:14:00.000-06:00

My mom only had one eye.

I hated her... she was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students & teachers to support the family. There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out.

The next day at school one of my classmates said, "EEEE, your mom only has one eye!" I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. So I confronted her that day and said, " If you're only gonna make me a laughing stock, why don't you just die?!!!"

My mom did not respond...

I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings. I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her.

So I studied real hard, got a chance to go to Singapore to study. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts.

Then one day, my mother came to visit me. She hadn't seen me in years and she didn't even meet her grandchildren. When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited.

I screamed at her, "How dare you come to my house and scare my children!" GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!" And to this, my mother quietly answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared out of sight.

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house in Singapore. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity. My neighbours said that she died.

I did not shed a single tear.

They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.

"My dearest son,

I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that I came to Singapore and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I'm sorry that I was a constant embarrasment to you when you were growing up.

You see......... when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son that was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.

With my love to you,
Your mother. "

This is by-far the most touching stories I've read.

Mom, with all the tiny small faults in you ...you are the most precious person God has created ....
I love you with all my heart and soul, and will always do for the rest of my life.

O-N-I-O-N-S

2005-11-04T12:13:00.000-06:00

Chole served with sliced onions.....
Fish fry served with sliced onions soaked in lemon.....
Onions soaked in vinegar.....

*any mouths watering*

Problem - Bad breath after eating o-n-i-o-n-s!
Bigger problem - Even mouth-fresheners don't do that good-a-job of keeping the stench away !
Solution - Keep a spare toothbrush
Practical solution - Avoid eating o-n-i-o-n-s

Here's the scene -

Mom's prepared a delicious dinner served with "O". I hesitate before taking a bite, coz of the stench. (My biggest turn off - bad breath and sweaty underarms stench..ewwwww)

Inside processing:
(1) At home - CHECK
(2) Late evening - CHECK
(3) No one to actually care whether my mouth is stinking at this moment -
CHECK
(4) 3 CHECK'S - Bon-appetite!

Minutes later - I'm digging into O-N-I-O-N-S and relishing every swallow.

TRRRRRR TRRRRRR goes the door bell. "*crunch, crunch (crispy o-n-i-o-n-s...nothing to beat that)*Who cares, must be the watchman or cable guy *crunch, crunch*"

Dad comes running in from the hall..... "WE HAVE UNEXPECTED VISITORS".

"*crunch* My mouth... Oh no.. I dont have time to brush now... Mom where's the mouth freshener.. Mom, Mom... MOM......"

Mom and Dad busy with the guests, and I can't possibly walk up to her and ask, "Mummy dear, we have a bad stench situation, could you tell me where the mouth freshener is"

So how do I deal with this situation..... Before I could actually ask my inside processor to begin it's work.....I hear a loud call from the hall... "Dear, come on in here"

"Ouch, I've gotta face them with my ... arrrrggggg.... "

Aunty surely did a great job of showing her affection towards me by sitting close to me. Tried to answer her many questions with smiles and less words, but the questions just wouldn't stop!! Wonder what her inside processor would be thinking...

Aunty's inside processor:
"Errgggg... foul smell "
"Gosh, is that from me"
"I knew I should have eaten some mouth-freshener before leaving"
"I'm getting older than I think I am"
"Gosh, what will she think of me"
...............................
...............................
"Wait a minute, it seems to be coming from her......"
"HA HA.... finally someone else has breath problems too.... "
...............................
...............................
"Finally I can sleep in peace! "

After a lot of blah-blah's, they left and I un-willingly decided not to bite into another piece of O-N-I-O-N again.

An onion a day surely, keeps good breath away!!

(PS: Anyone have a solution??? I'm desperate here coz food just doesn't taste the same without it)

*Now where's my toothbrush, I can feel my own stench here... ewwwww......*

Idiot box

2005-11-03T11:39:00.000-06:00

Been a busy day at work (as always... so what's new in that..! ) Come back home for anything minus screaming unhappy cribbing clients and superiors.

Dinner in my plate, place myself on my couch, and I'm all set for flipping channels ... (my programmes of concern are comedies, comedies, comedies and reality dance competitions minus lame comedies )

At home 8:30 - 10:00 is booked by my Mom for (wanna guess) .... yeah... SERIALS.. Star Plus serials..... just 2 months back it was from 8:00 (thankfully that boring serial ended with an obviously stupid ending...!!) So we booked the remote before any dumb new serial could start.

Today's scenario at home in the evening:

Me: So today is Thursday. Okie there is Scrubs (Star World - 8:00 to 8:30)
Mom: No comments (ofcourse her Kasauti starts at 8:30)

8:00-8:30 - I watch in peace.

8:30 - Kasauti Zindigi Ki
(Ever noticed NO ONE ever dies in this serial. They die for a period, and miraculously appear in some cooked up story from somewhere. Just today, Aparna, whose been dead for around 6-7 months, was discovered to be alive.. *surprise, surprise* Feels like they take some long vacation....(yeah ok ok... kya kare ... I'm forced to watch it. Need to finish dinner in front of the idiot box :D )

9:00 - Battle of channels begin (Opponents - Mom and me)
Reason: I wanna watch Nach Baliye (dance prgm) on Star One.
+ Problem: Mom wants to watch what Madam Milee is up to.
= ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Result: I lost ofcourse, but managed to switch channels whenever there were ads on Star Plus, and pretended to forget to switch the channel back to Milee (Star Plus) *wicked, wicked*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
And Mom being the special person that is she, let me watch it without creating too much of noise (NOTE: without TOO much of noise)

I'm sitting here now content that I didn't miss too much of my prgm (NOTE: didn't miss TOO much)

I'm satisfied..... Mom is satisfied.

A little compromise saved the day!

20 minutes!

2005-11-02T11:36:00.000-06:00

Been a good week in Bangalore.

2/5 - Had to work
3/5 - Holidays

The holidays all have blogs posted in, the 2 working days, EMPTY.

How long does it potentially take to write a blog : Min 20 minutes
Max 30 minutes

How many working hours in a day : 8 hours

Do I work continuously for 8 hours : (*Proudly*) Definitely NOT

Is 30 minutes too hard to spend for ur own blog : (*Guiltily*) No

With these thoughts I open my blog create page and let my fingers do the typing (and thinking too)

Time AM 10:45 : Type the first word in
10:46: Pause and think
10:47: Continue typing
10:52: One solid para ready (*proud look*)
10:52:10: Call from my TL (Could you look into this matter...) (*I could kill u: look*)
PM 1:00 : LUNCH
2:00: Ahh... time to continue my blog
2:01: A passing colleague (Hey wassup, blah blah blah...) (* yeah I know.. I
may appear to be not working, but I really am... now get lost*)
2:45: Obviously my get lost didn't work .... I continue (ONCE AGAIN )
3:00: Think, think, think. Scroll up and down, still stuck on the first paragraph
(*post-lunch effect* )
4:00: Daily boring one-hour conference call (*yawn*)
5:00: Office Work (*no wonder the calls are on a daily basis*)
5:45: Ah...so where was I. Re-read the first para (*have i mentioned, it could
be the 15th time*)
5:46: An inquisitive colleague (whose main intention is to kill time until 6:00)
peeps from behind me, and tries to read my "master-piece" in the
making. (*arrrggggg...can't I have some privacy here*)
5:59: Save as Draft, Logout.
6:00: In the bus on my way home.

20 minutes did I say.... ya rite!!!

Faith versus Truth

2005-11-01T04:50:00.000-06:00

Just spent my day reading "The Da Vinci Code" by author Dan Brown. I must say it opened my eyes to a very interesting question...

Ever wondered how we blindly believe in stuff, without really questioning about whether it is just a made-up story or whether it is really true. "Blind faith!" "We believe, because we were told so."

Seeing is believing, so they say. But it is impractically impossible that we could have seen incidents that happened in the past. We go by books, mostly historical books, but do we question its accuracy and truth?

Whether fiction or mere truth, the book claimed in many instances, that Jesus was married. And there is no mention what-so-ever in the Bible, about his marriage. It also claims that many chapters were "purposely" deleted from the Bible - for it's bitter truth.

I'm not saying the Bible is false, but I dare to question the truth written in the Bible. The book "The Da Vinci Code" might just be a smart thriller (nicely written, I must add), but it poses me with an interesting question....

"Blind faith or Truth?"

To my "Angel"

2005-10-31T04:11:00.000-06:00

Ever had one of those days, when everything seemed to be going wrong, and how you wished that the Lord above would just send you his angel, to take you away.... far far away from all these tensions, problems, difficulties, sorrow and pain....

I travel to work in my company bus. Staying far away from work, my stop was one of the first few. My favourite place in the bus - the last row right hand corner. I had patented that seat.

Most of the days, I would have different visitors sitting beside me. Some resulted in a brief conversations, and some passed away like I was non-existent.

One special evening, on my way back home, I had a special visitor. I'd like to call him my "angel"
(and this is no sleazy blog that is this going to result in me having an affair or a quest for my life partner)

My "angel" was recently married and fortunately stayed somewhere near my place..

As days and months passed by, there were no more visitors at the back seat but a permanent friend, who accompanied me to work and back home.

We blended perfectly together. There were no wrong feelings involved, but a thick strong friendship. If there is anyone who claims that a guy and girl cannot be just friends, I'll prove them wrong BIG TIME!! Coz I believe that I was chosen to experience this wonderful simple friendship that can and definitely DOES exist between a girl and a guy.

Just spending 1 hour in the morning, and 1 hour in the evening, evolved such a special friendship.... We called ourselves "bus mates" :)

Somewhere in the middle of this year called 2005, I went through some major problems at work... and I lost everything that I had learned in these 24 years... my self-confidence, my smile, my weight :( Let's just put it in this way, when you experience something for the first time, whether good or bad, it hits you in a big way... And this being my first job, with a first bad experience, I didn't know how to react, or what to do.

"I will and can never forget those days when I was totally shattered, and it was my "angel" who lifted me up. I will really never forget those days… He taught me to smile again, laugh again…. I became a different person all together… I was so serious, and wouldn’t smile for anything. He was there that time for me… Just with his kind words and caring heart, he brought me out of my tensions. He had confidence in me, without even knowing me well then. But his words encouraged me so much. He is one of those special people, who has really made a huge difference in my life."

It is easy to remember the bad stuff a person does in your life…But the good stuff tends to slip away….

01st August 2005

I got transferred from one branch to another, while my "angel" didnt.

Never thought that I would miss a person who is hardly 13 km apart from me, but then I really did….. I felt the best part of my life was missing… I miss those days, my "angel"… I really miss those mornings and evenings in the bus.. where we would fight about you talking and letching over particular "girls" and your weekend trips home to Kerala, wherein you would take one pair of underwear; first day you would wear it the right way, and the second day the other way round.. Gross…!!! I know you were kidding… Fight over him not remembering my employee id while filling the bus sheet details…. Or fight against who keeps their elbow over my tiffin dabba…. but I miss those so much… My bus journeys are so empty now.

Days when I was down, depressed, in love, sad, happy, over-joyed…. He was there with me… to experience each feeling.

I pray that our friendship doesn’t break because of the distance and the fact that we don’t meet on a daily basis….

31st October Monday 2005 -

It's been a couple of months since I got shifted. We aren't as close today as we were a few months back. Who is to blame...? Circumstances..... We speak once in a week, and send forwards to each other, but it isn't the same.

I’ve learnt that when I needed an angel he was there for me, and now that I am alright I can handle everything. Even if something were to happen, I am strong enough to handle the situation, and live with it.

I owe this day to you, my angel... I can't imagine what I would have done without you.... Thanks for making me a stronger and confident person who is capable of handling any situation on my own.

I miss you!

Pre-weekend woes

2005-10-30T00:50:00.000-05:00

Trrrrr Trrrrrr.... goes the alarm.... 5:30 AM..... I aint brooding..
....
....
....
Why.... coz it's Friday.... and every software engineer eagerly waits for Friday... The weekend is almost here...

"Just another 12.5 hours for the weekend", I quickly calculated. And quite a long weekend it would be indeed. Sat to Tuesday, thanks to Diwali, which chose itself to fall appropriately on Monday... :)

Day at work went smooth. I eagerly counted the hours left for 6:00 AM....

There was just 45 minutes left... Boy! was I waiting eagerly....

At the nth moment, I was assigned work..... "No worries", I told myself.... After all it was just running some scripts. Didn't anticipate any errors to turn up. Plus 45 minutes was good enough time to complete it.

And I started..... errors after errors.... corrected them with a cool head..... It was 6:05 then... I had 10 minutes to catch my company bus.... Would I be able to make it.... Yeah I would!!

I left office at 10:30 PM that Friday.... and got to hear later in the evening that I had to come on Saturday too....... "But, but.... its the weekend.... but, but...", I tried to convince my team lead....... My team lead nodded his head showing that he understood my problem and that I didn't have to turn up on Saturday.

...........
...........
...........
...........

29th Saturday - 8:00 AM

I'm at work.

Heaven to ?

2005-10-29T02:56:00.000-05:00

She was on top of the world......She had the best day of her life......
The sweet memories of the day filled her soul ... She was unattentive to the world around her.... She was flying up so high, spreading her wings, like a bird who just learnt the art of flying... Carefree.... elated.... She had got her ticket to ninth heaven!!!

The following day in college was special for her. There was something very special in her - her eyes, her face, her smile...... lit up brightly. Her special light got everyone around her peppy too... Such was her presence of mind...

Classes went on, and she hardly knew head-or-tail of what was happening. She dreamt, hoped and wished.

That memorable day... The day when she met the "one" whom she thought was the "only one" of her life. He was a diamond to her. Her heart skipped joyful beats when she thought of him. With her eyes closed, she saw the brightest star in the sky.... his smiling face.

Her first glance of him, froze her..... Her heart burned with excitement. This heat melted her frozen state.

"Slow and steady", she told herself. How her heart wished that he would make the first move. And to her surprise, he did. Three long hours they spoke and spent time together. He was THE perfect match for her, especially since he showed signs of keen interest.

Their subsequent meetings had emotions flying about. She felt fresh, confident and powerful. He had accepted her and she lifted her trophy proudly.

Alas, good things come to an end soon. And so did hers.... For a series of days, there were no signs of him.... no calls, no messages, no meetings, nothing...... She had infinite questions running inside of her.... the answer - only he could give. She hoped, she prayed...... she wished....

He had died in an accident. Her "one" passed away. The bird now burnt in the wild fire of hell.

........

That "she" is me.