Blue

Not a green in spring

Not a red 

turning yellow in autumn

Blue - yes - thats what I want to be...Blue!!!

Flower plant

I have been a very successful plant killer...:-)yes -I have managed to kill a lot many plants either by watering too much or a wrong positioning in the sun or simply by sheer negligence.

But this plant beats me hands down. It grows and it grows and it flowers a lot which gives me immense happiness. Unfortunately, I do not know the name of this plant. Do you?

P.S. an updated pic. Apparently the one put before was not clear enough.

Blog Update

A lot of little things have been happening in my life. A lot of planned and unplanned travel, Poland for work, Delhi for  a cousin's wedding, Bangalore for a friend's wedding, Alibaug for a get-together and an official one day 'team bonding' session waiting to happen this weekend. In between, attending Kala Ghoda, meeting up with my ex boss, chatting up with friends, helping friends shift out, watching some of very good movies - Descendants, Paan Singh Tomar and Kahani, along with my work life which has now taken an a U-turn from what it used to be before. For lack of effective time management, had to let go of a couple of my guitar classes and blogging.

I am busy but not stressed. The only thing which stresses me out is myself when I start ticking off my To-dos!(which personally - I think - has not turned out right for me). 

Its like running, the only difference is that though I feel I have ran a lot, I am yet standing there :-P.... you know that feeling....so much to do - yet nothing!!!! Its precisely that feeling that has overcome me these days. 

Yeah - I hear that little voice inside my head, nagging and cribbing and feeling ignored. I guess a week more, and then, hopefully, things should settle down. 

Until then, Arrivederci!!!

Mercedes Benz

Christmas is round the corner...festivity is in the air...love the month of December...celebration of 'birth' of a son, a new year and new dreams. My wish list ain't much but I'd like to share this song which I had heard long time back. Only if...it came true ;-)

Lot of versions are available for this song and even where Janis Joplin has sung it. But yes - I totally loved the way of expression.  Coming on to my new job :-), I am liking it here. Well - in a different way. It does not have the same familiarity like a small company where there is always a personal touch and where everybody knows everybody. Its a different setup. Totally different language. A different ball game. I am liking the change. The team size is pretty big whereas till now I was a loner in my team. I and only I was responsible for the work that I was doing. Over here, things are slightly different.

I had made new year resolutions at the beginning of 2010 and had also done a series of posts pertaining to that. But the point is, my new year resolutions dont carry beyond the new year. They are forgotten pretty much in the first month itself :-P. 

There's not much of a plan in place to celebrate the new year. Most probably there will be a house party. I am not much into getting sloshed in huge party places amidst rowdy strangers with obnoxiously loud music and pathetic food. Ya - call me boring. 

But Yes - I will definitely pray to the good Lord to grant me and my near and dear ones his blessings, inner peace and a MERCEDES BENZ :-)!!!!!

Random Musings

Its been quite a while since I visited this space... especially after the month long holiday that I went too.... From almost posting daily to nothing at all.... Was inactive on my twitter account too except for maybe one or two sporadic tweets...

Life is pretty busy now between work and home and weekends....don't have as much time to practice my guitar or try and make a disastrous attempt in the kitchen over some wonderful receipes I used to discover earlier. 

Not that I am cribbing about my current state of affairs, buts its refreshingly different from my previous state of affairs...:-) A lot happened in this one month break. For starters, I discovered the art of "DOING NOTHING" more of which you can obviously read HERE. 

There are a couple of things and some unfinished posts that I would like to write about...some of them are saved in the drafts!!! And some, some are in my mind :-P, for how long - that is another thing.

Today, there is no such agenda for writing, but I just wanted to write. Been on my mind for a long time, and had started to feel guilty about it, so decided to drop in say "HELLO" :-)....

2011 is going to end soon... with Christmas and the New Years around the corner. Waiting for Christmas eagerly. It reminds me of school and my school friends. I try and recreate some of it at home :-) and thoroughly enjoy the day!!!!

But right now, today being a Saturday, catching up on some puzzles with tea and chips!!!!  

So - see you soon again, hopefully with a new update and something interesting. 

My Report Card

Ahem!!!! My report card for the holiday I just had, which vanished into thin air...I just didn't realize that it was time to go back to work again. Now- Now - Now- To begin with, I followed a good friend's advice and also decided to enjoy the vacation as long as it lasts and not just keep ticking off my list. :-). Remember the list which I had made HERE, well here's what it is -->

Anyways, here's what it is:

1. I had decided to blog daily for the month of October, 11 as a part of a Blogger Challenge. Well- I blogged for a little more than half a month but come Diwali and I just forgot all about it.

2. Cooking / Baking: Well, I didn't go all exotic and stuff as much I'd like to do, but yes  COOK - I did. 3 meals a day. All the time.:-P

3. Guitar: Well, my sessions did pick and I have improved with my chords progressions and can even strum and hum a song or two *collars rolling up*

4. Photography: Well, the only photography I did was during Bhaiya Dooj and our family visit to Taj Mahal, Agra. I clicked like crazy. :-) And no - I did  not try to learn Photoshop :-P

5. Shopping / Cleaning / Dusting - NOW THAT - I did with full gusto. My home was sparkling and most importantly clutter free. *pats my own back*

6. Healthy regime - Ummmmm.....uhhhhhhhh *Still thinking*..... ummmmmm....uhhhhhh...*suffers from selective amnesia now* !!!!

7. I collated all my old photographs and re-organized them - ready to be printed and pasted. Scouting for a good deal. Got more than1000 photographs to print. Help required here. If any of selective, few readers who know a studio who could give me a good deal please get in touch :-)

8. Plants: *crying* :-( Well- they have all died thanks to the 15 days spent with my family and In-laws in Delhi :-(. The only survivor of this drought is my precious Christmas Tree !!!!

9. Read I did :-). Will be posting reviews on them soon. Currently reading Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen. So far - I am liking it.

10. All in all, it was a good break. After a long long time, did I find so much time to gether to so do so much of Nothing. And I - terribly enjoyed it :-)

Yes - I could have been more active, could have extracted more....but I went slow...at my pace...with leisure and loads of pleasure ;-)

Cheers!!!!

Duality

Its been a crazy crazy weekend. Thanks to KarwaChauth I was busy - infact crazy busy !!! The pre-festival preparation, getting the mehendi done, getting the saree, bangles and all the tam jham ready took a toll on my time management skills.The D-day was as busy as ever. All that fasting and waiting for the moon in a cloudy sky took a lot of my time and energy that finally when the festival did get over, I did not have the time or the energy or the initiative to blog. On top of that, my brain was not giving any output. All it could dream of was my bed. 

Sometimes I think as to how festivals give a different persona to a person. In this case, a girl / woman. The modern, working and the ah-too busy woman, leaves all that she has to do, pause a day or two, turn into a traditional Indian wife / D-I-L, wear a saree, sindhur, bangles, - the works, wait for the moon - the almighty before even touching a drop of water or a morsel of food. Sometimes, I wonder, how we live dual lives. Not sure, if I am putting it correctly, but on one side there is this ultra modern, independent woman who is an office going ultra busy professional or a traveller or a socialite or a  novelist or a chef or an army person and on the other side, she is this 'bahu' / 'biwi'!!! 

 Not wanting to sound a feminist (hate being on either extremes), the duality in our traditions and our society amazes me and shocks me even.

Hmmmm....I guess, each one of us have their own point of views and thoughts about this. True - we enjoy the change, the festivities in the air, the dressing up, the delicacies, et al.... but all this leaves me brooding....

List - less!!!

Ya... its that time of the year, when I make a list of lists...A list for each festival. A list of things to shop for each festival, things to do, things to wear, things to get sorted. Hmmmm....crazy!!! Ain't I???

Well to give you a hint, the first list was for Navratri. As per our tradition, 

1. Buy 'Jowar' and two earthen pots

2. Sow Jowar in the pots

3.Water it for all days except on the 7th day.

4. On the 8th day, celebrate Ashtami by serving 'chana', 'puri' +  'halwa' to young girls. 

5. On day 10, celebrate Dussera. Look at Curd and the silver coin in the morning. 

6. Prepare the prasad

7. Do the Pooja and well - eat :-) the good food that I have PREPARED EARLY in the  MORNING!!!

and not to mention, shopping for all the things required for the Pooja. 

Hmmmm... tough....Next is Karwa Chauth, then Hoi Ashtami, then Diwali!!!! *eyes rolling*.

Now, I am not an overtly religious person per se, and nor I do bother much about the intricacy of the festivals celebrated, but yes - I guess this part comes with the package - of being 'married'. It is this time of the year, where I go bonkers shopping for trivia ...not to forget the not so trivial shopping of gifts for the family....but yes - after going bonkers, I go nuts!!!!! 

But, but, but..... but of all buts...(no pun intended), I also enjoy the end result....after all the hard work and cleaning and dusting, preparing lists, their execution, shopping and blah blah blah.... at the end of it all, I really enjoy the outcome. There's a happiness and satisfaction :-) 

I guess Festivals do that to you!!! Snap you of your mundane existence where your better time is spent running from pillar to post, where you struggle daily for your bread and better...festivals pull you out of that rut and let you enjoy some family time together...something which is not routine, not mundane and gives you a good excuse to just sit back and relax...and yes - give that odd phone call to your far flung relatives!!!! Now thats a good thing to add on your 'Phone call to relatives' list ;-).

http://arloandjanis.com

Gandhi Jayanti

It is Gandhi Jayanti today. Birthday of the 'Father of the Nation'. Man who played an instrumental role in getting freedom for India. Although there is a difference of opinion about that. A lot has been written about him. This post is not about that difference of opinion but about what he stood for - his principles - Truth and Non Violence. In this capitalistic and material world, in the daily grind of earning one's bread along with good amount of butter / cheese / mayo / veggies  and salt :-). Gandhi is an idea. An idea which gives strength to many a movement in the country, the latest one being Anna Hazare's movement. Its also an idea which is used as a shield ...to hide behind it...while doning the 'Gandhian' garb and simultaneously being active under the table!!! Truth and diplomacy go hand in hand. How much of the truth is important and how it should be dispensed, to whom it should told and in what measure. This ensures are acceptability to a large extent at our work place. We call it Diplomacy!!! This 'Diplomacy' helps us maintain our professional / personal relationships and maintain sanity at a lot of places. Non violence is another idea. Promoted - but hardly practised. Promoted by a lot of politicians but its practice leaves me in doubt. In the 'Land of the Mahatma', there have been many a riot and many an instance of violence...against innocent, against the women, children...I guess thats the way the rioteers earn their bread...

On another note, its a National Holiday. No official, Government or otherwise, are supposed to be open or working. The offices, banks, government - everyone shuts shop and enjoys the day off. And if clubbed with the weekend, becomes more enjoyable. One of the reasons, why I look forward to Gandhi Jayanti (yeah - kick me!!!)  This time the holiday is on a Sunday...Shucks!!!! Thats the reaction everyone gave at work - ek chutti ka nuksaan ho gaya!!!! Sadly enough, thats Gandhi Jayanti has become for the office goers!!!

Though its a Sunday and a Gandhi Jayanti, the maid is always on time. Does not realise its Gandhi Jayanti today. Does not bother. Gives a blank look and carries on with her work. Dusting, cleaning, washing... has her daily cup of tea and leaves... She is more excited about her Diwali bonus though :-). Because that is something which will make her Diwali brighter.

Us - we are enjoying our Sunday. Watching Singham on TV. Not aware of any 'Gandhi' movie on TV. Plus might go for a Garba night since its Navratri or an evening at a nearby mall and good amount of shopping will be good enough....

Sigh!!!! Happy Gandhi Jayanti!!!!

Navratri

Navratri starts from today :-). Makes me nostalgic. I am a Gujarati at heart. Born and brought up in Ahmedabad. So Garba - Raas is something which I have been acquainted since childhood. Love the Dandiya nights. The entire night of continuous dancing and revelry. First Garba, then Hinch and then Raas. Raas being the easiest. 

After my 12th Standard, I never really lived in Ahmedabad again. Been in Engineering Hostel and MBA hostel and then in Mumbai. Mumbai has a strong Gujarati community but its just not the same. Don't consider them true blue gujaratis. Some of my friends will kick me for writing this but there is a stark and a huge difference. I cannot really point it down. I was pretty disappointed the way this festival is celebrated here. There's just no zing and almost everyone turns up in a fusion of traditional and western, more so towards western dressing. Very few people are traditionally dressed and some that are, are way over the top and pretty loud. And I miss LAW GARDEN. The place for shopping for and during navratri. Sigh!!!! Its just not the same. This festival makes me nostalgic. Miss my gang :-(

My school gang at a garba night at St. Xaviers, Ahmedabad, 1998

Honesty!!!

Like they say, 'Honesty is the best policy' but I guess it comes with a pinch of salt and in this typical case a wee bit of rudeness (from my end)!!! Not very proud of what happened and I regret it a lot that it happened, but might I say, not one of the best examples. 

2 weeks back, a stranger called up on my mobile phone. He said, madam, I have your wallet with me, your PAN card, your driving license, bank cards and cash. I refused to believe since I already had my wallet and nothing was lost. He kept addressing me as Megha madam. Now, a lot of people do mess my name up and I find it very irritating. How hard can it be to pronounce MeghNA... Anyways, I said, No! thank you Sir, I've have all my belongings and have not lost anything. He called, close to 10 times. I went from being polite, patient and then rude. The guy persisted. He kept calling for 2 hours continuously and it really p******* me off. He started to sound sleazy on the phone and with a final police ka dhamki I slammed my mobile down!!! I mean - the nerve of the guy.

Hmmmmm... that was then!!!! 

Last thursday, I met one of my college friends for Pizza. It was her birthday and uncannily she was called Megha :-P. Yes - you are thinking right. It was her wallet!!! And somehow, in some mannar the guy, now the autowallah, discovered my visiting card there and started calling me up. No - he didn't see her visiting card, her PRESS Id or anything, but MY visiting card. 

Rest they say is history!!! I tried retrieving his number from my call log but it was long gone. My friend will now have to file an FIR and see if things can be recovered. Both of us were zapped. If only she had told me that she had lost her wallet I would have kept an ear open for her and in turn avoided a bad experience for the autowallah. No - she didn't chew my brains, because lot of people confused us with our names!!!! 

The entire episode does make me sad in the sense, the next time something like this happens, the autowallah is surely not going to call up anyone and try to do something honest. He might as well throw it in a nearby bin or use whatever he can !!!!

Source: www.deesecret.com

Birthday Blues

Am not a much of a "Happy Birthday" person. Hmmmm..... yeah... I always find it embarrassing to celebrate birthdays. Its not a recent phenomena but right since school / college. I am embarrassed especially when I have to blow the candles, cut the cake, smile politely and take in all the hullabaloo over turning a year older. Ah, well, this aspect of my life has not changed over the years (about which you can read HERE)

I had my birthday just last friday. Munish prepared a special midnight spread along with the cake et al. Had loads of wishes over phone, facebook, twitter from family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, fellow bloggers - Phew!!! I felt special and good. Loved all the gifts which kept pouring in. Birthday gift from hubby is yet to be received (booked already), but I received little tids bits from special friends too. Like the latest header of my blog...thanks to my dearest friend Namit Bhatia...and Oh, he even wrote a poem for me (in return for THE ONE I wrote for him ;-) it was a deal) hehehe.... c'mon, don't you all giggle or laugh...this is his first attempt, and I must say, a pretty good one. Here it goes..........

The Maggitoes Rhapsody

I know a fine girl named Maggitoes,

Who has a penchant for writing prose.

She loves to travel far and wide,

A valiant voyager bona fide.

Photography is her leisure pursuit,

Be it nature or a random shoot.

A self proclaimed Bollywood movie buff,

One lousy flick and she goes, “I’ve had enough”.

Always at odds with the firewall at work,

Once granted access, tweet frenzy ensues as she goes berserk.

Recently bitten by the cooking bug,

Her hubby knows best and he dare not say “Ugh!” :P

Chirpy, bubbly and immensely adorable,

“Oh look! That’s the poem for you, now am I out of trouble?”

~ Namitoes (circa 2011 AD)

yay!!!! *clap clap*....his twitter handle is www.twitter.com/namit93 for all you interested in following his perky, quirky, funny tweets and yes - especially writing tailor made poems on oneself!!!!   

Mahape to Andheri

During the past two months, my work place has shifted twice. Once from Bandra Kurla Complex to Mahape and then from Mahape to Andheri. Don't know which one is more painful. One is in a beautiful location, surrounded by hills and trees and absolutely no traffic while the other is an island of traffic. You can read more about that on Purvesh's blog dedicated to Sakinaka, a particular painful area in Andheri.

While one took 2.5 hours to reach office, the route scenic and beautiful and the other takes painful 1.5 hours to reach amidst the honking and the slow moving bumper to bumper traffic. The evenings - well, they are worse from both the places. If you don't leave office on time, you are stuck for another 3 hours unless and untill one has some productive work to do.

All the shifting to Mahape, going there and working there took its toll on my life. My day would begin at 5:45 a.m. and end at 11:00 p.m. I would just go through the entire week not really being a part of it. I remember only the time at office where the better part of the day was spent. No cooking, no cleaning, no entertainment, not even during the weekends...and to top it all, Munish was also spending busy time at work, so even he wouldn't come home before midnight. My hobbies went for a toss and well for that matter blogging.

There was a constant nagging at the back of my mind, that I am missing out on something, not blogging, no thinking, no writing. I missed blogging. Even now, the reason I am writing this post is to reconnect with my blog. I have not been doing a lot of things lately with my time on the world wide web  and I am missing that. So let  me just hope, that I get  back to my blog with a new zest and even more interesting things to post about.

Home Sweet Home

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!

-John Howard Payne

The lines stuck in my head since the last couple of weeks. Staying there. Stuck there. Bringing a sense of loss along with nostalgia with a feeling, that its never going to be the same.

My parents relocated to Delhi more than 3 years back but the relocation didn't really happen in my mind. The doors have now been closed finally. The house put up for rent. I feel a certain antagonism for the strangers who will now be living there...There's going to be a lot of ranting and cribbing here now... need an outlet...some of it may not make sense...some will be absurd...but you've got no choice...if you happen to come here, you have to listen to me...:-)

Ahmedabad has always been my home, my city, where I belong...and now I am bereft of it. My entire schooling was done there. I had a lot of childhood and school friends from this city (though I dont know where most of them are now), all the uncles and aunties and their children who were also my friends. They were invariably present on most of the occasions in my life. My birthdays and my marraige. My brother's birthdays and his engagement. They were all there. The neem tree near my house is familiar. Without its presence, we would miss the turn to our house. Honest Paav Bhaaji yet exists. The ice golas on the road. I learnt cycling there...on my own :-) (I am proud of it...). I got a lot of broken knees and bruises while playing with colony friends. My red BSA SLR...how can I forget her. My red Tobu tricycle. The lawn tennis academy near Gurukul road. Kanoria Arts centre where I went to learn sketching. Shreyas Foundation - where I learnt to swim. The tailor under the neem tream near the Shreyas Foundation who turned many of my jeans into shorts. IIMA. The chai wala near IIMA. The chinese corner near IIM. ATIRA. IMA. CG Road. The municipal market. CG road during Navratri & New Year. Law Garden. Bargaining at Law Garden and the wonderful chaniya cholis along with all the traditional junk jewellery at Law Garden. The street food at Law Garden and their very small amusement park.

Mount Carmel High School. Was and am proud to be Carmelite. My primary school at Khanpur, near Hotel Cama had a fabulous river side view. Of course, I was too young to realise it then. Remember taking Sunil Gavaskar's autograph on my hands when he had come down to our school. I remember Sr. Wilma, Ms Sandra, Ms Lopez. The Middle and the High School were at Navrangpura. Sr Flavia Dias, Sr Dulcine, Ms Mary Flory (who along with her brother Rody Flory became our neighbours at Judges Bungalows Road). Can't forget Ms. Ludvina who taught us needle work. David Colaco, our first 'active' sports coach who formed the first basketball team of our school of which I was its proud team member. Mrs Priya Kale, Mrs Sahai, Mrs Kerawala were my favourite teachers and of course Sr. Nirmalini :-).

Post my board exams of class X, I changed my school to St Xaviers Loyola Hall. Cannot forget Father Morondo. He was the best. Yet remember our inter school cultural festival - the Odyssey and of course the orange popsicles for Rs. 1 each :-). The school socials and the garba night and yes of course the class celebrated Raksha Bandhan too :-P. All through my school at Carmel and Xaviers, Chitra had been at my side. My "besty". I am in touch with her (thank God for small mercies :-)). Lot of my other school friends, Abhimanyu, Jeeshan, Jason, Errol, Kunal, Neha, Jaya & Sumati - I am not in touch with them. There are on my facebook friends list but thats different. I remember celebrating Christmas at Chitra's place. Going for the mid night mass. I remember the delicious fried fish - the first one - which I had. Her mom had prepared in a true Kerala style. I took an hour to eat :-). Yes - I remember that too!!! I miss Navratri. Remember how we used to take out our Kinetics and Scooties, drive around in our Chaniya Cholis and go visiting the different colleges and clubs and enjoy dancing to garba - raas. And then later stuff ourselves at IIMA with paav bhaaji because that would be the only place open at 4 AM in the morning.

There are so many memories which are flooding my mind right now and there's no way I can capture all this. But I know one thing, I am going to miss Ahmedabad terribly. Its not just because my parents are not living there anymore, its more than that. I grew up there. There are tons and tons of wonderful memories. I am going to miss going to Ahmedabad. But it shall always be where I come from, where I belong. My city.

Memory Revisited

The article has been published as my first attempt on http://www.theviewspaper.net/ over HERE!!!. This entirely is a work of fiction and should not be understood in any other mannar.

"

Totally love the music of Indian Ocean. Famous for “Kandisa” and “Arre ruk ja re Bande” from the movie Black Friday being one of my personal favourites. Took some out and left early to attend their show at Bandra Times Festival. Komal and I got a place to stand just towards the end of the ground...we moved and swayed along happily...and were mightily euphoric listening to the group...

The strains of music beat down my ear drums... the strumming of the guitar and the synchronised drum beats and the tabla....the throbbing speakers... the loud, melodious voice....the cheer of the crowds... I was thoroughly enjoying the music....the presentation...my foot tapping incessantly...

I was transported....some 8 years back.... to the hostel days in my Engineering College. I had just discovered “Kandisa”. I had listened to it day and night. Didn't understand an alphabet of the song but I guess that was not required... Mayna and me were crazy about this music. We were in her room...listening to the cassette on her tape recorder....the local electrician made speakers thumping loudly....both of us lost in the strains...sort of in a trance....staring at the ceiling....at the slow revolutions of the ceiling fan...when she says, I hope we remain friends forever. And I say, Of course! Where else would I find a friend like you!!!

A loud cheer broke out...hands were applauding wildly....the bodies swaying in rhythm...the crowd was singing along ....I fail to remember the name of the lead singer...My friend Komal looks at me happily...unaware of the time I had just visited...the friend I had just met....She turned towards the stage again...cheering with the crowd....and where all in a sudden moment, I feel the void, an emptiness, a blank moment...of just missing my friend...of us choosing not to be together to enjoy the Ocean...together ..Or partly perhaps...

A loud cheer broke out again! The show concluded. The crowd cheered. There was a huge applause for the performers. The crowd starts to dissipate. I turn my back and start walking towards the parking lot...the feeling of the memory stays!!!

"

Customer Service

When I saw this popular cartoon strip in Times of India today, I could not help but realise that this just reflects the current state of "customer service" which is not infact a service really if you see closely. It mainly serves as a complaint box and sometimes is very effective in venting out your frustration (personal or professional) on an unsuspecting call centre executive.

The unsuspective call centre executive is "almost" at no fault. Hired by well established, big organizations at a throwaway price, trained inadequately in subject and almost to perfection when it comes to put your call on hold so that the required clarity can be obtained from the "Floor Manager".

The "Floor Manager" category of employees is a frustrated lot. The good english speaking + well mannered + a suitable degree for the profession guy is not a very happy employee when leading a bunch of untrained employees employed mainly to exploit the "cheap labour" scenario. There is little or no ownership of work.

Almost everyone ..... lets list down ->

1. The caller - frustrated because of the service rendered, from incorrect billing to firing for a spelling mistake.

2. The call centre executive - frustrated because the customer is yelling on the phone, he is untrained and to top it all, the boss is chatting with a PYT...

3. The floor manager - frustrated because of a non performing team, irate callers and the PYT is finally giving him "bhaav / attention" after all the months of pursuing.

4. The "big" organizations - frustrated because the billing for the calls which are most of the times TOLL free to the callers is getting higher and higher...

5. The telephone service provider providing the TOLL free service - frustrated because whatever which is earned in the "billing" goes in maintaining its own "customer service"....

I may not have covered all the bits and pieces of "customer service" but hell - we are one frustrated lot!!!! Not exactly a service, eh??!!!!

Monsoon ke side effects!!!!

Mumbai has a love - hate relationship with Monsoons!!!! Mumbaikars... - well most of the them....wait for this season..... the sea has a different colour, a different feel.... the breeze is oh so wonderful... the hot makai and tapri ka chai...an umbrella which threatens to fly away with the wind.... and the noise of the pitter - patter....:-) makes you want to cuddle up with a good book, sitting near the window... as you watch the world go by....hmmmm.....

View from my balcony

On the other hand, for lesser mortals, who struggle during the week, there is the other side... there is the crazy monsoon traffic....we hope that "today" we are not late for work...due to the crazy traffic, non complying auto wallahs, the snobbish taxi wallahs and well - the local trains which are forever running later.... we just hope, that we reach to our workplaces....DRY....we just hope, that a car passing by, hopefully, will not splash the mucky roadside puddle water on your clothes.... we just pray that the leather that we carry (shoes / laptop bags / purses / wallets) survives...... hmmmmm.....

Well - monsoons has it side effects.....to begin just listing them would be sooooo unfair..... but then being put under house arrest due to the unpredictable rains is not fair...to the extent that we visited one of our friends uninvited :-P for tea and conversation...:-) We played a lot of games...sudoku, scrabble, pictionary ....had a lovely afternoon nap.... but all this was a bit too much.... even the play station was not spared....I did my n number of household chores....but I just could not concentrate.... I WANTED TO GO OUT.... I needed my SUNSHINE...... :-P and I was feeling awful because I was not getting out..... all this ranting induced me to crib on this space....hmmmm.... and dearies, this is just June....*eyes rolling*... the best is yet to come :-P

Miss my sunshine!!!!

Hyderabad

The long weekend of Good Friday had been planned well in advance. The gang decided to meet (the gang about which I spoke in detail in one of my earlier posts). And well, it all materialised :-). Its been 5 years since we all passed out. 5 years since we all have been through the various phases of life. 5 years since we've become more wise, sensible and intelligent (well - hopefully) and 5 years since all of us met TOGETHER. Well, we have met in bits and pieces but not all of us together :-). 

Ekta (Chennai), Munish, me and Megha (Mumbai) coordinated our flights to almost land at the same at the Hyderabad airport. Must say, its an awesome new international airport. One can easily spend time over here. After landing, we went on a treasure hunt. A Treasure hunt to reach Shobha's place with popular landmarks like Karur Vyasa Bank branch and a tree plus a random shop :-P. Finally, we managed to find each other after the driver pointed gleefully at the "laadies" standing on the sidelines ;-) (hehehehe). And yes - she is THE ONE. At whose place we would be crashing for 2 nights and 3 days. Free lodging, free boarding and free food. Plus a cute little girl called Aaradhya to hang out with (<3 :-) ).

So - all of us were eating at once, talking at once and me - trying to sleep for once. Dont blame me. I slept at 12 and woke up at 3 to catch a flight at 5. All the timings are in A.M. The rest can but I really cant do without my beauty sleep :-P. sigh!!!! I tried in vain to sleep for an hour but the little devil - oops ANGEL....<3 wouldn't let me plus all the loud laughter of the ADULTS was really it. Yeah - I am a lazy person plus I can sleep on demand :-).

Soumya came in later with her little 6 months old bundle by the name of Medhya. Sweet little darling (thats because she stays put, does not walk, talk or run) untill she grows up. I can imagine both the mommies, Shobha and Soumya, exchanging notes on the little developments of their champs.

Was meeting Ekta after 3 years. In the meantime, she has married and is settled in Chennai. Also working in a rival general insurance company. Well - we were also exchanging notes as to whose company is worser.

Our husbands exchanged notes on work and wives :-P.

There was a lot of coochie cooing all the time over the kids. I guess they were the centre of attention and attraction. Bouncing off like in game of passing the parcel, I am sure they must be enjoying every bit of attention.

We roamed the streets of Hyderabad in a traditional sense. Shobha and Rajneesh took us to Golconda Fort and treated us to some awesome medu vadas at a local shop nearby. Wish I had a picture. (Ya ya - I try not to be one of those who clicks a pic of everything eaten and updates it on facebook - I know quite a few who do :-) - In case you are one of those are reading this, no offence :-) ). Well - we had the vadas again.

There was a visit to Shilparaman, a permanent handicrafts exhibition, Charminar and Laad Bazaar. We shopped a lot. And hence by the time we got home, we were just about ready to eat anything.

Shobha and Rajneesh treated us to a Dominos pizzas. A treat for their new home. We wiped that one out in a matter of minutes.

Gaurav had got the game of Pictionary. Was playing it for the first time. :-P (Ya - go ahead - giggle or laugh out loud). We were yelling and fighting within 10 minutes of it already. And yes - we did get emotional while playing it :-P. Hence, for the sake of mankind and friendship we stopped :-D.

On our last day of our visit, Soumya treated us to a home cooked lunch at her place. Yes - she cooked. We ate. She served us snacks. We ate. She served us soft drinks. We drank. The desert - wiped out. WOW!!!!

It was time to leave. There was a flight to catch back home. Back to the regular rigamarole of life :-). It was a good and a welcome break. We actually enjoyed meeting the old and the new persons at the same time. It was interesting to note the growth of each one of us and note how all of us have turned out. And I must say, we pretty much did a decent job.

Looking forward to more of such heartwarming and lovely get-togethers.



P.S. For more details on sight seeing check this link out

Friday it is :-)

Source: becomefitatfifty.blogspot.com

And yes- I am looking forward to it :-). Tonight, I will be travelling to my hometown Ahmedabad. Although my folks have shifted to Delhi, my mom keeps visiting. I love the city. Thats where I have grown up. Thats where I have done my schooling and my growing up. This may be my last visit because there are fair chances that our house might be put up for rent!!!!

Well, I do have a list of To-dos to do with my mom and the following tops the list:

1. Bake a cheesecake (A baking challenge sent to me by Anita). I am really hoping to make a success on this one.

2. Click some photographs of the flowers in our garden and if time permits, visit Adalaj.

3. Watch the India Vs SriLanka Finals for the World Cup, 2011 :-) (Astrologers say that Dhoni's stars are bright - hence dont want to miss the chance of missing out on seeing India win the World Cup :-))

On a brighter note, I have submitted 2 of my TP poems(Crappy Poem and Epitaph) to a Poet Rally and the responses have made my week :-)

To give you an update on my current working conditions, out of the total team of 5, 2 of my colleagues have resigned. Yesterday was the last day of Komal. Ashish went in the middle of the month. My other colleague Prathamesh is on leave. That leaves me and my boss :-), but luckily for me, he's a nice guy!!!! Feeling a bit left out though...Am sitting alone in the dealing room with 8 phones, 3 computers, 1 Reuters terminal and a CNBC anchor :-P ...But, hey no complaints :-).

In this Pic: Komal, Ashish and Me

Thank You!!!

Source: Pic from my Home@Ahmedabad

Photographer: Mayank Garg

There are days....and then there are days....And when you are thinking of the days gone by...you realise that some of those days have been so special....This is a "Thank You" ....for one of those days...