Tuning into nostalgia

It's been a long time since I wrote something and to those who are just a tad bit curious (talk about self importance) well I have been travelling quite a bit. Uprooting myself from Hyderabad I reached Pondicherry with a dear friend I like to call Peelu - in case your curious again, she has a thing for the colour yellow. Anyhow after a week of awesomeness which included a darling little sis, oops my bad, darling big girl lil sis who is almost 3 and could put a radio jock to shame, well I uprooted to saddi Dilli.

Reuniting there with mom went as expected, she hugged me and began her non-stop comments on I don't care much about myself etc. etc. Oh and yeh for the n'th time she wondered why I never went for those famour kerela massages and therapies that are, according to her, available at every nook n corner of "south".

Hmm.. well this time I guess cos of the last 25 years of knowing her I was wise enough to keep my trap shut, plus she anyhow was all excited about her school's golden jublee and an eventual reunion of school friends which was too cool.

And yeh it got me thinking that with so many jumps in life and not sticking around for more than 3 yrs in one school, would I ever be that excited? Mum and her sisters (my maasi's) have spent most of thier student lives in one school and watching them get back with thier old friends many of whom they never saw in almost 40 years made me too darn nostalgic (lately it seems to be my favourite emotion : ..)

And zooming into the present I got back to that mood by listening to old songs ranging from Denver to the Backstreet Boys - so well now coming to that lovely topic I gave to the post, here's a list of songs I randomly chose and memories associated with each...

Maybe it could be made into a tag game - member those?? So now I tag everyone who reads this post to pick out the songs from my list if any of them have a corresponding memory for you and add on more songs of your choice that make you think back in your life. These songs could be in any language of any time...I hope you enjoy tuning back in your life....

Here I go...

1). Chappa Chappa Charkha Chale - My first solo dance on stage, I was in Burma and although most of the audience didn't understand a word of that song I was known as the chappa chappa girl for the rest of the months I was in that school.

2.) Dancing Queen - This ABBA song was my first group song that we sung in an interhouse competition and we won... :) I still remember our 12th senior shivani di making us work like crazy and shifting me from base to super harmony, also I recall gargles at 10 in the night and each of us getting a mulethi to chew on....

3.) Ekla chalo re - A song I recall that we sung quite frequently in our school assemblies, it has a new meaning to me these days...so I kinda chose it above the others.

4.) Take a chance - Another ABBA number that won us the interhouse competition ... GO SAM!!!

5.) Nothing's gonna change my love for you - A song I introduced to a dear cousin who was new with English numbers.

6.) Runaway - The first english pop song my cuz introduced me to.

7.) Pal - A song that makes me sentimental every single time...it's a song for all those goodbyes shared...

8.) Leaving on a jet plane - another farewell song..

9.) Viva Forever - A song I remember as a group song and also a song I associate with one of my friends... she was a dear friend at one point of my life and even though I rarely chat with her this song always takes me back to those times we sung it in our dorm :)

10). Who let the dogs out - A song that was played during socials when our boarding school invited the boys school to visit, it was kinda hilarious cos as soon as mayo boys entered the area the girl at the juke box played this song.

11.) Final countdown - The theme and song we chose for our 10th std seniors as most girls leave after that class... it was also appropriate as the countdown for thier boards had also begun.

12.) Truly madly deeply - One of the first songs of savage garden I'd heard and was totally in love with the album all through my 8th and 9th.

13). Would you...!!? - One hellava naughty song which was quite scandalous in those days, but I loved the rhythm of the song.

14). Zombie - Kinda a negetive memory associated with this, I'd never heard of this song so my classmates used that and made me believe that they made it all up...it wasn't a healthy teasing setion, they took it too far.

15). Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka - A song I heard a lot as a kid along with :
16). Brown girl in the ring
17). Obladee oblada

18). Excuse me, Kya re - Lol ... a song I remeber rather well cos this was a song I was again clueless about and one fine day the whole damn 11th std is singing it. I kinda found out about it a few days later, but I can't forget that confusing feeling that I was missing something.

19). Tan tana tan ..chalti hai kya nau se bara - This salman khan song was a hit during the mid 1990's. It was 1996 and I can still remember the trip to Fun 'n' Food village in 6th std. We had a whole bus to ourselves and sung this song all the way.

20). Sleeping Child - A song I sung solo again in 7th I remember practising for it like crazy and winning the competition. :)

21). Jaane jaa dhundta phir raha - Most of my APJ friends can associate with this memory, we screwed up big time on stage while singing this song. It was a horrible but hilarious moment.

22). Country road - A song I always remember as been taught as a classroom assignment.

23). Yaaron - Another KK song that reminds me of the bus journeys where 2 of my friends one singing the other on the guitar practising for the teacher's day celebrations.

24). Dhoom pichak dhoom - A song that was played a lot during the outings our school took us to after each year end.

25). Kyun chalti hai pawan - Another song I remember which one of my classmates enjoyed a lot and thanks to her during our journey to a dairy we had to listen to all through the journey.

26). Get down - my first BSB song that i couldn't stop listening and dancing to.

27). Quit playing games with my heart - The song that got me my first crush, Nick Carter. :P

28). Fiza - A song I just fell in love with during my boarding days....

29). Dont wanna miss a thing ..Aerosmith - A song that is "ours"

30). Are you lonesome tonight - The first song that was sung to me and exclusively for me.

31). Chaudhavi ka chand ho - Dad sung this song for mom during our new year bonfire nights.

32). Hotel California - the 1st song I heard played by our school band, whom I thot were too cool to be students really.

33). All songs of boyzone by request - Each song is associated with my best friend ever...filled with memories of pajama nights and late night maggis and endless talks.

34). Dil Chata Hai - All songs from this movie remond me of a ourney with 3 of my closest friends after we took to our seperate lives post school and decided that just cos we are in different cities it doesn't mean we can't be together, so by the end of our 1st year of grad the four of us went out to missourie and dehradun on a journey that I know we can never have now...

35). Sharara sharara - The song that I couldn't help dancing to at an uncle's wedding and now at every lady sangeet everyone has to make me dance. (classic case of apne per pe kulhadi marna :P)

36). And I will always love you - A bitter sweet memory that taught me a lot...a person because of whom I was made to realise that life and people aren't always what they seem from the outside, she made me trust nothing after that for a long time...and yet I can't not help miss those moments (its about ....paper roses... I guess)...



37). Purani Jeans - A song thats been sung across my school life esp during bus journeys.



38). Suno na - A song a senior of mine sung when I was in Nagpur...i had never heard the song before and later when i found out that it was sung by shaan sumhow I still think it wouldve been a great song in a females voice :).

Too lazy to lie...

Did you know that sometimes lying could be a sign of being noble and brave, and many a times it’s far easier and less painful to be honest. Many people tell the truth and get away with it cos they simply don't have to keep thinking what story they had made up last time. The truth never changes so it wouldn't be too difficult to remember would it?

I mean honestly is there really something great about being honest. Think about it, many a times when you admit that there is a certain flaw in you and can manage to take it when someone else says the same, people simply cannot tease you. I mean it's easier to pull someone’s leg when someone is lying or hiding something, if you come clear with something there isn't much fun in ranting on and on about something that's already been accepted by the person concerned. People simply lose interest, no mystery you see.

So you see when you lie, especially for unselfish reasons it is difficult to maintain it. What happens when you are entrusted with the deepest secrets of your friends who trust you not to leak out information about themselves or may ask you to lead the others on a false trail. Can you imagine how hard that would be? Or keeping information from someone simply because if he/she gets to know about it, it would harm him/her. In these cases wouldn't it be so much easier to simply tell the truth and throw the burden away from our shoulder.

I mean when you lie you constantly have to remember what you said, also one has to keep looking over one's shoulder in case one needs to speak the truth as a relief. quite reminds me of a guy who wants to pee badly and looks around a selected deserted place just in case there aren't people watching cos though he knows there is no toilet around and he doesn't have a choice for he needs that release, he isn't doing the right thing.

Ooo the constant headache!! It’s far better to face the immediate consequences than delay it for some other time while spoiling your sleep.

So kudos to all those who lie and can keep up a lie, it's tough work really, I won’t say I don't tell white lies one time too many but then if things stretch I simply come out with the truth, sorry boss too lazy to think of creative lies really, plus I definitely need that sweet sleep by the end of the night, don’t u??

Crime in 55 words

Murder she wrote, murder it was.

The motive was right but the time was not.

I was sure it could be the husband.

It all fit.

But how did she manage to write on the mirror?

Time, it didn’t fit.

I was outside. I heard it.

Wait, did I say that aloud?

Shit, everyone’s looking.

The BIG 3-'O'

I know some people might find this to be too early for me to think on these terms..and yet I feel it isn't too far off...

what truly got to me though was a girl's post called

The Adventures of a 20-Something Year Old

It spoke about the emotional risks we take in our 20's that somehow are far more dangerous than the risks we take on a physical level...

And that got me thinking...what if I one day got up and turned 30...had a family where I wasn't the child anymore...what then....

I looked back through the last couple of years of my life and realised that I've had a luxury not many could have...even at my age...I guess its because of who I am and how my parents understand me...

I've had the luxuries to shift my ambitions of being a commerce grad to a child psychologist to a journalist to a literature professor to an editor in a publication house....to currently a teacher cum researcher in various methodologies of education...

And lord knows what comes next..

I've had my friends who've questioned my jumps....I've had them wonder why I never quite focus...but somehow I shift along with a confidence, knowing that there is this safety net right beneath me...and however old I am...and I am quite ahead in my 20's...that net would remain...

and then it strikes me...

in a few years the roles would be reversed...or at least it will from my part...a few years and I would be that safety net...I would be looking after that someone who would have ambitions ...and if she/he is anything like me.. would have that urge to jump around trying everything... unconsciously knowing that I'd be down there holding that net no matter what...

ok STOPPPPPP halt and REVERSE .....

like always I never end up writing my posts on what I plan to begin it with in the first place....but this time I will....

the BIG 3-O... I have almost 5 years before that number knocks on my door...and somehow it got me thinking about the risks I took during my 20's ... risks of the heart and career paths....I've jumped around as I pleased and took chances where I knew I might fall and hurt myself...despite that safety net below me...

and yet it got me thinking...however deep I may fall...it would always be a fall I would take...

I and no one else...and so it gave me the freedom to pick up the pieces of my heart or pride or whatever got shattered in the process and jump up and walk again....

but what when life fast forwards into my 30's...??? life would have to be trodden with care...the stakes would rise...so high that one wrong step would just not pull you down but it would bring all that along with you which you may never be able to pick up after the mess you made...

good lord I sound like a girl with 4 long lives lived behind her.... and yet I can't seem to shake this feeling off....

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii saaxy.........i love u....

It's been a while since i've been pondering to write on this topic...actually i won't be writing much...i just wanna add a few interesting mails i receive now and then....

As sure as I know that the girls can empathise with me...I also know the guys maybe clueless...but these are a few interesting messages i have received in the last few months...unfortunately this idea struck me only a couple of months back...there were some classics i deleted which were 'must reads' especially on orkut..but i can't seem to access my account there since a long time...nehow since i have to make do with the ones i have...and since i never could quite reply to em y dnt u try n help me out...(though a few of my daring frenz do manage that) sadly m no sherin but...here goes....

first the ok sorts..

Abhi Kapoor http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001186813235 June 12 at 10:17pm

do beautiful ppl make new freinds...if they do then just rem i m in the que

ਬਿਕ੍ਰਮ੍ਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਹ੍ਨਿhttp://www.facebook.com/onepunjabi June 27 at 7:19pm

nice id pic very expressive liked it.....

Rakesh Adnani July 1 at 4:18pm Report

hey!are u the one from kishan sir's batch in buskers?u have changed so much...ur really looking...gorgeous!

lolzzz...this guy removed his profile i guess...but i think he had erm 15 friends all off them girls guess they were all with kishan sir :P.....gawdddddddd........dnt people have better things to do :|

ok now they get wierder...

:P

Deepak Saroha http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000916548089 September 23 at 1:57pm

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii chashmis kya dekh rhi ho

...chasmis really :P.......

Naren Singh http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001037006406 September 25 at 12:41am

hi aashi ur pic looks soo cool im 27m from delhi can we be frnds nd let me know more about u what ru doing .........

Randhir Raj Sharma http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001301545192 September 28 at 9:46am

Locking So Sweet

lol...for debz n mango....read - rape of the lock ;)

Vishal Rajput http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001630729707 September 28 at 8:44pm

hi Aashi mam how r u can u talk to me

i can my dear...but i wont :P....and where r ur punctuations m'dear...now now since i am mam... ;)

Shahji Ji http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000881714529 October 2 at 7:36pm

Hi Aashi kaisi ho I Love U

ah yes....my first i love you after so many months.....i was wondering what made me stop look...err..lockin lovable :P.. ;)

and a new one...(this is minus the 5 other hi's and wanna be frenzz msgs) :P

Abhishek Bhullar

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000310664369 November 2 at 11:25pm Report

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

wow aswm pica

lukng realy g'gous

it all began with "kya aap mere saath FRAANDSHIP karengi" ...n now well they cum up with newer things....how adorable....

lol.........

i dunno how ya'll will react 2 this...but i must say boys...(though the male population is far gr8r than the female population....n well sum go ahead and have polygamy even then.....) u really need 2 stop this.....obviously the load of u hv made fake profiles...but wats the point of this really???????.......newyz...do share ne interesting "eternal luv" promises and fraanship msgs u get here......and if u can...pls get those ppl 2 read this... :P

with luv....

chasmis :P

P.S.

HERE ARE SOME CLASSIC CONTRIBUTIONS BY MY FRENZ ON THIS TOPIC...NJOY..

;)

FRIEND 1:

hahaha brilliant!! And yes, my sincere sympathies..!

Would love to share my 'awesome' experiences..:P Apart from the usual 'u r lookin cute' ..' ur b;ful' and all that nonsense..the most recent are :

Subject: Hello

Facebook has recommended me to add you as my friend. Wondering if we know each other?

hey ay hii *name*

this mounis here...

what do ya do messy???? ;)

the worse so far has been:

"Subject: U r really worth a second look!

Hey, I wanna b ur comfort. wud u lik to hav it or leav it?"

Wth lol These are the recent onez on FB..Orkut, well..I havent checked my acct for the past 4 months. Guys dont get it that these random msgs are very irritating and some 'compliments' are jst not in good taste. Anyway, I like this note! haha

FRIEND 2:

hahahhhaaa.......this is too good!!! me likey it!!!:D

ok....here are a couple of funny ones in my inbox.....

1. Hey *name* =)

wana make frendshp wid me ?

now sumbody plz tell me how do we 'make' frendship??..so that I can 'make' more and more of it...;)

ok..and this one takes the cake:

"hi i am Tanveer and i am completely impressed after looking at your profile and cool beautiful picture .......well now my only compliment to you is that god was completely free when u got produced and your simple beautiful gift to earth.......and who so ever got you as his wife he will be really very lucky........now i am here just to move forward my hand for friendship well this all depends upon your wish u may accept or reject but one thing i know very well all person who has born are made for some special reason and so may be we got interacted with each other and may be this could be the god wish .......and so if u get me chance then you will be always happy with this decision as i am really very funny guy down to earth and also helping hand and know real meaning of friendship and worth of friends so if u strongly believe in destiny then get me one chance ......may be we can have good company and good reasons to be friend so take everything positive all words really mean to me ..........

Regards

Tanveer"

looks like he's a dialogue writer for yash chopda or karan johar clan ;)

FRIEND 3:

hmmm......for me wen i used to have hermione's dp.....1 fellow had msgd me..

..hey hermione remember im your ron...

.lolzz :d:d

FRIEND 4:

Hye hii gal hwz ya

Well jus wana 2 tell u tht u were lukin oouucch in ur pic MashAllah ;)

Tc

Hf

Beii "

do i look so painfull? :o

Between You and Sajid Farhan

01 July at 15:55 Report

u r great babo

what does babo mean? :P

one more

"i noe , itz like yew aint noe me , niether do i , juz wanted to add yew up so did i ...

hope yew aint gawt ny objection wit dat ??

wud realy like to add yew up as ma frnd , buh dunnu wether, is diz the correct way ov approachin yew ...

n besidez , itz the cycle , that people from being strangahz becum frnz , thatz how it iz ryte ...

nywayz rest is upto yew

dont worry , i aint trynna hit on yew ;) "

another one with the title

"stranger iz no more danger.."

u look beautiful in ur pro pic.. Hope u dont mind me saying u as u know i am a stranger.. :P

"cn u send me add request. BecoZ diz bLoOdY FaCeBook haS BlocKed My FRnDrEq. SO plZ SEnd me FraNd rEqueSt "

fb finally.. gettin sense! :P

FRIEND 5:

me tell you one...

hi grogeous were do ya stay?

I wanted to reply mars...but couldn't risk disclosing my secret :P

FRIEND 6:

Mohammed Saad Mohiuddin November 1 at 4:31pm Report

i noe , itz like yew aint noe me , niether do i , juz wanted to add yew up so did i ...

hope yew aint gawt ny objection wit dat ??

wud realy like to add yew up as ma frnd , buh dunnu wether, is diz the correct way ov approachin yew ...

n besidez , itz the cycle , that people from being strangahz becum frnz , thatz how it iz ryte ...

nywayz rest is upto yew

dont worry , i aint trynna hit on yew ;)

i wud hav sent yew a frnd request , buh this facebuk thinggy suckz...

cuz it allowz the frnd request to a certain limit ... n i dunnu itz screwed up'

I am better off alone

what the hell is wrong with people...

suddenly this individuality aspect of people is simply creeping me out....how the hell did we become this way...i mean i wont blame random people rather i'll do that on meself..i mean how many times have i been on the phone talkin to some random person while i have soo many frenz nearby who need me...and to whom i talk to more on the phone than in person when we finally attain some distance..

yeye i know its a clichéd topic but this whole individuality thing has started freaking me out (or maybe i just hate admitting that age has started creeping up on me)...

anyhow am trying to have a group work done and somehow we cant work together...no nobody hates the other...but its like group work is encroaching upon so much of 'me-time' that its become more of a nuisance to the lot of us rather than the awesome assignment we had thought of it to begin with...

at least i'd speak for myself when i say that what began as a dream project is now just turning out to be a fight for decent grades...what the hell happened to the rosy "Larger Picture"

am sorry i may sound like i am rambling at the moment ..maybe i am ...but this whole darn things gotten me so riled up that i just want to spit it out...

nehow this is my problem... but i am more than sure that you too have in sumway or another dealt with such issues...

i haven't a clue as to what the solution should be but at this very moment i'd do anything for one...

well i guess i should go back to my phone now...was supposed to be calling this old fren of mine i haven't spoken to in months..

toodles...

What would you choose?

Just a couple of minutes back I came across this post about rape victims and how we should mourn for those many cases still not out on the forefront...anyhow after I finished reading this article...right below it there was a question on whether or not we support the death penalty for rapists.

And this got me thinking. Is that enough? Of course not....I've always had it in my mind that a man who attempts such a heinous crime has no right to have such a quick release..

anyhow here was my comment for that post.....

I don't quite understand how we haven't begun the practice of castration...ppl keep talkin about death penalties...is that even a fair justice for a rape victim? i mean a girl looses all meaning in her life..the humiliation she faces the psychological trauma she faces....and a death sentence 2 a man...how convenient am sorry to say but a man capable of such a heinous act has his pride, fear and basically everything in that one object......

I had a chat with an old friend a few days back and she informed me about how somewhere in some state in the US this law has been passed...

so why can't it be practiced world over...a man needs 2 b punished that way so that he too lives in the society in such shame(at least it would be for him) and goes through such a trauma day in and day out ...it would even stop so many others by instilling a fear not even death deters

this has been on my mind for a long time...and i decided to google a bit on this matter...and came across an interesting poll..

http://www.likelike.com/pollcommentary.rhinoceros?poll_id=2115

I'll be honest enough and say that i never quite managed to read every comment but I did notice that though most people supported castration there was this one comment that caught my attention and to which although I don't think I can give a reply directly I would want to retort to...

heres the comment...

what if your son husband or father are wrongfully acused with such a crime and they are castrated.this is a problem with our justice system.also must police try to slve and find easy solutions to a case.this hurts society and all crimes either against women children or men.but yes as a man i'm for castration.only if we can get the guilty and not an inocent person.you wouldn't want to be wrongfully accused and some part of your body removed because of a misstake.

well although most of the comment agrees to the idea...its the beginning that bothered me...I mean if someone I knew had been wrongly accused I don't think I would want them dead either...those who are wrongly accused (and I do agree there are such cases) well any punishment to them is horrid...but for those who truly commit these crimes...it is a necessary step..it will instill a fear in them which no death sentence would ever do..

anyhow I know its a topic that is highly controversial but please understand am not talking about falsely accused people here...am talking about the choice of punishment for this crime...death or castration?

Towards the end of the preface…

Down, down and away I gooooooooooooooo.

Yeh am off for Hyderabad now. Not many days left really. But somehow my little cameo at Macmillan will be there in my mind for the next one year, for if they take me back I’d love to work here again.

Man, am gonna miss all the crazy things you’ve gotta keep in mind, the fact that you’d havta be precise in your grammar ALWAYS! I love kids and to think I could make their fight with books a bit simpler gives me a high, honestly.

It’s like when you know you have a way to stop kids from grumbling every time they try to study for their tests you do kinda wanna make it better for em. At least for the little kiddos who’ve had it real hard these days. I mean think about what we did when we were 10 years old, poor dears! :(

In my case though, I can just do that for English. I’ve always loved English as a subject and even if I can make kids like it 50 percent of how much I loved it I’d consider it a job well done.

Oops! As always I diverted for the reason I started this post. I found a great Chief in Deepa ma’am and I know though she doesn’t quite like me calling her ma’am (no one in the media industry does) I can’t call her Deepa ever! It’s like calling your school teacher by their first name!

And it’s not just her, the people in and around me are awesome. I found a nice newbie like me who of course is a bong :P, whom I can go to just for a chat. Plus in my ol’ place (desk) I was surrounded by really smart folks [bongs again ;) or at least 4 out of 5 :P ]. Whenever I get a chance I slip off to them to complete my jabber, jabber quota of the day.

I really hope things work out here next year, but even if it doesn’t I know I’ve found an industry I might just enjoy working in. So let’s see where life drops me off next, for whenever I plan for a thing….it has an uncanny way of not happening.

But this is one book I really wanna finish with a happy ending :)…

Fingers crossed.

Cheers!

Chocolate Tears

On the course of my work I came across a story based on the title..Although am not too sure if I can show you the version that would be printed I think I can talk about the original one.

Here’s the story..


Camilla Chomp was a very greedy, gluttonous little girl. She hardly had any friends because she thought it was much more fun to spend her time alone, eating cake and pudding. Her parents were worried, so they took all the sweet food in the house and hid it.

So Camilla left the house, desperately looking for something sweet to eat. On she went, until she ended up in a small abandoned hut full of old pots and glasses of all shapes and sizes. Out of all of them, the one that most caught Camilla's attention was a shiny little bottle made of gold-coloured glass. It seemed to be full of chocolate, and Camilla took a quick swig. It was delicious, but she felt a strange tickling sensation, so she read the label. "Glass Tears", it said, and in small print it explained: "Magically converts tears into chocolate."

Wow, was Camilla excited! She ran everywhere looking for someone who was crying, and she came upon a little girl who was weeping disconsolately. Sure enough, her tears were converted into chocolate, and as they ran down her cheeks, to her mouth, they sweetened her lips. That soon stopped her crying. Camilla and the girl spent a fun time together, tasting the delicious tears, and they parted as friends.

Something similar happened with a woman who had dropped some plates, and with an old man who couldn't find his walking stick. The appearance of Camilla and the chocolate tears cheered up those sad faces, helping them smile once again.

Soon Camilla realised that cheering people up was much more valuable even than chocolate. Her mad search for sweet food stopped, and her search became one for sad people who she could try to help.

And from those sweet encounters came a mountain of friends that filled her life with meaning and happiness.


How sweet eh...an overdose??? well it’s just the concept of tears changing into chocolate which got me thinking what if such a thing was true...would that really bring smile on the lips of those hurt..

I don’t know what exactly am driving at but I want to hear what you have to say about this? What you think would happen, should happen if such a thing existed....

On a not-so-fine morning....

What a day!! I definitely must’ve gotten off or rather slept off on the wrong side of the bed. First of all, I never managed to sleep quite well for it was too damn humid and worse. It was one of those days where if you switch you fan on full it gets too darn cold, but if you don’t well then it’s just too hot. By then I thought I might as well count my blessings and look at it as something that for once will get me to the office well before time.

Ah!! I was so innocent.

And so with these happy happy thoughts I got off, and bam, my bro arrives from an early morning flight, and that leads to an interesting equation: Four people and One bathroom. Those who can understand, would empathise with the chaos. Well thus one thing led to another and yet again I was sprinting to make it on time.

So much for a relaxed journey. *SIGH*

But the icing on the cake was my drive to the office. It seemed as if suddenly the whole of Indirapuram/Noida had decided to mark their attendance, like everyone just finished off with their sick leave or something. I faced a jam at 6 different locations in my journey. BEAT THAT!! – Oh…actually I can do that :P, for not only was the traffic against me but so was my autowala, the guy I was ready to pay an extra 20 bucks so that he could get me to the office at a respectable time. But halfway into my journey I find out that the guy hasn’t a clue where to go, lol, talk about male ego :P . And it was obvious that he would never quite ask me.

So how did I figure out his secret? Let’s just say my awesome luck had a hand in that too. Now ya’ll know, so you won’t be surprised to hear that at every red light I faced just that, a RED Light. The only time we had a green light was one which I never quite needed. But apparently my autowala did. And so instead of taking a left, he, seeing a chance, sped of straight.

I have no idea how my face looked by then, but it must’ve been something as I managed to wipe off that stupid grin when the autowala tried to telepathically high5 me. I was sooo freaking mad. I think the only saving grace was that this is India where we can drive the other way even on a one way – sorry people – I aint proud of it if that would be any consolation, but if you think I had a reasonable excuse, well you’ve heard my side of the story. If you don’t think so, well then all I can say is that I can’t help it now, it’s the past, been over and done with.

Anyways, now here I am at my office, shame faced for being almost half an hour late. I haven’t a clue of how the rest of my day would go. The only good thing being that those around me, seeing me scribble all this on a notepad, somehow think I should slow down and enjoy my training a bit and not work so hard. ROFL!!

CHEERS people!!! Hope you have a nice day. :D

Holy shit! Fate might just get me hitched

I am a serious believer in fate or destiny, which isn’t exactly a very good thing cos half the time that gets me lazy, and trust me I don’t need another perfect excuse to convince myself of that. Anyhow this time well fate worked in the right way, or at least I hope it will. If nothing else it at least got me to add another post in my long neglected blog ;). Hmm… well now to the story, as a few of you would know I was off for a wedding this weekend, a wedding of one of my closest buddy I even call it a landmark wedding, cos thanks to this one step of hers she’s caught the attention of not only my own but the rest of my group’s parents. That it was a green signal for future wedding bells is an understatement. Well although that was the story I had intended to write about, this post isn’t for that (believe me I would exactly call fate positive I that case).

So here I was all ready to go to the wedding, waiting for this other friend to pick me up from the Delhi airport, when I get a call from her telling me she would be late. Not exactly happy with the prospect of waiting outside, I decided to stick around inside the terminal. And as it would happen, nature decided to have a little fun and called for me. For those who travel solitary, well they would know that it isn’t exactly easy to leave stuff especially with constant reminders about how unattended luggage would be taken away. But alas I was fighting a losing battle for try as I might I could not delay the inevitable. Now with that in mind I searched for the perfect prey, someone who could wait without being fussy about just how long I would take and someone, well, “respectable” enough, if you know what I mean. I thus zeroed upon this lady sitting a row in front of me, she seemed to have matched the criteria. So I went about my business, in a rush of course, you really can’t trust too much you see it isn’t right. Well I was in luck the luggage was in one piece and the lady was all smiles, thank the lord for that. And here is when the fates decided to make an entrance, as I was walking towards my luggage another woman smiles at me and says “same thing” and points her luggage. Empathizing with her situation I obliged.

Now on a usual course of things, people you meet once at the airport you don’t imagine to meet again. Well let’s just say this time was an exception. Having done with the wedding and all its craziness, I was all set to get back to college. And then I see her again, not only had she travelled back to Hyderabad in the same flight with me for the second time, she even took the same bus from the airport, talk about coincidence! Well that should have been enough, or so I thought. She then of course became my best friend for the journey, we had a talk and it turned out she too wanted to get back to studies and apply for a masters in English (for the benefit of those who don’t know, I too was working before I decided to get back to studies and am now doing the very course of my current best friend’s dreams). So let’s say I was a messiah for her, and helped her know that even though she has been working for the last 5 years, and even though she has never done English Lit. her whole life, all isn’t lost for her. Now for someone who has wanted to go back to studies after such a long time, it isn’t easy. For one thing they have been so accustomed to the corporate world that opting to get back to a student life isn’t an easy transition. And even if they manage that there aren’t many colleges willing to take them in. Fortunately for her, this college of mine has all the answers to her problem and more. And so I went on and on praising my college, bragging about how it would be just the thing for her and how she wouldn’t find a better place to go to (damn EFLU admin folks in case your reading this pls consider this as an application for an amateur PR job, freelance ofcourse ;) !). So thus I managed to catch her attention, and did my good deed of the day.

What was in it for me?? Well apart from managing to write this post, talking to her, I managed to extract an advice I may have had in my mind a long time back but never was quite conscious of. I have been looking for a freelance job for some time now. Having had my share of fun time as a student in the first semester I think it’s time to earn a little pocket money for myself. And although I got a lot of offers unfortunately they were all for a full time job. I mentioned as much to my friend in the bus and that’s when I was shown light, no she did not offer me a job and neither did she give me any numbers of people who could do that, she simply made a statement, “have you thought of approaching your old employers?.” Silly as it may seem to you but I never did so till now. It was so brilliant, so simple. I am not saying that my old employers are waiting with open arms for me to come back to them, but I do know that I have a far better chance going that route than through any jobsite (yes I refuse to use names here in case someone plans to sue me).

So here I wrap up my post, having tagged my ex-boss and the remaining troupe of toi.com, please consider this an informal application. Nilanjana maam, I hope you would not find this too audacious, I simply thought this would be a way to ask you if you think I still have it in me to write. And this goes for the others also. As I said in the topic I “may” get hitched. Well this may not be the most traditional way, and I may just not get a job, but I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Cheers!!