How to use aliens to solve your network problems

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My dad has this passion..to sue people. No he is not a lawyer. LOL.
I often tell him he should be in the Americas. He can do that sort of a thing here with more impact maybe?

So recently he completely switched off his mobile and started using my mom's.
I asked him what's up with that thing switched off? Knowing him I asked if he was trying to do some sort of cost cutting or if he was unhappy with the mobile network service? Alright it's Airtel. As if I have something to lose if I take their name. LOL. Anyway, what I least expected to learn was this:

Dad: I keep getting text messages from this website or service I am not subscribed to and each such message cuts down one rupee from my talktime.
Me: Whoa.
Dad: Ya I get these texts from some IleanaWorld or something
Me: LOL.
Dad: Things like Ileana is going to take a bath. Ileana wants to talk to you.
Me: Double LOL.
Me: Well..cant you just ask the Airtel guys to like block that?
Dad: I sorta liked it in the beginning.
Me: Why am I not surprised..
Dad: But it cuts my talktime balance and there are too many messages. If only it was a free service.
Me: Ya right. So did they block it?
Dad: I went twice to them. Its worser now. I get these messages on mom's mobile too.
Me: Uh oh.
Dad: I think its a virus..
Me: Sorry, what?
Dad: Virus, don't you think?
Me: Nice try. Tell that to someone else, not me. x-( You would have given your cellphone numbers on some crazy website. So you go and solve it now.
Dad: Sigh.

After couple of days..

Me: So whats up?
Dad: I am suing these guys..I have had it.
Me: What happened?
Dad: They are unable to block it.
Me: Really? :O
Dad: I went there and yelled at them..
Me: ..your style? "I will sue you and write to the local newspaper and take you to the consumer court" thing?
Dad: Ya, initially..
Me: What do you mean?
Dad: Well, I sort of went soft on them.
Me: (Oh my! Thats a first time). I dont believe that for a second! You would have gone ballistic..
Dad: I initially did. I said I am gona sue them all. And then I did the faux pas!
Me: ????
Dad: I said their service will die when aliens come down to earth.
Me: (By this time I got bored of his conversation and was chatting with A on the other end...jus when I heard the word aliens I jumped up). Did you say aliens???
Dad: (Eating a snack on the other end, in a muffled voice) Yes.
Me: LOL.
Dad: As a matter of fact, I said the day aliens come down they are gona destroy all of us. And they would take over. There would be no democracy, no sh*** mobile networks, nothing. They will take control. They didn't get it..
Me: Of course. LOL.
Dad: The customer service reps took a deep interest in this subject. One of them asked me: "aliens ante yovarandi?" (telugu for "who are aliens?")
Me: LOL
Dad: I said "They will be tiny. Green in color. And their blood would be brown in color with large ears and smarter brains"
Me: Was that necessary?
Dad: (Still eating..) I am surprised they didn't watch all those brilliant alien and space movies. Specially Spielberg's.
Me: Ya well, pride yourself. lol.
Dad: That blew up into a conversation abt aliens and unnecessary chatter. I lost my way thru it. But one of them got friendly with me and believed all I told abt aliens. She promised me she would block the damn ileana messages.
Me: Sure. So now you solve problems thru storytelling. Good for ya.
Dad: I guess I will talk Armageddon the next time..

Kalle F Blomkvist

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If you are like me, you would have laughed out loud at this piece I read in the New Yorker today by Nora Ephron (yep its her, the lady who made those all time fave rom coms...recently, Julie & Julia):
The Girl Who Fixed The Umlaut

Of course, I am assuming given the hype, you would have gone on a crusade to read Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. Darn it, I always mix the i and e in his name :/

Of course I am not going to bid adieu without a not-so-funny-as-unusual conversation with a Doc today. (And no, its not the cast of Grey's Anatomy. In real life, docs don't look so mind-numbingly handsome)

Doc: So what do we have here?
Me: Cold
Doc: And?
Me: After the and, is for you to figure. (Smug smile)
Doc: (Unimpressed or maybe he didn't hear me?;)) I will need to take your vitals. But first, since when were you sick?
Me: Saturday
Doc: blah blah
Me: blah blah
Doc: Alright, lets look inside.
Me: What?????????
Doc: ..inside your nostrils and ears
Me: They do that?
Doc: How long has it been since you visited a doc?
Me: For common cold? Never.
Doc: I see. Lets look now..
(Pause)
Doc: Umm..
(The next question got my cheeks flushing out of embarrassment)
Doc: Do you ever clean your ears?
Me: (With a game face) Not as promptly as I brush my teeth. (Smile)
Doc: (Oblivious to the humor. Poor guy needs to learn to smile, I thought.) Looks like there is a ton of wax up there.
Me: (Wax. Is that the charming name they give it? I fought the urge to say "My dad said why clean when it will fall out of your ears, eventually). Is that bad?
Doc: I will give you some ear drops, should clear it out.
Me: (And there I thought he is going to give me medicine for the cold) What abt the cold?
Doc: (Slightly annoyed by the obviously untimely smart ass question) Ya that too. I will give you mucinex.
Me: (Nod my head excitedly like I knew what Mucinex was)
Doc: Also do you smoke, drink alcohol etc.?
Me: Smoke no. Alcohol 10%...comes with Nyquil.
Doc: (Smiles)

There you go. You just learnt to smile doc. Sweet.

I go back to my desk and my co-worker goes:
"Oh he gave you Mucinex? That works. Hell yeah."

Me: Ok..great.
Co-worker: Don't tell me you never heard of it?
Me: (Shrugs)
Co-worker: Oh you didn't?! Stop it. The famous commercial where the Mucus family settles down your system with all their luggage and they are splashing mucus like its wall paint?
Me: Haha, no.
Co-worker: I am the biggest baddest Mucus.
Me: LOL, will youtube it.

About Blank

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There is something incredibly therapeutic about writing.

As a kid, I enjoyed writing down even smallest of my muses, worries or joys in a book. As I grew, I also grew out of this habit. I wish now I had never grown out of it. Thanks to twitter, facebook and a million other distractions on the Internet.

Life has become phoniest ever. Log onto facebook and you see someone has got a car, or has a spouse or touts their new iphone. People call each other "hun" or go "awwww" over silliest of things. Not that any of it is my business. Just saying. (Hey its my blog remember?). All I am saying is people have lost the excitement in the simplest of joys and have a continuous need to advertise their concerns over the Internet. Why do I care if you are bored? Seriously, get an activity. And if you have so much time to spare, go out and do some good.

I am not sure what's even prompting me to write this note. I just feel like it tonight. I miss the charm of the 90's I guess (my favorite topic eh?). I miss all those silly things we used to love. That TV program or that cool "bicycle" the neighbor kid had or the love for collecting marbles (or WWF cards as the case may be:)). I miss being with elderly people and listening to their wisdom. I miss throwing a fit when mom made "healthy-but-not-appealing" meals. I miss taking those long walks in the morning without having to worry about the long day ahead. I miss that joy of getting lost in a book, imagining the characters come to life as I flipped through the pages. I miss climbing trees. I miss playing gully cricket for long hours with tennis balls and make shift bats. I miss sneaking in and out of the kitchen waiting for that favorite dish to get done. I miss wearing a b'day dress! B'days were so so special..

I miss those rainy days when I came back home to hot tea, snacks and the promise of a long cheerful talk with dad on the porch. I miss waiting for the Sunday newspaper and challenging myself to a crossword puzzle. I miss chasing the frogs from the backyard of my house to the dirty pond. I miss caressing those new born kittens (cats never seemed to stop reproducing. lol). I miss sleeping on the terrace on hot summer nights and counting the stars and singing songs till I fell asleep. I miss beating dad in chess, carroms, table tennis while he secretly gave in to only see me happy. I miss getting excited about watching a movie on the big screen. I miss sitting on the kitchen counter and cleaning and marinating meat.

I could go on forever. But since it is year 2010, I gotta stop.

Why is it..

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..that the moment we are happy abt something, we fear it will be jinxed by some horrible sad news?
..that when you don't have your dear ones around you miss them more?
..that you think God is targeting only you with troubles and you go 'Why God? Why me?'
..that there is no end to our wish list?
..that a word of appreciation or compliment gives you instant gratification as opposed to none?
..that I stopped doing work and started blogging this foolish post and you stopped doing what you were doing to read this post?;)

Unwanted egos

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As if you guys didn't have enough of my rant posts. Hmmm.

But seriously, the one thing that PISSES ME OFF (yes, in caps) is kids treating their parents like scumbags. I mean cmon, give me a freaking break. You don't have to move mountains for them. Just be HUMAN.

So I came across this old Indian lady accompanied by her daughter (assuming shes her daughter). She mistook a bread packet of mine to be hers and grabbed at it hard from the cashier's hands. Now you know how impatient and cranky these grocery store cashiers are. She just shot back a cold stare at the old lady. Ok, we all have our frustrations at work and all the drama that makes us go crazy. So I could comprehend her reaction. But the daughter here goes shooting around abuses at the lady for this one. I got so pissed off at this point that I was like Really? Next time get your own bread. Bitch.

I see SO many old Indian couples here in the US. Kids send them off to do the dirty laundry to grocery to dropping kids off at school. So really, is that why you morons bring your parents here? To do your chores?

In other news, (yes I am not done yet) what is with bloated egoistic IITians and Ivy League guys. I mean seriously give me a effing break. Are your egos a way to vent out the high tuition you paid at school? Save the attitude please. Good luck to your spouses though. I sympathize with them. The next time someone gives me shit, I have made up my mind to flaunt my credentials too..Some people just need a taste of their own medicine.

And please whoever the hell you are, treat your parents well. That's the least you can do in your already rotten lives.

Little things that make me happy

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So I cooked a bowl of oats over the stove top without burning any of the milk or the oats..how super achieving and satisfying is that..eh? LOL.

Or that whole grain bread I got off a sale for just 2$ got me to clap my hands and skirt up and down like a kid..haha.

Wait a sec. Just when you are about to go "here she goes talking abt food", I have some other little things to share..that aren't food. I signed up for a community service event that I badly want to get into. Of course, I wont tell you its centered around music, entertainment, ice cream and emcee-ing. Yay yay. Oh I just told you that now. What a showoff. Haha.

I also get to canoe in the Hudson this May for free!! If everything goes well that is..lol. Talk about counting the eggs before they hatch.

I also have that teeny-weeny marathon (or more like a race) to finish this June. And its but obvious that I haven't started training for it, as seriously. Sigh. No, actually strike that out of the list. Not happy about the training part. lol.

Btw me and a friend and friends of the friend and their friends (why do I get so exasperating!!) have embarked on what we would like to call a 50 book challenge. Not sure if that interests you. You might want to occasionally visit the blog to find titles that you never heard of?:) A bunch of us blog on what we are reading and whats up for future reading. A book club, sort of. Just makes it easy to look up recommended reads from each other's list.

So if you carefully read through my list (ya right!), you might have successfully analyzed by now that none of the above things have anything to do with my work life, relationships or any such thing. Ahem. That's what I call - Selfissssssssh!! And I am lovin' it.:)

I wanna be in the 90's

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This thought loomed large when I was dipping these sweet little things called Parle G biscuits into piping hot tea this afternoon. Oh damn I just lost the crunch I thought. Mental note to myself: Dip the biscuit for less than a sec than you can enjoy it with the crunch.

See now I am blabbing! Sigh..

So I sat down to do the old fashioned stuff today. Reading a fat book armed with tea and biscuits. Nice. I am at peace. Then my thoughts go back and forth on the 90's. Then I start cussing. (You know where this is going. Another bout of ranting...) Why did this Internet happen? Like for instance, online friends. Who would have thought of that in the 90's right? haha. Imagine a girl friend of mine in pig tails telling me...Hey met this totally awesome guy on Facebook. I cant imagine how badly that could have destroyed the 90's charm. Where we simply exchanged love letters (or messengered them in my case) as teens.

And what about those TV shows we would wait the entire week for. what was that detective thingy..Byomkesh Bakshi? Man, I was like addicted to it like people addicted to weed. If I didnt see it every Wed night (see, I even remember which weekday they used to play that thing!), I would go all upset. That would happen when the power would go out. Good old 90's. If the power went out during your favorite TV show time, you would swear and curse (Yes, I was into such things even in the 90's. Even kids like that stuff, all you parents..if you are reading my blog. haha).
But if the power went out when you are supposed to be doing homework, it gives you an excuse to play antakshari on the terrace with your siblings or friends or whoever you hanged out with. It didnt matter. It was antakshari time. Even among mosquito bites on a hot summer night on the terrace.

Just yesterday A was talking something about a cool business idea when I shoot at him out of the blue.

Me: Do you like a terrace?
A: Err..yes.
Me: Me too
A: (Not sure why I changed the topic. But he plays along. Good old A.) So you used to sleep on the terraces those days?
Me: Absolutely! We would pick up a bucket of water an hour before our sojourn and water the terrace.
After it cools down we would spread the sheets. Watch stars. Play antakshari.
A: Haha. Same here.
Me: (Going into 'rant' mode) But obviously stupid USA doesnt have that privilege. Hell, I dont even get a decent
ventilation in my apartment. I am all choking in this...
A: (Cuts me off. He sees where I am going with this. He has learnt the hard way. lol) Yeah yeah. But did you like the mosquito bites then?
Me: (Sigh! He just knows how to pull the plug. Doesnt he?) Yeah. Hmmm.
A: Haha. But it was so much fun.
Me: (springing back..) SO SO much!! (I clench my teeth with the delight of a kid who just got a free cookie)
A: And the hide and seek days??? Chor police?
Me: aaaah...blisss!!!
A: Now do you think we can install this on a Windows machine. VMware or virtual box? (Obviously continuining the conversation where we broke off.)
Me: Sigh...


Now you see what I mean? If we were still in the 90's we wouldnt have such a thing as Virtual Machines or installations or any such jazz. It would just be you, me and a hearty conversation or antakshari over tea. I need a time machine now..anyone?

PS: I am powerless when it comes to constant references to my ranting and being so overly judgemental about myself. But you should have understood by now that the blog always carries impressions of my self analysis. Although annoying, would you please be so much of a kind soul so as to ignore them for the purposes of your own sanity? Thank you :)

Truth be told..

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I don't really talk through the serious stuff on this blog. (You might have noticed that already). But when I see people ripping off a common man's money I simply got to spread the word against evil.

To cut the long story short, I attended one of the so-called free Rich Dad Poor Dad seminars. In the middle of a rain. Costing me a precious 3 hours and giving me a massive headache in the end. Now I wonder this: Why isn't common sense common? Every single person listening to the seminar bought the idea that one could make money by working for as less as 3 hours per week. REALLY?? Wow! Robert Kiyosaki, tell me if that worked for you. Now I leave for the people with common sense (which isn't as common I figured by now) to decide what's the answer to that. Plus, Mr. Kiyosaki and the mafia behind this whole Rich Dad academy, a message from the common man - We are living in a world powered by information sharing. Remember the power called GOOGLE? Yeah, that's right. We just look up for information there and believe in sharing it for free. We believe in making it viral. By free, we truly mean free. And not a free seminar where the speaker reminds you every 5 mins to sign up for the 500$ class that will teach me to become a millionaire. I wonder what Warren Buffett has to say about the 3 hour work week path to becoming a millionaire.

Few rants and few laughs..

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I somehow feel hype is a shortened version of hypocrisy, ha! Anyway, whats with all the raving about My Name is Khan. Shahrukh? So everyone wants to appreciate Karan Johar because of his sincere efforts. But of course on the other hand some aspiring new director trying to sincerely make a movie on a distinguished topic will be panned! Anyhow, the movie didn't touch a chord with me and I am just astonished at how people are loving the movie. The movie would have been way better if not for some over dramatic scenes (everybody gangs up at that Georgia place from nowhere...what was that? )

Anyway, you can see this post is becoming too much of a rant so I will stop here. Of course, I will agree I am biased. I cant take any more of Shahrukh on screen anymore. LOL. Whatever!

In other news, what's with people who don't smile or greet in the morning. Why God why? Didn't you teach them how to laugh? This is probably the millionth time I am ranting about them. It just ruins my day you know. The least you could do is acknowledge a greeting (instead of staring blankly in space. Ya, I have got that like so many times and no, am not like drop dead gorgeous or something.) Btw, I did my honorable contribution to humor moments today. (Yes God I need to balance out the morons who cant laugh to save their lives.) I was wearing this shiny new off-white coat...warm and cozy and as people stared hard at me I thought they envied me. But late did I notice some of them giggled, some others read out numbers...Oh ya, I had the prestigious price tag on! LOL. But being such a great sport that I am (I am in fact not, trust me..I get upset about the most trivial stuff. But today was one of my good moods..and their good fortune x-( ) I graciously took the tag off and said, "Can you believe it is just 50 bucks? Got it off a sale. But this one was probably the last one on the shelf. Try your luck!".

That didn't stop the muffled tones and chuckles but I atleast tried and didnt get upset. So proud of myself, haha.

Forrest Gumpiness

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That's what I call when I am in a mood to do something really really really weird.
Like the other day I ran to the 31st floor. Not by elevator silly, by stairs of course;) Now, I am not the best of the best in the stamina department. So this was more of a casual, "let me see" type of a thing. Anyway, so the weird thing is, it isn't weird anymore to me. I take the stairs now to the 31st! Not kidding :) Although the other day I ran all the way up to the 25th without pausing...today I couldn't dare repeat the feat. I drank a banana (actually two bananas) smoothie you see before I took the stairs..So I ran 10 floors up and then said to myself "FML. I will walk now like normal people do."

LOL. Ok, so this is a bit too much stairway talk :)
Btw, does anyone know do they REALLY penalize people for smoking in the stairways? I mean every floor exit has a ton of cigarette butts around. I am wondering how the smoke alarms don't go up. Hehe. I am definitely choking in the stairway. Also, when do these people smoke? I mean all I find are cigarette butts and no smokers.

Alright, so its getting hella boring now. I am thinking of taking up something creative. Something I haven't done before. Or even better, something I never even thought of doing before. So please vote in (I am unabashedly assuming I have this huge following who will vote on ideas). I have liked ice skating so far. But it is a pricy hobby. So also keep the budget in mind! (It feels like I am talking to an audience now)

Btw for people who have been wanting to drink spinach juice, do not fear. LOL. Mix it with apple sauce, it tastes great! (Now I sound like a cooking blog. Sigh. But hey, its a handy tip!)

So before I bid adieu, a joke/rumor/whatever you may want to call it...

(Tourist) female pointing at the conductor's booth asks a co-passenger on the subway: "Is that the restroom?"

Surya Namaskar at 3 pm

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LOL, such is the weather here. I wonder how it is for people dwelling in Canada or Antarctica or Iceland or wherever the heck it is cold. Thank God, I found something interesting to keep me going here - Ice Skating. I never really thought that I would go 5 hours skating on ice in subzero temperatures and ending up all SMILES! So obviously I am hooked.

Of course, things are going to become busy and chaotic in few days. Btw, kids have more fun than adults in a skating rink. True Story. Age does change a lot of things eh? They LOVE to fall, LOVE to dive and skid on their knees and LOVE to goof up on the ice...And we are awfully embarrassed about even letting go and try a new skating trick. Such is adult life! tch tch. Also I can tell where the Chinese get their hardworking spirit from. I noticed atleast about 4-5 Chinese parents getting hard on their kids. "Go back there and do 10 rounds. Don't come back unless you are VERY VERY tired". Another Chinese parent yells from outside the rink, "Leave the rail. Leave the rail!! What did dad say? Bend your damn knees and go to the center. No rails!"

Cut 'em some slack you Chinese dudes! x-(

Oh btw I have to mention this funny (but not so much funny as surprising) incident on the A line. A family of four got in at Brooklyn dressed up in old battered clothes. Like any other average and judgemental human being I assumed about their hygienic conditions. Anyway, so this little girl comes sits beside me and looks out the window. My face is propped up in my hands with that forlorn look (you know the kind when you are having a headache and general anxiety about random things). She then quickly takes out a tiny hand sanitizer and brushes her palms together and passes it on to the rest. I am all praises at this time, obviously. Then she picks up a cluttered piece of paper near her foot and opens it and asks her mom, "Mommy, should we just trash it or do you think someone needs it?". To which the lady says "Maya, lets trash it when we get down. Also you are finishing your homework after we get home."

PS: Who loves to do homework on a Saturday evening? Ugh! Thank god, the kid scorned at that. Otherwise, I was already feeling sick about bumping into an abnormally clean and disciplined family. LOL.

Ah, whatever. I need to catch the sun now before it sets. So long..

Thelma you know how I feel about Texas

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And ya, I feel a lot more respect for the Texas weather now! Because of the cold in the new place, that is killing me. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

Anyway, someone posted an interesting link on Facebook and I had to repost it here (you know, since its all relevant to what I am talking about):

Snuggies for geeks

Interesting snuggies, aint they? My fave is the plug-in bandana, haha.

Ok, now that we amused ourselves with that little link, life gets back to facing the ground reality. This cold is effing insane!! x-( At this point you might be slightly inclined to think that this is another of my bitch posts. Bitching about life, bitching about people. Man this chick is so jobless, you might want to think (or thinking right now)

So since I am so bothered about my public image (hehe), I shall refrain (from whining anymore). Another interesting thing that happened was to sit beside a guy with a loaded gun in the subway. He was all chilled about it. You know, like it was a toy gun or something. Or was it? Also, I got stuck between the doors of a subway coach and let me tell that wasn't interesting. No sir, it wasn't. I panicked and I almost whispered my last prayers, "God, I didn't want to hurt anyone. Forgive me!". Something of the sort. Until the passengers thought that they might want to take a break from all the reading (novels, kindles, newspapers..) and pull me from inside. Because pushing me was going to be tough. I was almost three quarters into the coach. At the end of it all, I was profusely thanking them and also secretly thanking God and getting nostalgic about parents. (I think this is the only time I ever got homesick. LOL.)

So apart from freak subway incidents and freakier weather conditions, I have nothing much to post today. (If you have read this far, I reckon you have nothing planned for this weekend?).

Also a side note (more to myself than you):
Never ever ever ever see a movie where is the plot is about a father searching for his daughter's murderer. First, The Lovely Bones and then The Edge of Darkness. So there goes my precious 20 bucks wasted (I am clearly not worried about the 4 hours of non-productivity here). But I thought I would warn my earth-mates about the impending dangers of watching these duds.

That was long for a note, phew! I think its time to get out of my bed:)

Of Mice and Manju

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Go ahead, ask me what follows me the most when I am in the city?
Mice!

They are everywhere, dammit! (There is one right now behind a makeshift closet in the apartment)

It amused me to see how others react to it though. Typically girls shriek and all that, like they show in the movies. While guys (and some gals) appear terror struck. So the other day, we stuffed on dinner from this food court in a mall. Quick fast food. Then there was this retarded movie we saw (The Lovely Bones. Don't waste your $$$ on it. You will see girls dancing in platforms over giant vinyl records in the "in-between world" after they are all murdered by this same guy. I can see you already get the idea..). So after the food and before the movie something happened. We watched mice spring up from the back of a kitchen. My friends were horrified. Needless to say I acted insensitive. But of course, I realize the gravity of it all. Noticing my indifference, A said, "Do you know all these kitchens are connected?". Till then, I thanked my stars that I didn't eat from this kitchen. But that means if one was infested, the whole food court was at risk. I panicked. Then A2 (Too many of my friends' names start with A) picked his Iphone and shot the entire "mice jumping around in merry" episode. Now this is going to get reported. Wait and watch.

This city needs a total rehaul. Hell yeah.

I just need an excuse to write

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and hence the foreword: "Nothing particularly useful will be found in this post"

So today wasn't the best of the days, apparently for no reason.
I was sleeping in. And whenever I sleep in, I think. Today, I tried thinking and assessing life's convoluted surprises. So during this unproductive activity I realized that thinking too hard makes me indecisive.

Lets take an example. Last afternoon, I actually spent a good half hour (I think it was more) at an organic tea aisle trying to decide which one to buy. So I made peace by picking up a pack of assorted tea bags instead. So there you go.

Anyway, the pain of losing someone close can drive you crazy. I figure the same is happening to me. Specially when the person used to be just a phone call away. I feel I am using it as an excuse to justify my lazy days now. It is annoying to keep beating up yourself for something that is not your fault. And yet, I do the same:(

Oh what the hell. I need to snap out of it. I will go tomorrow to the Fulton Street maybe. Never been there. Just random walking and exploring places/things is so therapeutic.

Also, one of my friends ate his first subway sandwich last week. And found it wasn't as bad as he always imagined it to be. Ha! I could live on those tuna sandwiches if I could, all my life:)

Whats with the Mumbai crowd?

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Ok, so here we go again. Getting loads of attitude from Mumbai based desis in USA. Specifically the East Coast (maybe because a whole bunch of them are here more than anywhere else). Before you start getting back at me, I am not generalizing here. Its just that a majority of them are starting to get to my nerves, off late. Like really! Or maybe they all decided to confront me in a window of 48 hours.

So here's this chick who is giving me this "Oh I love New York City. It is amazing, blah blah blah" scene.

All I asked after that was "So what do you like about NYC?"

She goes, "Oh you know...the city"

Me: "Yeah, what about it?"

She: "You know its amazing"

Me: [Starting to get a little impatient]

Me: [I decide to be a prick] Yeah yeah, like particularly what? All I know is the weather sucks for now. Maybe there are other things I am missing out on? So I wanna know about the fun part.

She: Well, you are a South Indian. You wouldn't know.

Me: [Totally totally uncalled for. But tried to keep it down.] Doesn't matter. We are all Indians. So we get it.

She: Where are you from?

Me: [Dude, I thought you already decided all of the southern states in India are called "South India"? So do you honestly care where I am from?] Andhra Pradesh.

She: ["Why did I even ask" expression]

Me: So well, you don't know why you love the city?

She: [Getting hold of my sarcasm she responds..] Chill. I will tell you.

Me: Yeah, maybe you can tell me then about this neighborhood in Brooklyn. Its close to Prospect Park between Flatbush and Bedford Ave. Any idea? [I gave out so much detail just to piss her off.]

She: [Clearly doesn't know] No.

Me: How about the Upper West Side? West of Broadway?

She: [Very very angry look] NO. Look up a map.

Me: Or Greenwich Village? I heard so much about the Magnolia Bakery. Worth a cupcake?

She: [Shrugs, pretending like she's not listening to me anymore]

Me: [Deciding to be a bitch to her] Well then, that concludes it. You have no clue of the city apart from the touristy places. No clue of any of the neighborhoods. You sit in Jersey City and think you know New York City. Seems like South Indians know more after all.

And I walked out on her.

PS: Felt guilty about being so bitchy later. Although I am glad I didn't succumb to the usual mocking of South Indians. Cant we just get along and help each other, you know, being in the Indian community and all? How hard can it be? This kind of attitude is exactly why Southies want to be with Southies and Northies want to stick to their own group. Just because a bunch of them have this superiority feeling about coming from a particular city? Bahh!

PPS: On a brighter note, I hit it off well with a Gujju girl who had no hangups and no attitude and didn't give a shit that I was a "South Indian". Very chilled and also gave me some real useful tips on stuff I needed. Or is it so because her best friend also happens to be a Hyderabadi?;) Haha, just kidding=)

The guy in the red shoes

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An entry from a girl's journal:

The first time I saw him, I wasn't besotted by him. No, in fact, I didn't even think about him for even a fraction of a second. I totally and conveniently forgot his existence. The same way you forget that billboard you pass on the way to your office, until one day someone rolls their eyes and says, "You mean you never noticed that giant fancy and attractive advertisement?" and you shrug and mentally note to catch it the next day.

So, anyway, he wore red shoes. That was probably the only memory of him. By then, I had become so much of a "mature" person. You know, the sort who vents at traffic violations by others, snorts at people wearing "new dress" on birthdays etc. You get the idea. (No, not OCD silly. Forget it, you guys are so juvenile. Grin.)

Until, the proverbial "he changed my life" happened. Well, to be honest, not a hell lot. But at least a bit, I would like to think.

So suddenly, I start taking delight in long walks, eating corn, sending and receiving lots of SMS's, watching tennis because he likes to watch tennis, staying away from non vegetarian dishes..etc. In short, I act normal. Which isn't bad, if you ask me.

Then I see some sexist movies and the truth dawns on me. WTF! He has been manipulating me the whole time!!! Omg, yes! He took my individuality away!

So, I get back to sneering at other people and branding everyone else but me as juvenile. The guy in the red shoes again fades back into history.

PS: What's up with movies like The Proposal, The Ugly Truth, New in Town etc. Why are they showing all highly successful career women as self obsessed freaks? Before you compare me with the protagonists, stop right there. I am hardly a successful career woman :)

Why a girl is a girl and a boy, a boy

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I have known many guys so far. They all share a common trait. They love bikes, cars, video games, sports, action or thriller flicks..you get the point. And girls are more of "serious" and "cute" nature..they are either into cooking, reading and writing, nature, flowers, soft toys and how can I forget shopping! And of all the guys (and girls) I have known, I was classified as the girl stereotype until of course college happened. More about that later.

And now here's my take. No matter the gender, we are what we are because of the environment we grow up in. Think of this as opportunities or circumstances, the good or the bad. I could take myself as an example.

When I was a little kid, my father got me a monster truck, a pretty looking girl doll and a miniature pink panther (cartoon character). Now, I was most excited about the truck. I played with it all day. Riding it on the sofa, playing with it in the mud, riding it over the small pebbles..you get the picture. I was in love with it. As for the doll, I disfigured it, tried to dye its hair (it had blond hair and I thought there was no such thing as "yellow" hair), tried shutting its eyes forcibly. Yes, I was a violent kid I suppose. LOL.

Anyway, my mom found it disturbing. She said trucks are no good. How about the Pink Panther, she would say. Hmm ok, I love the cartoon, I guess I could love this rubber doll too, I thought. So I befriended it as my second favorite, much to my mom's relief.

Now I also loved playing with the boys in my locality. I played marbles and cricket. We started betting on marbles game. Dad got hell pissed and mom got terrified for me. "Please send her to the girls school", she wailed. (And thank god, that didnt happen. I fail to understand what they do at every girls school, because most of the girls I met from a girls school were..lets say weird). I enjoyed crass jokes with guys on the benches. I loved English movies and watched all of them from my 5th grade. I basically wasn't a tomboy, not as yet, but I was loving it. I hated frocks, and I loved my jeans. I was always asked by my guy friends to pass around "love" letters to the other girls in my class. You know, I was the messenger girl, of sorts. LOL.

Enter junior college. This is when things turned over. I basically did only one thing. STUDY. This was totally driven by circumstances. My aim at that point of time was to go on the path to quickest money, of course, by the good means. So I had to crack that engineering college entrance. Not because I was asked to do so. But the situation demanded it. Now given a different situation, I would have probably opted journalism or writing.

Of course, that wasn't end of the long list of experiences to follow. At college, however, I slowly discovered I wasn't the most liked person on campus. All because I did not fit into the stereotypical girl image.

Like my close friend once gaped at me and said "Do you mean you never went to the temple even once so far?". To which I said, "Its quite an architectural marvel I heard". And so the close friend branded me "the girl who can never be a great housewife". I didn't dress up. Heck, I would'nt even change from my black t-shirt and jeans. But what most of them didn't know, was that I had only two pairs of jeans and a couple "college" t-shirts I would get on some events. So naturally, I was living on zero money and fend for my college fees. While guys, only talked about my facial hair at college. And girls, thought about how uncouth I was.

I don't blame the circumstances. They make you what you are. They made me a little too independent and a rebel. I sat up at nights writing or sometimes simply walked through remote places or watched movies at cinema halls by myself. I fought the local banks, pesky neighbors, cops, government officials while they bitched about "how much I should learn to be a girl instead". I didn't want to pray, dress up or fake loving to cook and be clean to people I meet. I am not that. I am best at what I am.

I know guys who love chick flicks. And girls who love guy jokes. Its OK to be a stereotype. Its NOT OK to become one.

Trash the stereotype. Just let people be and don't judge.

PS: And no, I am not sore at anyone:)

Full Stop

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My dear readers,

I won't be blogging anymore, atleast for a while.
Think of this as a sabbatical, but a really long one at that.
I am sure, I can't forget writing, because I love it too much to give up.
But for those, who really did love my blog, I am sorry to be doing this.

Thanks for reading.

-Manju

Volunteer blogger

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Yep, that's what I have been doing for some time now. Of course, I promise to continue here soon. I have at least two short stories in mind right now.:) Which I will blog soon.

But for now, something particularly I think all should read, specially technical men and women

http://ghcbloggers.blogspot.com/2009/10/welcome-by-grace-hopper-team-and.html

Enjoy!

Change of Work

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He was a hawker. A popular one. Every morning, he and his wife woke up early
to cook. Cook generous amounts of hot samosas, kachoris, rasgullas and vada pav.
And then he would carry them all in boxes that he expertly maneuvered using his arms
and legs that got stronger by carrying them everyday. Every noon, he would
dock at the same spot. Prepare some hot spicy chai, toast the pavs (breads) and mash some samosas to a chat just in time when the matinee show finished. That's when he attracted the most customers.

People hounded the 'tela' (stall) to buy the 1 rupee chai and a pair of mouth watering samosas
with tamarind chutney and yogurt garnish. "This is just like how my mom makes at home!", cried a little kid by the stall. Everyone loved his food. Everyone..except the other hawkers.

"Look at him. He looks so frail but look at how much business the bastard does!", ranted a hawker.
"I tried to offer food at my stall for a lower price for a long time, but people swear by him..", another roadside vendor sighed.

Every evening, when there was no more food to sell, he would pack it all up and go home carrying the empty boxes. Famished. Tired. But satisfied. He and his wife were hoping to shift to a home soon, one made of clay. The thachted hut they lived in was too hot to bear. It seemed as though they were set on fire.

One day as he went to his spot, he noticed there was more crowd. It seemed like a procession. Lot of people had gathered in, shouting slogans and carrying banners. He smiled to himself. "Good, I can probably sell everything sooner today", he thought rejoicing the idea.

As he settled down and boiled the tea leaves, he heard a gun shot fire in the air. By the time he looked behind, there was a stampede in progress. People pushing each other, some holding each other's throats..He realized the police had charged on them with 'lathi' and someone fired a gun.
He threw the boiling tea on the ground and swiftly hauled his stuff in boxes and ran into a nearby basement. He emerged out of it after several hours. Several people crying over limp and injured bodies on the ground. Medics and people rushing to help the hurt.

He went back home cursing and had a restless sleep. Restless over all the food that was not sold. The next day he set out as usual. He decided to reheat the food and serve. He could not afford to throw them all away!

As he approached the spot, he saw police around. Cordoning the area. One of them spewed paan on the ground and screamed at him "Don't stand here. Go home".

"Sahib, what is happening?", he asked. "There is a curfew the rest of the week. Go home.", said the cop.

He sighed and went back home. He kept cursing the rest of the week.

He went back determined the next week and found some laborers around digging the ground, where he set his stall everyday. He looked confused. He went upto them and asked one near to him, "What is this? What are you doing?" One of them said, "Didn't you know, the sarkar (government) has ordered to build a memorial here."

"What??", he yelled. "What..but how. Why?", he could hear his heart pound fast, faster..
He found out that some shops also would be razed to ground soon. One of the hawkers passing by saw him and spoke, "Arre bhai (Oh brother),we cannot come here anymore. Sarkar has plans for this place and they are moving all the hawkers from here. We are planning to do a dharna (protest rally). Would you come join us?"

He declined and went back home. His wife and him thought about what they should do and decided they have to change their work. Atleast for some time. The memorial was built in a week. He went back to his usual spot. Only now he painted himself silver and wore round rimmed glasses and dhoti with a stick in hand. Dressed like Gandhi. Standing right near the memorial entrance, rain or shine. Begging. It was business as usual.

Do you know Chow Chang Woo?

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Yes, so I get this strange call from Citi that goes:

"Sorry we are unable to talk to you right now. We know you are busy. Thank you for choosing Citi.
However you need to call 1-800-***-**** immediately. Blah blah"

Oh so you know I am busy, then why the heck you call me so many (odd) times!

So I decided I put an end to this goddamned call. And then they ask "Whom are we speaking to?"
I go "Manju Vijayakumar". And then the million $$ question "Do you know Chow Chang Woo?"

"Woo who?"

"Chow Chang Woo"

"No, I haven't heard that name. Not even in my dreams"

"(LOL) Sorry ma'm. The system dials your number everyday to reach Chow Chang Woo. But apparently it is a mistake. I will update the system."

Chow Chang Woo, where are you?

Ivy league vs The rest

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For a long time, me and A have been debating on this topic.
"Does being in Ivy League settle your life forever?"

The answer is Yes. And A agrees.

"Do I have less opportunities than an Ivy League graduate?"

The answer is No. But A won't agree to this.

We pondered on what are the reasons that people at an Ivy League get chosen over others - great reputation, strong alum, lots of resources at your dispose. And that's it? What about the basic 'intelligence'?

I personally know few people from the Ivy colleges, who aren't as "intelligent" as you think they should be. Period. And yet they make the best job offers. I cannot quote who they are and what they did, for me to reach this conclusion. But it is true and it is a fact.

Of the few places I have worked, I met some of the smartest and some of the dumbest. Both from Ivy. Coming back to the question, do they have more opportunities than you? They certainly get those opportunities faster and easier than others. Its simple, there alum is very very strong and they have a better reach. In the States, nothing works without references. If you know a few people who can get you to the top, that is all there is to it. You can "fake" your way to that initial job, without getting stressed out about it and without knowing what the job expectations are. You are Ivy right, you are in :)

It really wonders me how people get into such top institutes without the strong basics that are expected of them.

But like I told A, you can dig opportunities, if you want to.
You can climb the corporate ladder, if you want to. You can get to start a company, if you want to.

Ivy or not, it is your determination to push yourself and make your own way.

Who wants an Ivy League degree when you know you can achieve more by walking that extra mile..

PS: I totally think A is much more smarter than those douches from Ivy I met:)

Yesterday

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Got up early - long hot bath - prayed - cooked radish sambar - ate oatmeal with blueberries and ground flax seeds - checked mails - talked to dad - talked to A - went to haymarket - bargained with the rude vendors - got cheated with a moldy berry package - got half a dozen great oranges for 1$ - came down to MIT - called up D - went to Central Square - ate at Middle East restaurant - walked to Harvard Sq - sat down and chatted for sometime at the dorms - got mistook as Harvard students (secretly enjoyed for looking like 'Ivy League' students) - went to AMC - laughed out and howled the F word while watching Hangover - went to JP Licks and got a fresh peach ice cream over waffle cone - walked back to Harvard :p - reflected over life's truths (cheesy? no, nice:) - hopped back to the subway - went to Cambridge - traveled back to Symphony hall - did laundry - talked to A - slept :)

Rainy day blues..

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It has been raining outside so much here. sigh..
I am not a rain person, and that too if it is raining for so many days, then what's the point x-(
This reminds me of those cozy days at home in Hyderabad. Showers in Hyd are unpredictable..It jus turns humid and then there are rains. I really miss working at my old job (although I always complained about how routine it was) in Hyd. At times like these, I would just get out of my cube and eat a snack outside in the rains :) Friends and family made so much difference. Even rains seemed very welcoming to me in their presence. (Like I said, I really really hate rains.)

Rainy days were excuses to take the day off from work, relax at home, sit on the porch with hot tea and Marie biscuits and talk to dad about mundane stuff. Either bitch about how uncivilized our neighbors were (haha! so cool;)), or that evil politician who was involved in scams, or anti-Gandhi discussions or simply target mom and speak about how we enjoyed English movies on HBO more than her favorite Sun TV..LOL. At which point, she would just storm out on the pretext of buying groceries or cooking in the kitchen. She could never argue and she never will, specially when Dad and I become a combined force. Only to come back from the groceries with a wet umbrella and find us in our own rooms..she would come to me and ask "What happened? Another fight?" and I would say "Yeah, your goddamn husband thinks his opinion cannot be questioned. Go ask him what happened.". Which she would find out eventually and wont make sense out of why we got all personal and offensive about some XYZ politician and his XYZ reforms and how we each thought diversely about that subject.

Anways, coming back to the topic of Rains. :) It was a frequent joke among my friends, that if I took my bike out it would rain. LOL. It often happened that when I went out to catch a movie while friends waited on me at the theatre, it rained. Or if I simply wanted to eat "chaat", it rained. Or if I went to give my bike for servicing, it rained. Rains! So fond of me, and yet I am so NOT fond of rains..

Today, seems one such day, when I can see the rains and recollect all those experiences. I once drove so fast in the rain with A just to catch a movie..strong winds, heavy rains and I drove like crazy with my eyes almost shut!! It all sounds so incredible to me now. I just MISS all of it now. Most of the rainy day memories are still that, memories..I have never been able to relive them, since then..

How to be super productive?

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- Focus on one thing at a time
- Always plan ahead. It's ok, if your plan cannot be executed sometimes. At least you knew what you were going to work on.
- Stay away from the Internet for long periods of time (unless your profession demands that you stay online :))
- Feeling sleepy? Take a walk, exercise (take a flight of stairs, do some lunges at your desk!), wash your face or just talk to your co-worker/friend/family.
- Reward yourself once you get your work done, as planned. Celebrate!
- Learn to say NO (not always). Prioritizing is important.
- Appreciate what you achieved so far and don't stress yourself about something that could not be achieved. Stay consistent and you will be productive.
- Take someone's help. Don't be "stuck" for too long. Give help, take help.

A walk with a friend

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..is amazing!

I met this friend of mine today at Boston. She came down to see her bro and we thought, well, lets catch up.

We walked all the way to Charles River and then caught some ice cream at JP Licks. If you are ever at Boston or Cambridge and you are this ice cream person or just want to try an ice cream, you totally totally have to try this one out! Their menu is amazing! Of course, take a small portion. Be kind to your body:) I tried the coconut almond chip (I didn't know tender coconut strips go so well with ice cream!)
LOL.

Anyway, so she said how she finds me funny. I said "Hmm, why?"

And she goes...its your "delivery". I said "what?"

So well, I sort of discovered that I am funny and I crack people up.
LOL. Maybe so, because the things I told her about were sort of funny, if not hilarious.

Like she had bruises on her knew, toes and elbows. And here goes the conversation.

Adri: So I fell over this pavement sort of thing..
Me: Yeah I was wondering...what the heck you been doing?

Adri: Ya, see I have a mark here. Do you have any mark, like from birth Manju?
Me: Hmm, well ya. Not birth.

(And I point to two spots on my limbs)

Me: Funny story
Adri: LOL. Tell me.

Me: My dad had a moped sort of a thing, you know. Back in the 80's in India, pretty usual to see them on roads. They have open engines and wheels like the motor bikes.
I once kept ma hand on the engine to see how "heat" feels like.
Adri (cracked up by now): Whatttttttttt?

Me: Yeah, and my mom asks why did you do that when you know its hot. I said "But well I didn't know how much of hot is hot."

Adri: LOL

Me: And this one on my ankle..I kept my feet into the wheel when my dad was driving.
And then screamed because the skin was peeling off. The sort where you put a pencil in a sharpener...

Adri: Nooooooooooooo

Me: Yep. 'coz I wanted to know what it "feels" like putting your leg into a moving wheel. Felt hard.lol.

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Adri: Hey I called you last night and you picked up and spoke nothing..
Me: Ya I do that. When my phone rings in the night, while I am sleeping, I usually think its the alarm and switch it off.
Adri (totally cracked up on this) : LOL

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Adri: How many kids you wana have?
Me(instantly): 3
Adri: That was too quick. So you thought abt it?
Me: Yep.
Adri: What gender?
Me: 2 girls one guy
Adri: Guy older or younger
Me: Older
Adri: So first one is a guy?
Me: Yep

(I think anyone who would have heard us behind the lawns where we sat down, would have thought we were two young expecting mommies for sure.)

Adri: Girls huh...what will happen of them?
Me: What you mean?
Adri: I mean they wont be girl like...you are not the girl kind. So who is gona take care of them
Me: A
Adri: aah!
Me: Yep;)

----------------------
Adri: So there was this silly Asian girl who went to school with my bro.
Me: Ok.

Adri: And she like runs all the time...loves running
Me: hmm

Adri: And she runs at odd hours...She came down here (charles river walk) one night at 3 am to run and didnt return
Me: Wot!

Adri: So ya, my bro and friends worried and went down to search for her. They find her sleeping on a bench.
Me: Gosh, what a freak..

Adri: Listen up, she said she felt tired with all the running so found a spot on a bench and slept.
Me (Sarcastically): How cool is that :p
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Evening well spent. I wish I took pictures though, of us since I don't meet Adrienne so often. Damn, I should get an iphone! :)

The good, the bad and the ego..

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Yeah,that's right. Every time I fight with dad, I fight with A..(yeah, thats right only two people have been favorited so far for fights;)) a huge part of that fight is my big, bloated three letter evil companion called EGO.

Sample trails -

Me: Hey
Dad: Hello, how is everything

Me: Nice. For you?
Dad: I sprained my leg recently.

Me: Whaaaaaaaaaat?
Dad: Fell off a ladder.

Me: Great. Why not jump off a cliff?
Dad: (silence)

Me: No really, try that. Ladders are not enough for you anymore, are they?
Dad: So when are you coming here?

Me: So what now, are you your own doctor or have you even bothered to go find one?
Dad: It will be alright.

Me: Don't expect me or mom to take care of you
Dad: (silence)

Me: Nobody ever listens to me..

blah blah blah..FIGHT Manju FIGHT says my ego.

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A: Heyyy wassup?
Me: What? (Apparently, someone showed me their ego so I am showing mine to A. Dumb ego!)

A: I just ate dosa..hehe
Me: So?

A: Its your favorite na..
Me: OK

A: You know that guy XYZ is getting married to that girl we know..blah blah
Me: Yeah woteva.

A: Did you call home?
Me: Why?

A: To talk :p
Me: Nope

A: Hmm, so what are you doing?
Me: Why do you care?

blah blah blah...fight.

FIGHT Manju FIGHT!

PS:

My dear Ego,

Get the hell out of me, take a vacation. Get lost in the Atlantic while coming back.

Hate you,
Manju

Greetings..

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..are what we learn when we are kids and unlearn when we grow into adults.

(although, you can be assured that I am again getting into one of my "complaining" mode I really am itching to write this down)

How many people wake up in the morning and say "Good morning" to your roommates or whoever it is that you see first? I mean, whats wrong with the greeting? It doesn't cost you anything, does it? It is ridiculous how people don't smile back at you or are too darn involved in their tensions everyday.

Even something as small as not being able to place your room keys in the morning frustrates you and you storm out of the door in a bad mood. You go walking on the way and don't care to smile at people you meet on the way. Agreed, it really creeps people out if you smile too much (Smiling at strangers is too dangerous in this damned world, so don't try that.) But would you care to greet at least the people you know or have met before..?

I am no judge. I am victim to such things myself. Because honestly there are several trivial things that get me upset. I end up yelling at A and throwing mood tantrums at him and feel guilty later. It all boils down to these things.

- Let go of small things. They hurt you more if you don't let go

- Always always smile and greet people. It doesn't cost you much. And please don't stare at people who wish you, like they just stabbed you..return that smile for god's sakes!

- Try to be as honest as possible to people. Honesty and integrity are two things that make your character. We all lie, but we should not lie at least to those whom you care about.

- If you are in a bad mood, talk talk talk..talk to someone who understands you well. Carrying it over till end of the day is the worst thing you can do. It hurts you and everyone around :(

Do whatever, but don't forget that smile in your life. Keeps everyone happy:)

Reality TV

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Ok, what the heck has gone into MTV.

I remember the days when I used to come back from school and watch
MTV Most Wanted. There was something called "quality" to the shows they aired.
And now its all about bickering and swearing on national TV which they
call candidly as "Reality TV"

The most shocking thing - get a bunch of young (really young) teen girls
on a show they call "Teen Diva" and make them to bitch. And more shocking thing - wear revealing clothes for that age. They are kids for gods sakes. Leave the innocence for that age, alone..

Ughhhh!

Learning...

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...to speak and write Korean :)

There hasn't really been any motivation for this one. Just want to break the rut I am in. So today was the first class. We learnt the unintentionally funny vowels and consonants of the language. I turned up late for my first class and all (lost my way through the city :p)

The instructor was cool and patient though. We did a recitation exercise..
It is funny how a vowel which looks like the letter 'T' can change orientations and result in a totally different vowel. So the clever instructor got placards that she kept turning right, left, up and down with another consonant and voila.! a whole new Korean sound! Fun!

So now I can say..

an-nyeng-[h]a-se-yo? Manju im-ni-da. man-na-sow pang-gap-sim-ni-da

[Hello. I am Manju. Nice to meet you]

And I can actually write that in Korean by putting together the vowels and consonants :) Funner!

an-nyeng-[h]i ge-se-yo

[Goodbye]

Sticky Note

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Since January this year, I have been doing absolutely nothing that is remotely engaging, fruitful, exciting, practical, satisfying or fulfilling. It has been a tough and a slow year so far. Misfortunes galore.

But then I stop and think - "How did I manage all those XYZ problems in the past? That was surely tougher than this one I am facing right now" and that puts me at peace:)

Bureaucracy

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When I first came to United States, I came with a hope (like many other Indians) that things will be "easy" here. By things I mean, the routine stuff we all middle income families do in India. Apply for loans, pay bills, file tax returns and such other things that the infamously rich and powerful, so called politicians and high-level officials of India do not do.

Over the past two weeks, I had to go through the same kind of bureaucracy that is so often experienced in India. And before some Indian out there gets pseudo patriotic and wants to disagree here, all I can say is "Please shut your gob". We all know what a curse it is to be a comman man in India and the nightmares of getting things done.

Cutting it all short, I was shocked at the total indifference and callousness of people at my university with regards to my immigration paperwork. For the first time in the States, I felt like a loner and an alien. It is shocking to see, irrespective of boundaries or your nationality (no, I am not playing the racism card here), people just choose to be indifferent and have no empathy whatsoever. It is very disappointing to see this happen in USA. Having said that, I am not going to generalize this to all of the people who live here (immigrants included). I personally met some great individuals here who have been very kind to me. But I never once realized that I, of all the people, will be mistreated and manhandled by the system here.

I am fed up of bureaucracy at every place on earth now. Why are people indifferent when it comes to doing their job? Why cannot people empathise or even speak kind words during times of distress, even if they know they cannot help? Why are people given authority? Isn't the sole purpose of being in an authorized position, is to help people who come to you with hopes that they will be served?

Although, I cannot divulge the sensitive information attached to this whole topic of discussion I will some day share the incident, hopefully. I am not very sure if I want to stay in the States for the rest of my life. I am utterly disappointed and have lost the respect and trust that I had in the system here.

Of lost friends..

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Over the years it has been a very difficult thing for me - maintaining friendships

It is crazy how I am most close only to A till date. I do not think I have shared everything with any person (not even my dad) except A.

I tried hard. To make such friends. I do think my friends are flawed. Who isn't?
But the trust, integrity and the dependability that is the core of what friends are made of are missing. May be I have over expectations.

Of course having said that, I do not believe I am the perfect friend. So it is best not to expect from others says A. :) If only I was so calm and composed as A. LOL.

But often I think what went wrong with friends.

All those crazy fights over money, jealousy with grades (yeah! unbelievably true), and other things minor like may be hygienic habits etc. Although I think the biggest factor for destroying friendship is almost always "bitching behind the back" or "pulling out when your help is needed"

I have noticed how people very conveniently pull back when you need their help with excuses so brilliant, that it just gets you too upset. It is so hard not to expect that from friends, because they are the ones whom you count upon.

Of course, I have had two very nice friends, whom surprisingly I only chat with and are my seniors from college who help me with anything I want in a second's time. Then there is K, she is a darling. Of course she nearly bummed me out last Fall threatening to stop talking to me for reasons that is so typical of me. I do not express my feelings to people I am close with. Which, again got me very upset, because if you are my friend, I accept your nature. Even if you are the meanest bitch on the earth, but you stand by me when I need you, you still are my best friend.

I would rather cherish the few people I believe in than dig deep into my heart about people who claim to be my friends and are clearly NOT in times of need. There is no point in being upset about such people. I let my heart free today:)

Swine flu

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Yes, that is the most predictable blog title of the day.

It is amazing how everyone I know chooses to ping me today morning
when I am in the midst of a phone interview!!!!

And just when you are wondering, why the heck would I simply not sign out
of the chat then, to all you clever people I want to tell I was also required to be
on IM for possibly using it as a means to look up detailed questions during the interview. So there!

Me: (Busy on chat)
A: Yo

Me: (Still silent)
A: Back

Me: (Oh God..Still silent)
A: You there?

Me: (Ok this has to stop) I am on phone
Dad: Hey you should go out buy a mask

Me: (What? Still silent)
Dad: Hello?

Me: I am on phone
A: Who on phone?

Me: Job interview
A: Oh ok ok..TYT (take your time)

Dad: A guy from TX got the flu to Hyderabad. Have you got a mask or not?
Me: I am in a job interview. Brb.

XYZ: blah blah blah. Ooops, sorry wrong window :D

Me: Oh my goddddddddddddd!!!!!! x-(

At this point I was even contemplating to request my interviewer if I can go Invisible x-( Gosh!

Thankfully all the pings stopped for some time.

I should have put on a "I am in an interview" status. But decided against it. That would certainly lead to many other type of pings. Probably "Which company?", "When?", "What role?" or even a "Congrats". Who knows..

PS: No offense Dad and A :)

Inspiration.com

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As I was walking to class this morning (ok, not morning, noon rather:))
this thought occurred to me.

Why do we look for inspiration in others when we can get inspired from people
we know up close?

I bet several of you look towards Warren Buffet, Lakshmi Mittal or whoever it is that you thought was your role model. (Which goes to say I look at them as mine. Haha. Truth always comes out first;))

But heck, why not our own parents, siblings or friends?

Oh, let me see, that's coz their successes aren't glamorous enough? x-(

I thought my parents did phenomenally well (inspite of being terribly broke twice), going through personal tragedies and yet did not let that affect their kids. They always made sure they sent us to the right schools, gave us best of food and shelter while soaking up their miseries. I am not sure if that is not inspiring to me, then what is?

Leadership Workshop

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We finally had the AWICS workshop

Whoop!!!

So we talked about what, how and why of leadership.
To sum it up, a true leader is one who can make a leader out of others:)

Initially when I made up my mind to lead the workshop coordination, I thought there wouldn't be too much of work to do. Heck no, I was wrong!

Invites, appointments, conference room bookings, food, flyers, parking arrangements..phew!

But thankfully, my fellow officers were so cool about helping me out put together the stuff. And the panelists..they were uber cool! And the food was yum :)
Look up these guys: Jason's Deli, if you want to order food for a club meeting, workshop or simply any event. They had some real delicious pasta menu.

All in all the workshop was a smoothie..although just when I was hoping for a perfect end, the weather got rotten :(

Oh the rains..I don't like them, specially when you are out of milk to make a cup of hot coffee at home :)

Subway

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It's amazing how much you can get done if you are away from the Internet for an hour.
Really! LOL.

And then pumped with the happiness of using that one goddamn hour productively, you spend the next two hours on Internet to treat yourself. Sweet!

Today I was at Subway on the University Drive. As soon as I walked in, there she was..

Ok, a little background in one sentence: There is this stupid b**** who will not give you that extra scoop of tuna on your bread.

So I hate her! Period

As usual she takes the turn to serve me. Damn.

She cuts the bread not into half but like 1/4 < x <<<< 1/2 where x is the size of the bread all the bleddy time she serves me. Then she has the nerve this time to even remove the tuna out of the bread. To which I put on a face of disgust. And she clearly didn't like the expression. So she goes ahead and picks only 2 strings of bell pepper when I specifically ask for "Lots of bell peppers"

And then she has this hearing problem or pretends she is deaf or dont know what her goddamn problem is, she will always ask me twice what I am asking for.

Me: Lettuce
She: What?
Me: Lettuce

Me: Spinach
She: What?
Me: Spinach

Ufff..I so goddamn hate her.

And then I was trying to read "Computational Learning Theory" sitting there in the smallest of subway outlets I have ever been. Obviously, I wasnt doing a great job of reading and understanding, since I was singing "Uh-huh, Life's like this..Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?" (Avril's Complicated) with the FM playing it and the Chinese almost beside me gave me an angry stare.

Dude, relax I am studying Computational Learning Theory and all you are doing is eating a footlong bread stuffed with meat. So cut me some slack! x-(

Oh whatever, I solemnly swore that next time I will loiter in the aisle until I see she is busy with another customer and then I go stand in line. I am paying goddamn 4.06$, it better be worth that shit.

Middle of year resolutions

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I am not sure why I am reading this link right now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossover_(genetic_algorithm)

Really I pitied my readers so I pasted the whole link above,
so they wouldn't care to open it once they read the hyperlink text. LOL.

It is one of those crazy end of semester weeks now. When there is a ton to do,
but you are watching a sucky reality show :)

Here is a mental list of things to do after semester ends:

- Resume job search
- Spend more time at the REC
- Do some cool ass stuff at Anita Borg
- Take a short trip to India or wherever the heck I am allowed to (thanks to immigrant restrictions x-( )

Ya, so that's a handful of stuff. I am already dreaming about what all I can do with my tax refund money. Haha.

And now I need to resume reading that "oh-so-exciting" wiki.

Here and there

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and everywhere..that's what my last month has been.

Several unsuccessful attempts at my job search. Messing up my courses this semester.
And traveling with this suitcase which is always packed with clothes and essentials, ready to take off. LOL.

Anyway, so I am still "jobless" although I keep telling my parents and my boyfriend
"Oh there is so much to do, I am so tense. Btw did you see XYZ's wedding pictures? Cool na?"

So much for being "tense", sigh!

Like yesterday, I was so determined to sit down and work on this presentation (which btw is in less than 12 hours from now and yet I am only 3 slides done). And the presentation is ahem, in the presence of Bjarne Stroustrup, so you get the point now?

And then bang, I saw an old friend online. I just thought "No harm pinging and knowing how she is doing right?". I knew I was lying to myself.

We sat for hours and talked about stuff here and there and "critiquing" (haha, that has become my favorite word from when I started taking C++ classes) desi population abroad.

Me: I can't believe they still cry their ass off for grades and marks at grad school.
A: Sheeesh!

Me: And this idiot from our class, remember XYZ? She was down in NY and I called her to catch up. She just wont pick my calls! What an attitude!
A: Ya I know..such a shame

Me: (topic goes to marriages) I don't get it why do people marry? Peer pressure?
A: Hahaha, yes.

Me: Like all these cast issues..
A: cast huh..

Me: Oh I mean caste..bleddy C++. LOL
A: LOL

Me: So how are the desis at your place. (A lives in Spain)
A: Yeah, the same "take photos, upload on orkut/facebook" culture. What do you expect?

Me: Ufff...

Hmm would love to write it all here. But I am sure we bitched so much, that a whole lot of it is censored :)

And now slide # 4 please..
Countdown: 11 hours to go

Just another day

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She did not remember when it had all started..Was it when she got married?
Or was it when Sona was born? The early morning wind chilled her cheeks as she stood
staring at the hibiscus rows on her backyard..

As a young girl, she liked a lot to paint. Mixing oils, experimenting on canvases,
brush strokes and water colors creating a mosaic of patterns on her apron..
Why couldn't she enjoy that kind of recreation any more?

Ram had been a loving husband when they married. Then Sona, their little daughter, happened. Her bright eyes and long hair so reminiscent of her look. It was like looking at her own reflection, only young. Ram and her had a plan, for Sona. She would go to Crescent (it was the best convent in town) for her schooling..

Every morning, she made breakfast for Sona and Ram. Although Ram hardly had the time for breakfast. As a consultant, it was hard to keep tab of his diet. He was mostly out of home, traveling. As for Sona, she had to wake up and go to Ballet class and then catch the bus to school. Evening she took coaching for the IIT exam..

Rest of the day was spent in taking care of chores. Cleaning Sona's room, cooking, doing laundry and dishes, sorting bills, shopping for grocery and stocking the kitchen and..then Sona would come home, drink milk with honey and do her homeworks and sleep early..

Soon the exam results arrived. Sure enough, Sona made it to the top IIT school. She packed to her hostel both sad and excited about her life..Meanwhile, Ram was now a Principal consultant which meant he traveled more often now.

She spent most of her time, doing the regular chores. Hardly any interaction with the neighbors or friends for many years, immersed in domestic life that zapped the energy and zeal that she had for anything else. She missed her husband and daughter, both oblivious to her lonesome life. She often moved either because Ram said it was better for him to move to Mumbai, to be in the heart of things..or Sona would really do well if they moved to XYZ school, they have the best resources for Sona's bright future.

Sona, was now a Software Architect at a multinational and lived by herself in Delhi. Ram was working hard to become the Director of his company and had plans to start his own consulting firm..

She stared at the match stick box, concealed in her palm now. It was too cold to unwrap her robe..it had already been an hour since she drenched herself with a can of kerosene and then covered herself with a robe as she walked to the backyard of her house. Summoning up courage, she watched her numb fingers push the match box open.

"Isn't it too cold outside Miss Kelkar? I see that you really love nature..", shouted her neighbor from her backyard, as she stood near the hibiscus rows.

That night Sona and Ram came home, a long forced vacation from work, they said. When they arrived, they found her cooking pots of steaming hot biriyani and chicken curry, Sona and Ram's favorite.

It wasn't Sona or Ram but her neighbor Miss Dixit who interrupted her fateful day..As for Sona and Ram, it was just another day.

It is funny how..

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..this video almost made me cry.



Not that I care about Anjali, the kid (how heartless can I be?:)), it brought back too many memories, all those happy moments that will never come back and my heart felt heavy..

Best parents I have got

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..because they never defended me and let me face consequences of my own actions.
I thought it was rotten on their part to let me go thru shit. I know today they wanted me to 'experience' it all. Experience makes you stronger.

..because we fight more than we talk. I thought it was rotten on their part to never as much as talk nicely to me. I know today that they only wanted the best for me, so they wouldn't give in to my demands.

..because they would simply not care what I was upto, what I was doing and whether I was doing well, whatever it is I was doing. I thought it was rotten on their part to never be as much as even be 'concerned' about their daughter's well-being. I know today that they did care, but only wanted to give me an opportunity to develop my maturity to handle things.

..because I constantly complained that they didn't love me, didn't even once express
their love to me. I thought it was rotten on their part never to show love. I know
today that they did love, only they wished I understand their unspoken love.

..because they were constantly disappointed in me, no matter what I did. I thought
that was the most rotten thing to happen to me. I cried silently at times thinking it over, only now I know they were always proud of me, but wanted me to be more ambitious and never complacent with my achievements.

..because they were depressed about the "good" upbringing they gave to the other kid
and yet he turned to be "not so good". I thought why should I face someone else's
wrong doings, why am I to be blamed? It was rotten on their part..but I know today
they were too scared to repeat the same "good" upbringing in my case.

Getting born into this world and given a shelter, fed and protected..
How many of us are selfless enough to do that?

Do you have a pink chaddi to spare?

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http://thepinkchaddicampaign.blogspot.com

Yeah, so a pack of "cultured" men will now dictate how the women in India should behave. Their culture says that women should not hang out in pubs and so they have taken it upon themselves to "culture" the women.

And the way to culture women...BEATING THEM UP.

It is ridiculous that in a republic India, we still allow a bunch of hooligans
to openly beat women in public.

Which culture or religion says that beating women is a civilized act?

Are they blind to issues like eve-teasing, molestation and assault of women in India?

Why wear shirt, a trouser or a suit, if anything "western culture" is a taint to Indian society? Go wear khadi..

It is sad to see that democracy in India has been reduced to vote bank politics.
Not one political party outrightly condemned it. Oh ya, why would they..they need the conservative vote. Urban women are intelligent and aware and they wouldn't vote for them anyway. So why bother?

Well, I never celebrated Valentine's Day till date. This Feb 14th, I am going to raise a toast to Ram Sena - "May you guys rot in hell"

Ice Cream

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Recently I got to participate in a blood drive. I know I was doing a noble cause, donating blood and all..

Ok, so I also know, there was a little selfish interest involved. *Grin*

The Austin blood drive basically ran a campaign like "Give a Pint, Take a Pint" (of Amy's ice cream :))

So naturally, I was excited.

I in fact binged on an extra breakfast taco Friday morning, because I was being sent
reminder mails that I should eat "well" :) So, this was comfortably one of the rare times, where you have a genuine excuse to give for overeating. I mean I could actually faint man, if I didn't overeat. Haha!

Anyway, I enter this bus parked by my office parking lot.

I stride in, grinning ear to ear..

Me: "Hey guys, is this where I need to give blood?"
Doc 1: "Yep, can you please sign up on that sheet there?"

Me: "Yes!" (Sure dude, do you have my ice cream ready? LOL)

Co-worker 1: "Did you eat? Coz you can faint sometimes.."
Me: "You kidding me, I ate tons! I could maybe give them one more pint. So full!"

Co-worker 2 (Didn't meet before, he was an Indian): "Hi, is this your first time?"
Me: "Yes! I never donated blood back in India. My parents would never let me..they were paranoid about the whole needle-AIDS connection, you know.."

Co-worker 2: (Nods his head in agreement)
Me: "Hey I didn't see you around before. You with the hardware guys?"

(Some more small talk)

Co-worker 1 to me (Striding out of the "consultation" room): "Dude, your next.."

Doc 2: "Are you Manju Vijayakumar?"
Me (smiling even more. This guy was Indian and so he got my name absolutely right!) : YES, that's me!

Doc 2 (polite smile): "Come on in!"

Me (tapping my fingers on the table. I was not sure why I was so excited! No clue why. But this was going to change soon..): "Whoa! Is that a long form or what?", pointing at the long questionnaire sheet.

Doc 2: "Yes, did you read the information sheet outside?"

Me: "Oh that AIDS thing?"

Doc 2: "Yes. That along with some other information"

Me: "Yeah! Isn't it crazy that people come to donate blood to test if they have HIV? So crazy!"

Doc 2: "Yes. A lot of them do that..Ok, Manju I might have to ask a lot of uncomfortable questions. It is just a part of the procedure. Are you ready?"

Me: "Sure!" (Anything for the ice cream dude. LOL)

Doc 2: "So tell me Manju..Did you have sex with more than one partner often?"

Me: No

Doc 2: "Did you have sex for money? If that question confuses you, it means did you have sex with a prostitute?"

Me: (Uhhh! Money huh..) No

Doc 2: "Did you have sex with a male who had sex with another male before having sex with you?"

Me: (Wot da...) No

Doc 2: Blah blah blah..."Were you pregnant in the last 6 months?"

Me: (Now I started getting used to telling No in a rhythmic tone..) Noooo

Doc 2: "Are you...

Me: No!

Doc 2: "I am sorry I did not finish the question"

Me: "Oh! Sorry.."

Doc 2: "Are you pregnant now?"

Me: (Hmm, how thoughtful of you to ask me.) NO!

Doc 2: "Do you have a fever now?"
Me: (Finally you ask sane questions, huh?): No

Doc 2: "Are you on any kind of drug now?"

Me: (Dude, I can eat an ice cream and still know I am eating an ice cream. That is how mentally stable I am right now!) NO

Doc 2: "Do you take heroin, crack, marijuana...blah blah"

Me: NO, NO, NO!

Doc 2 (Looking at me apologetically): Err..ok, Now I need you to take a look at this list and tell me what medicines from these have you been taking in the past 6 months

Me: "I don't need to look Doc. I never visited a drug store in the States since my last 1.5 years here"

Doc 2 (almost pleading): "Could you please? I need to conduct the procedure, end to end.

Me: (reluctantly..) Ok.

Doc 2: "I have few more questions to ask"

Me (sure, I am loving it x-(): Ok

Doc 2: "Do you belong to India?"

Me (WTF, doesn't he know am from India. I mean, he is Indian too..): Yes, of course

Doc 2: "How long back did you enter the States?"

Me: You are Indian right?

Doc 2: Err..yes, how long back did you enter the States?

Me: 1.5 years

Doc 2: So you were in India before that

Me (Yes, Genius!): Yeah

Doc 2 (Scrolls something across the form): "Sorry you are barred from donating blood anywhere in the States til Oct 2010. You hail from a country on the list of malaria infested nations."

Me (WTF!!!!!!!!!!!! Wot the f!!!!!): Whattttttt????????????

Doc 2: "..And this will go into our database so you cannot donate blood during the probation period. Also if you go back to India, anytime in the future, you cannot donate 1 year after your return from India"

Me: "Thanks for making sure! That is so relieving to hear. Is there anything else?"

Doc 2: "I am sorry. It is just a rule here. You can donate in India though."

Me: "Thanks. I thought I had to take your permission for that."

Doc 2: (Frowns)

Me: "Anyway, thanks had a GREAT time" (Boy! Was I oozing of sarcasm)

Doc 2: (Trying to make the mood lighter) "Hey are you from A&M?"

Me: "Don't get me started. If you are from UT, yes, I am an Aggie and proud to be one. I love Maroon more than Orange, if you must know." (totally miffed and pulling up a face)

(Texas A&M and UT Austin are two rival universities)

Doc 2 (smiling hard): "No, I am not form UT. I am coming to A&M for studying."

Me (rolling my eyes): "Really?!!"

Doc 2: "Yes. I heard it is great there."

Me: "Well...it is a small college town. It is warm and friendly. You would like it there. Heck, anyone would like it there."

Doc 2: "Cool, then we should keep in touch."

Me: "Ya well..yes."

Doc 2: "Hope to meet you there then!"

Me: "Sure"

Doc 2: "Sorry about today."

Me: "Ya, well I ate tons now, I need to find some other way to shirk all those carbs:)"

Doc 2 (Nodding and smiling)

Me (Strides out of the bus..enters my office break room and tells to my co-worker):
"Bitches, they wouldn't let me donate blood.."

Co-worker 1: "Try next time!"

Me: "Ya, remind me to sue them the next time..I will hold them against mental torture, sleazy questions..."

Co-worker 1: "Btw, there is ice cream if you want to have one:)"

Oh ya..I totally forgot about the ice cream in the process. Didn't I?

Face your fears

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This was a long time back.

I was a kid and I was very excited to travel in the local buses to school
(Don't ask me why, I am pretty retarded to choose crowded buses over comfy auto rickshaws)

Anyway, so I used to change 2-3 buses to go to school each day.

I was a kiddo then. Probably a 10 yr old.

I remember one day a partially crowded bus came by and I was running late.
So I swiftly stepped in and the bus driver yelled "Stopppppppppp!"

I said "What? What happened?"

Generally in the local buses, someone asks you to stop so hard only if you
were stepping into someone's puke in the bus. LOL. Anyway, what happened later
was tearful..

The bus driver started cursing me and must have used swear words @ 10/min
Like he called me a "whore's child" and what not. Some of them beyond my comprehension. He basically didn't want me to step in and add to the crowd in the bus.

Tears started rolling down my cheeks. And I stepped down.
That day I got late to school. But that was not the point. I was so terribly upset about those swear words, that I, frankly didn't even understand at that point of time. And yet it affected me so badly.

During dinner I ate very little. My dad knew something was wrong. So after a lot of "tell me what happened" lines,I told my dad,
"I am never going to go in that bus. I can't", and I cried
like a baby. Mom tells me till date that she never saw me so upset, like I was that day.

Dad: "What? What the heck happened? I thought you loved buses?"
Me: "Ya. I can't tell. The driver was so rude. I am scared to step into a bus and find him as the driver now..."

(Bus drivers worked on a rotation basis. So I could easily bump into him if I took some other bus too)

Dad: "Really! You telling me your scared because of the son of a b****?"
Me: Ummm...
Mom: [Jaw dropped. She usually doesn't get 90% of the curses we utter]

Dad: "You make me sick. Are you telling me instead of fist fighting this guy, you weep like a baby and do nothing about it? What the hell are you scared about?"

Me: "I don't know."

That's when Dad taught me some of the choiciest swear words to use. LMAO.

Dad: "Go use them! Tell me how it goes. I hope you meet that son of a..."

Me: [nervously laughing. I was still scared]

After about a week I saw the same bus driver when I stepped in. He was about to yell
when he practically pissed in his pants..while I started off. I ended with a line I practiced for like the entire week..LOL..

"Teri baap ki jaagir nahi hain yeh bus, samjha?" (This bus is not your father's property, understood?)

At the end of which I beamed. A couple of ladies in the front actually smiled back
and congratulated me. LOL. I was the local bus hero! Ha!

Disclaimer: This doesn't mean you can use swear words and turn the world on your side;)

What a day!

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Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

Warning: This is a full fledged 'bitch diary' for the day.

Right from the time I got up today, I was on the run.

First my roommate who moved out recently, kept sneaking in to check on
her "remaining stuff" in the apartment. Several of her woes, my plastic container (good lord, mus be a freaking 4 bucks!), my 2 melamine plates (I have no clue what happened to the other one, but one I seemed to have broke), my two napkins(jeez!) are missing. I really wanted to write her a neat cheque for all this if it made her happy. But she preferred whining about insignificant stuff. And kept telling "Everything was here before I went to the holidays" which actually would read as "You stole my stuff". Yes, I have a part time job and it is stealing other's food containers and cheesy napkins. I surely make a whopping profit off them girl..

Next, the new roommate walks in. Everything gung-ho. No complains here.
I spend some quality time with her grandmother and get all *envious* of a what a terrific family she has to help her with her things and simply take good care of her.
Life seemed so unfair at that point. (All that in another post)

I had to work on an important presentation to be given on Monday. And I did'nt start yet. So after my rather "long" talk with granny, I run to the office only to figure that today was 3rd of Jan. That means last day to pay rent. I run back to my apartment and what do I see? I am out of cheque leaflets! Good Lord! I run to the lease office, "Hey you think you can make do with a debit card?" to which I get a "Hey why dont you pay me a cool 45$ as processing fee?" :(

I go out for a walk with the new roommate to clear my head and lose track of time.
I come back in, only to find my roommate and her husband (now, with accomplice. wow!) sneaking around. Oh well..

I come back to work. All pumped up to start off. An old friend is complaining on chat about "How I don't chat with him these days.." and "Give me a reply within another 30 secs or you will die"

I try to relax and focus. I get a call from a friend in college.
"Hey your apartment keys here, someone wants them."
Basically I am moving into an apartment back at college in few days. Already the mailbox key is misplaced by one of the girl's who subleased the apartment to me. And now some friend of hers temporarily wants to stay in. I have no problems with that. I am basically human and I want to keep track of my freaking apartment keys! x-(

I hate the United States.

Indians and their two suitcases.

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I stared at ma laptop for the nth hour as my roommate was busy packing her clothes
and cleaning up her closet.

As she silently wrapped her stuff and neatly arranged them in the suitcase, I curled
up at the corner of my bed whistling some odd tune..

"You know it is so tough to move..", she started.

"Uhhh, whhaaaat?", I reacted, with my headphones still running on max volume.

"This is the third time I am moving this year", she said

"Well, technically, it has been twice...you are moving out on 1st Jan, which means it falls in the
next year's quota", I said candidly. Of course, my technicalities never impress anyone at
such subtle moments. She seemed totally unappreciative of it and pouted.

Hmmm, time to make it a light hearted moment, I thought. Specially, while I am watching my favorite
TV show I do not want a discussion on how "life can be a bitch". It destroys the entire dynamics of TV watching x-(

"You know when I switched jobs, I was cleaning up my desk one day. There was this co-worker watching me.
An american (whom I never really talked to much before). He asked me if I was relocating to a different place. I said yes..to TX.."

I paused and looked at my roommate.

She still seemed like I bound her limbs in iron chains and I force fed her through a tube in her mouth.
Totally uninterested in my narration. Anyway..I continued.

"So this guy said, so you are an Indian eh? And I nodded. Then he says, you must be travelling then with 2 suitcases"

"It is amazing how you guys fit everything into two little suitcases and off you go!
Like this roommate of mine, an Indian, back at college. All he had was a suitcase and a yoga mat.
Anytime he had to move, he would magically fit all his stuff in a suitcase, hang onto his yoga mat and
leave. And me, I gotta call U-Haul man..You guys are amazing..amazing.."

"I heard him tell the word amazing like a million times.."

And she laughed..LOL

Hmmm, It wasn't really much of a big joke, but I think it jus' struck chord for the moment;)

Oh well, time to continue watching my favorite show..

Happy New Year to all !!

2008, you can go hit yourself on the wall, I dont care. 2009, my love, here I come:)

Twirling my pen..

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has always been my favorite activity. Maybe I should list that up on Orkut? :D

But seriously, after a hearty chat with a friend yesterday, it seemed like I ain't
"passionate" about anything in this world. Isn't that depressing?

So I sat down yesterday and I scrolled a few words across my writing pad.

My roommate walks in and reports:
"The water's all over the bathroom floor, the flush is clogged. Nothing works in this apartment"

I stared at her like she just told me she discovered a treasure chest.

"That's it! That is why you have never been passionate about stuff!!", screamed my mind voice.

No, it didn't mean that the flush had anything to do with my passions. It just means
I have been complaining a way lot for a long time now..When you really sit down to "think" you really can figure out.

Usually I would bitch and curse the lease guys..Waste a good 15 mins on that, then get lazy and then pull myself somehow to go knocking on the lease office to complain. Instead I just stormed in and unclogged the whole thing..

Ok, so far gross. But the point is, I have been cribbing that I got no time to do all that I wana do.

It's a shame. So I just went ahead and listed down a few (oh well, I guess I will rephrase. These are the things that interest me:))

Writing (I used to write to a lot of children's magazines before..sighh)
Community service
Singing
Cooking
Mixing music tracks(?? what?? lol.)
Twirling my pen (ok, kidding)
Travelling on foot
Dancing like crazy (I think this must go to the top of the list)
Sitting on the front porch, sipping hot tea and chatting up with dad:) (This, unfortunately, cannot be a lucrative profession)
Debating about politics and movies (I personally think I should have pursued journalism)

Oddly though not one among the above even remotely coincides
with my profession nor did I do any of them in the last few years.

Life needs a U-turn right now..

PS: This is yet another cheesy "me-me" blog..I can't wait to start a journal starting next year and fill it up! Then I will stop cranking up my blogs with cheesy stuff.

End of year..that's what everybody says.

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Ok, firstly I got a guitar! Yayyyy:)
Acoustic of course, to begin with.
So I am excited, for myself:)

And now for the annoying parts of my life.


Everyone around me talks about "recession"

Dad: "Will you make a job? We will pray for you."
Just when I think "how sweet of you..." he continues
"But you will make a job na? Do you want to marry atleast?"

WTF!

Do you want to marry ATLEAST? Huhhh! Where did that come from?

Me: Hows life ???
K: Kya karu re, jobs hi nahi hain so passing my time
Me: Could'nt you talk about say like the movie you watched last night..damn.

Roommate (yelling over the phone in the kitchen): "What the hell! Layoffs in India??
How can that be possible??? Layoffs? Layoffs in India?"
Me (comes to the kitchen)
Roommate to me (still with the phone ON): "You know they are laying off in India!! Can you believe that?"
Me (expressionless): Ya, breaking news.
(No offense roomie, it is just getting to my nerves now..)

Not one positive attitude among the people I know.
Extremely de-motivating. :(

Why are you going to gym?

Hmm. Good question. I really didn't think gym could be a place to sit and read
or gym was our local community center or gym was a place to watch TV or gym was some place you can get your nails done (oh, btw I don't give a damn about nails being done...whoever thought of such a thing as "nails being done"...People are way too obsessive abt getting their nails done. That story is a long one. So some other time.)

Gym, people, is where you try to exercise. Get it? So don't ever ask me why I am going to the gym, followed by "Oh you want to look sexy for your boyfriend aa?"
and please dont add the "aa" at the end of the sentence. Drives me crazy.


Several other annoying questions:

Why is your boyfriend so far away from you? Why dont you guys marry?
(None of your business)
Why did you get up at 6 am? (I need to dude, to go to work at 8 am.
So get over it! :x)
Why do you eat so much yogurt? (Seriously, is yogurt getting out of supply because I eat all of it?)
Why did you stop eating meat? (Ok, this ain't annoying the first time because I was
a regular meat eater..But repeating yourself again and again, is much more irritating. So quit asking me.)

and this takes the crown:

"Why can't you act like a girl?"

(No comments.)

and before someone asks me "What are you doing now?"

I am right now doing lunges behind my desk and small-talking with this sweet (..so I thought) janitor who just now shoved her business card and stormed out without as much as a "take care" after the 15 min conversation:

House & Apartment cleaning

Reasonable prices
General Cleaning
(512)-XXX-XXX

65$ and up.

Bitch.

It is 1.30 am and all I can think right now is the Unda Aloo roll served at Kati Roll, Greenwich Village...

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Shit I should be taking a flight to midtown Manhattan...:(

(The title was too small to fit in my agony..)