NYC Diaries

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Good News: There are New Yorkers who still do open the door for you..
Bad News: They constitute just 1% of the population

Good News: The view from the Empire State is surely breathtaking
Bad News: They stop you on the 86th floor and rip you off, of your money, if you have to go to the 102nd floor.:)

Good News: The train takes me to Manhattan in 20 mins from Jersey. Yayy!!
Bad News: It takes 30 mins to reach the train station and 30 mins thence from the train station to ma office..so who cares how fast the train goes x-(

Good News: I got a cheap apartment to stay.
Bad News: It has mice, no AC, leaking roof, creaking floor..(but ma roommates are swell, so there is good in bad :)

Good News: The strawberry shake at Mac Donalds still tastes the same. Sweet and yum.
Bad News: You pay 3$ and 2 cents for it at Broadway:) (as opposed to 2$ and 16 cents at Jersey)

Good News: Sure, they have 12 flavors of coffee at ma office to choose from
Bad News: I love only two among them (and they get over real soon. Its hazelnut and french vanilla.)

Good News: The city is heaven to shopaholics.
Bad News: I unfortunately, am not Donald Trump's daughter:)

Good News: There was a kid in the train beating an ugly rude man who kept shoving him hard.
Bad News: The kid used a balloon to hit him.

Good News: You walk by fancy NYPD cars, sharp shooters and patrolling cops on the Wall Street
Bad News: You still get stalked by perverts on the street.

Good News: I love the weirdity of New York.

- A grumpy old woman will yell at you for talking on the phone at the bus station. (I have no clue why??!!$$%& She sweared at me for a hard 15 mins!!)

>> Bad news (for her): I continued on phone. LOL.

- A black teenager will try to scare you in the dark. He was harmless though, thank lord.

>> Bad news: He didnt catch me off guard. I expected it. LOL. He sucked at scaring people :)

- A naked man always stands in Times Square. In fact, pretty girls take pics with him

>> Bad news: Err, he looks kinda ugly??!! After him, I have stopped thinking about naked men, unless i am in a mood to witness a nightmare.

Good News: I got to work on so many different charitable service events.
Bad News: None! I absolutely loved every moment of it.:)

Good News: There is always a sale in New York City!:)
Bad News: Shopping centers are notorious in bringing down your resolve to save money.

Good News: I love central park.
Bad News: I live too far away from the park :(

Good News: I got three paychecks today..and I kept chuckling adding up the figures iteratively:)
Bad News: I hunted down the paychecks after 2 hours..long story! ugh!

Good News: My internship ends tomorrow. Time to chill!! yayyy!
Bad News: I am addicted to NYC. I dont wana leave !!! :((((

New York Cares

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This weekend was rather hectic. I had to travel from Jersey to Upper West Side of New York. I kept cursing myself for having to wake up at 7.45 am on a lazy Saturday morning.

A calls.

A: "Wake up sweetie. You have to go play the kids today.."
M: "Groaaaaannnnnnnn"
A: "Do you know what train to catch? How much time does it take?"
M: "It takes a million years.." [Me pulls the rug over me]
A: "So eat something real quick and lets go!!"
M: "Leave me alone!!!!"
A: "Shall I call you after 10 mins? You can sleep till then.."
M: "aaaaaaaargh..why do you have to be so nice to me?"

So finally am up there..on a subway..punching in my debit card pin and buying a ticket..

By the time I reach 135th street its already 10.05 am.
And am supposed to be at 10 am on 138th..some peach colored building full of kids waiting on me.
"Oh ya, this sucks...so darn unprofessional of me...late by a whole 15 mins..", I think to myself.

"Hi! Morning. I volunteer for the New York Cares..", I introduce myself, gasping, to the guy behind the reception counter. He leads me in to this tiny kid's room full of crayons, pencils, paint brushes, game boards and snacks. A nice small couch and a TV and a wash basin, a table and lots of toddler chairs.

"Look at my shoes..they are so BIG!!", yells a 6 yr old from her seat..
"Big..and purple!",I add :)
"Mine are even bigger", says her twin sister..

The next 1 hour was fun knowing the kids, filling in colors into Olympics bear on a white sheet..

There was this guy Joshua, who was very creative.
"I want to draw Shadow", he declared and started to draw on the back side of the sheet.

Within 10 mins he drew the side, rear and front views of this character. Pretty amazing stuff.

We then went to the New York Library. It was the reading hour for the kids.

This is where, the twin sisters kept me on ma toes. They go by name Janais and Anais.

Janais kept clunging to ma legs and Anais kept pulling out books from the shelves @10/min.

"Dont you wana read Anais"?, I asked calmly..trying to settle my nerves.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", she would scream and run around the library..

She then had a fetish for a book on corn all of a sudden.."I want a book on Corn" she announced and pulled me to the lady at the desk.
"Lady, can i have a book on Corn?", Anais asked and the lady reluctantly walked to the aisle of books and showed me where the food section was.

Then she continued "I love candy...No I love chocolate..I want a party book...I want a book on tigers..I want to read Dolphins..I want baby whales..I want to read about penguins"

I drenched in my own sweat running around them...They made the library a park and sought hide and seek to reading books.

Soon it was lunch time and we made some ham and peanut butter jelly sandwiches for them. As I neatly arranged them on a plate with chips, raisins and carrots, the kids would neatly remove the carrots out of the plate and stick it in my palm..lol.

Post lunch it was story time. The kids had to write a story each with the help of their volunteer.

One kid wrote..

Title: A boat that could not float.

Once there was a boat that could not float. One day somebody taught the boat how to float. So the boat floated and sailed away into the sea.

LOL

At the end of it all, I don't think it was so bad after all to drag myself out of bed so early:)

Big Deal!

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Ok, so I am in United States. So, what's the big deal?
Recent conversation with my dad:

[I call him up after a night out of err..academics (ok so i watched a movie, so wot? I studied too!x()]

After all that dialling Indian mobile # and my balance updates from a sucky voice on IVRS, I delve right into the conversation..

Me: So whats up?
Dad: Oh hi my dear baby, Manjuttie.

[Me is confused. Dad never really gets all "sweet" and "gooey" like that]

Me: Err..ya, hi dad. Dear dad!
Dad: So hows the apartment at New York [emphasising on "New York" so much that I thought for once
I was beginning to hear things TWICE. argh!]

Me: What apartment?
Dad: Ya, so you got an internship at NEW YORK. CONGRATULATIONSSSS!!

Me: Didnt I inform you that late October last year? [Still confused]
Dad: [Paying no attention, whatsoever] So what is the time at TEXAS?

Me: Huh!! Gosh! Where the heck are you? Are you outside?
Dad: [Finally answering my question] Yes, at this society meeting.

Me: Oh yaaa. That explains all this NEW YORK, TEXAS emphasis huh?
Dad: [Switching back] So how is the weather there at Texas?

Me: Dad, stop!!
Dad: I was just telling Mr. XYZ, about your trip to Seattle

Me: Ya, god bless him, but does he even know what you are talking about? He doesn't know what "Seattle" is, I bet.
Dad: And I told him my daughter has been to Seattle and it rains there all the time

Me: Why don't you also tell him about the weather at Colorado, San Franscisco, Florida and New York? It doesn't matter if I have been there or not. Also tell him that it doesn't rain that much at SF, funny ain't it?
Dad: So i heard the apartment at NY costs 3000$ per month? It is 1,20,000 rupees per month na?

Me: [I give up] Alright I will call you later. Do you friggin' know it costs 6 cents/min for this stupid call. Switch off the mobile and speak to your heart's content. It doesn't matter if I am on the phone.
Dad: Ok, I will you back when I am home. HEHEHE.

Me: [After hanging up] So much for hi my dear baby! x-((((((

Radical thoughts

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Sometimes I want to chew the head off of some people who think the world of them. I completely,
absolutely loathe narcissists!

Sometimes I feel like just jumping off a building top. That's right, you heard me right. Now don't ask me why.

Sometimes I feel like just running a lot. A lot means lotttttttt!

Sometimes I want to just drive a big ass truck into somebody's mouth who keeps talking talking talking like there's no end even while you PLEAD them to shut up.

Sometimes (these days specially) want to wake up that small poodle enjoying its sleep and ask "Hey did you ever do any simulations for an Alpha Instruction Set Architecture for an out of order processor using Simple Scalar?". Hopefully, you get the underlying meaning of this all (screw tha jargon)

Sometimes when I see couples fighting or staying apart I want to go ask them to jus' rewind time and see why they actually were fond of each other in the first place. If they don't get what I mean, then they might as well shut their maniacal bitching and whining and GO SLEEP!

Sometimes I want to just keep drinking caffeine..on and on and on. But hey I quit caffeine from today. Period. On second thoughts, whom am I kidding? If you took my word for it a second ago, wish I could say "Happy April Fools Day"

Sometimes I want to ask this flab all over ma body "Hey, so you are enjoying weighing over me, you nasty li'l bastard" while I am sweating it out at a gym.

Sometimes I wish I had all the courage to just follow ma dreams :( It is by far the most scary, most dreaded thing I could ever want to do. Sad.

More rebellous thoughts saved for later.

Can anyone tell me why..

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...the Computer Science department at my university does not have more than 2 linux boxes. Why, god why? Arrrgh!

...the flush tank at home just choked, overflowed, flooded and submerged my comforter, clothes, papers. Arrrgh!

...I am sleeping at the tune of 12 hours per day? Likes it's my job to sleep. Like I am getting paid for it. Double Arrrgh!

...I would'nt let go the gum in ma mouth and keep chewing on it like it's my job! Why can't I simply spit the damn thing outand get a new one? It's right in my darned jean pocket, another gum waiting to be "gummed" (lol). I just gotta pull it out, spit this out and put another one in! Arrgh!

...so many losers surround ma each day..my each "unslept" part of the day x-([You have no clue how many losers. Gosh! And you have no clue what I am talking about. So screw it and read further.]

Ok, never mind telling me. Looks like I have made ma blog ma agony aunt.

But to reset it's status I have a short story. Or rather anecdote. I just remembered it out of the blue.

My dear old undergraduate days at Pilani (BITS). All hungry souls waited on the piping hot maggi our mess bhaiyyas (fondly as they are called. they really were sweethearts. you spill the milk on the floor, they wipe it off the floor without as much as an angry nerve. Phew! For the explanation :)) made every night after dinner. Ok. That aint the anecdote anyways.

As usual Tamilians are forced to learn Hindi when they go North. Some try hard to manage, some just learn the customary"Maggi bhaiyya", "Dahi bhaiyya" (curds) to survive the hunger. So there is a cute unassuming Southie girl standing couple of heads before me.

She - "Maggi bhaiyya"
Bhaiyya - "Banana hain" (I am yet to make it)

She - [Confused] "Banana nahi. Maggi"
Bhaiyya - "Banana hain" [Wiping out the sweat off his face]

She - [Handing the 2 rupee food coupon to him and pointing to the Maggi packets] "Magggggggggi bhaiyya"
Bhaiyya - [Looking at us with a pleading face to rescue him]

Us - "Ok XYZ, it's not banana he is talking about. It's just Hindi you see and all you have to know is it doesnt mean BANANA"

Another in the line - "Ya dont go bananas over it ;)"

LOL.

Ok I gotta get out of here now. Amen.

OCD

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That's right, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Ask me why. Here is the answer:

- Taking bath twice in a day. No kidding! (And to understand the gravity of it, you should ask my friends about my previous life (pichla janam! hehe), when I seldom took bath :p)

- Addicted to caffeine, to the score of 3 Mac Donald coffees per day(3$/day :(). Previously loathed American coffee (decafs) and now gulping it by the gallons.

- Addicted to TV shows (2 episodes of Two and a Half Men, 2 episodes of Prison Break , 2 episodes of How I met your Mother). And that's just the average.

- Eyes glued to the laptop for close to 21 hours everyday, half the time for reasons above, and the other half conduting "simulations" that run forever and suck the blood off ma eyes.

- Not picking calls. An intensive urge to NOT pick calls. But returning calls within next 24 hrs.
Weird huh? Hey, that's why I self-proclaim maself as OCD. duh!

- Running. A lot. Running like it's my job. Running like I am escaping death. Running like the world is coming to an end. Running like Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. Ok you get it, right?!

- Talking to A, morning, afternoon, evening and in the night. IST. Ok timezones does'nt matter since I am talking all day long. :)

A ton more of such obsessions..but did the inquisitive soul in you just ask me, "Then when is it that you study?"


PS: As my professor once said, is your blog a "ME ME ME ME" blog? So I will try to post something more generic and not just about me. Till then I will beat you to death with the updates of my life.

My dear Internet

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You have changed, affected & healed lives.

Ok, sounds cliched. *grin*

I mean it does make a lot of difference the way we have changed our perspective to meet the Internet savvy life.

I often go on trips and like to take tons of pics of the place I visit.
It usually ends up with more than 50% photos capturing 'us' than the place.
Ok, coming back to the point, most of the times when I take a pic of my friends I can hear them say
"Hey that background would look so good on Orkut!"
So if it sounds as though these pics are taken only 'coz we can sport them on orkut, facebook, myspace etc., you are right! LOL.

Or the time when my dad asks me, "So I doubt you are studying at grad school. Just curious, what do you do? Movies?"
"TV shows dad", pat comes the reply.
"You have a TV at home?", he asks, more curious.
"No, my laptop", I tell
"What? TV show on your computer?", he quips.
"Err..never mind. How is the weather back home?", I veer the topic.

Well, even dad gets to put me on spot at times.
"So what have you been doing today? Been to a walk outside?", I ask naively.
"Solitaire", he says, like it is the norm of the day.


On one other occasion. I was at my campus library, scouring for some book.
Apparently the only two copies of the were checked out and it left me irked.
All that biking to this place for miles from my apartment added more to my frustration.

"Can I recall those books? I absolutely need a copy. Do you think the West Campus (other library) would have it?", I ask. To which the old lady at desk says calmly "You can look over at the e-book version"
Duhhh! I know that!x-(
I don't exactly belong to planet Mars. Or maybe they have their own Internet there too. Martian Internet. LOL

My professor once quipped in class.
"Do you know the biggest advantage of doing research in the field of Web spam?"
We all nodded "NO" and blinked at him.
"If your wife catches you browsing unethical sites and frowns on your browser history, you can always tell that you were researching spam on the Internet, it is part of your research", he chuckled.

So the thing is if you are taking pictures for Orkut or you want to shop online for a pair of earphones, or you just feel like reading a book or heck, watch a movie before it hits the theatres, you know that Internet has changed your life.:-)

For the heck of it

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Yeah. It is true.
It is simply one more of those days.
You are sitting and thinking about which homework to work on (ya, its true you only "think" not "act")
over that Mac D coffee (addicted to it now:( ), keeping aside the one SQL query you need to write (which i have been
procrastinating from past 4 days?) and yet i cannot stop but wonder how Chinese men/women are so athletic!

Yeah! How are they so slim and athletic? Can someone answer me (for a grand prize of a dollar meal at Mc D?)
LOL.

Seriously, whenever I travel (ya i am always on bike/bus, not on my feet most of the times) I watch
at the Chinese women with their perfect silky hair pulled into a pony tail and their super athletic body.

But today, surprise surprise. I saw a near to fat Chinese lady and chuckled to myself "Finally!!"

But still she was'nt even fat as me (Hey that doesnt mean am fat! Minced my words i guess!:((

Anyway, I told this to a girlfrnd of mine and she honestly, put the most straight face (the type of expression a li'l kid
would have on his face when he asks you a naive question) and told me
"But I thought most of them are Sumo wrestlers"

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!! You are deep shit you know!", I told her

She nodded her head to the greatest capacity possible.

"Explain", she demanded.

"First of all Sumo wrestlers are of Japanese origin, so your whole doubt on this topic is baseless.
Next, sumo wrestlers are supposed to be fat, That's their profession.
And finally don't you ever demand me for an explanation to a silly doubt"

So much for asking. So now am at Google search typing "Why are chinese so atheletic?".
Lets see what google gives..

LMAO

Results:

"My non-sexual threesome adventure - Canadian Chinese Youth Athletics Association"
"The chinese University of HongKong Required Physical Education Athletics Course notes"


Honestly, I would'nt have minded if they gave me pages of the 2008 Olympics at Beijing.
But this, my friend is pure hilarious.

Wait a second. Wasnt I supposed to be writing that SQL query?

Want free coffee in your mail box? :-)

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Sign up for some Jamaican flavored coffee delivered to your mail.
And no I am not kidding!!

http://beta.joffreys.com/

I am waiting for my free coffee to arrive. I can already smell it. sniff, sniff!
*grin*

Happiness, right now

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..to sit on a couch and sip piping hot (filter) coffee with a book on life.
..to be able to walk on a long abandoned road in the dark and sing out aloud my favorite tune
..to sit on a beach and try to think of nobody but the 'sun'
..to go to a park and run around my dog (when I have one)
..to always be able to eat a tuna sandwich if i want one, anytime of the day

I cant think of any more..right now.

Do you want me to take my shoes off?

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So are you always like this?

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Yeah. I have been asked that a lot of times.
And well its not annoying anymore. I jus thought, "let it be!"

There were like a 100 times when dad talks to me and I reply in monosyllables until..

Dad: So thats the thing. I hate that neighbor. He barfs as hell. He is such a [beeeeeeeeeeep]
Me: Hmmm
Dad: ..he is such a dumbwit. He doesnt even know that such a thing existed. Can you believe that?
Me: Hmmm
Dad: Are you even listening to me?
Me: Hmmm
Dad: I am hanging up!!
Me: Actually, there is this totally cool movie I am watching.
Dad: [click]

the fone tone goes on for eternity and i go back to my movie.

The other day ma friend asked me "Are you always like this?"
I said "Like what?" with the most innocent face I could make up. But that did'nt stop her from saying "Ok. Forget it!"

Or..this one..you gotta hear this one.

X: So your voicemail. Its interesting.
Me: Yeah i know. I was walking down the curb and thought hey why not set up my voicemail. And then I am at loss for words. I actually start talking and then i take this long pause.
X: No, I mean..its hideous ur voicemail
Me: Well you just said its interesting. did'nt you?
X: I mean what is that rhyme in it?
Me: Its called creativity
X: Are you always like this?
Me: Like what?
X: I mean..
Me: No! Tell me! So many people tell me this "Are you always like this?"
I wana know like what! Really! Tell me! Today is one of those "Tell it to me" days. So tellllll me!
X: Forget it!

Well one of the movies i wanted to start downloading..laters with this post.

I heard someone wincing "Are you always like this?" or maybe I am conditioned into hearing that stuff ;)

And yeah, next time some one asks you "Are you always like this?" and you wana tell me that, I believe you! Oh yeah!

Pivot Tables versus Me

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It was a rather friggin' day.
A mid term and then you walk astray.
You donno wot to do
When there is a call for an interview

No! Am not trying too hard to sound rhymy.
My thoughts jus' poured into a rhyme. Thank you very much.!

An excerpt from the interview..

Lady: So, MAN-joo is that how they pronounce your name? [Giggles]
Me: [Not cross! With the most expressionless look] Yes

Note: I gave up explaining Americans how the first three letters of my name isnt an offshoot of the english word "man" but its a vicious world. They jus' dont wana listen to you! They jus' wana eat you and call you MAN

Lady: So you mentioned you have prior work experience on campus?
Me: (the same expressionless face) Yeah.

Lady: Can you tell me a li'l abt it?
Me: (yaawwwwn) It was an office assistant job

Lady: So what kind of stuff you got to do?
Me: (Felt like faking euphoria about ma previous job. But i let it pass.) It was the normal office chores. Photocopying, attending calls, faxing..stuff like that

Lady: Do you know pivot tables?
Me: (Excuse me!) Blank expression

Lady: There was this nice Indian guy who worked with us previously. He did those pivot tables

Lady2: Oh Debbie you dont! You love him so much for pivot tables you would wana search where he is now and get him back dont you?

Lady: I mean it was so awesome. Pivot tables are so awesome.

Lady2: Ya, you always tell me that! (Looks towards me and says) She always tells me that!

Me: (Totally clueless. What is happening here?) Nodding

Lady: So, do you know pivot tables?

Me: (Same blank face) No

Lady: Oh thats a shame!

Me: (wtf!) Isnt this an office assistant job?

Lady: You mentioned Excel on your resume.

Me: (Correcting her) Parts of Excel. I wrote that in there in my CV

Lady: Ya, but you know pivot tables are so awesome.

Me: (Somebody jus' wipe her away from the face of this earth) But that is not a part of the job description you advertised.

Lady: (Shoots a cold look for a brief instant)

Lady2: errr..so manju aside from office chores did you do anything else?

Me:(Oh ya! I socialised with this fat lady in my office and talked about pigs often with her! Duh!)
Well, I used to come early to work, pull up the blinds, turn off the answering machine..stuff like that.

Lady: So...

(one more time she says pivot tables I swear i was ready to storm out of the room but she dint)

Lady:...can you make me a cup of coffee?

Me: Is that a part of this interview?

Ladies laugh. I guess they eased a bit now.

Lady: I cant live without coffee you know!

Lady2: Me too!

Me: Hahaha (like it was a BIG joke! But I swear i didnt know how to react to this)

Lady: So manju temme will you do coffee for us?

Me: Sure i will if you pay me by the cup! And not by the hour!

Lady: (Laughs)

Lady: So describe a crisis situation you were in before and what you did to come out of it.

Me: (I was aching to tell, for example am in a crisis situation now. Stuck with two insane ladies who jus think the world of pivot tables and coffee. To come out of it I can act like am going into a coma??) I screwed up my company's SMTP server once.

Lady: Blink
Lady2: Blink

Me: Its a long story. I came out of it by just informing my manager about it and sought help.

Lady: OK

Me: (Wow! I shut her up! LOL)

Lady: We have another round of interview now.

Me: (Wot da hell???? Wot????)

Lady2: Come with me Manju. You need to do a li'l exercise for us.

Me: (Are you kidding me???)

Lady2: (Takes me to a desktop, logs me in and says) You need to write a small draft. We would want to rate your writing and articulating abilities

Me: (Havent I displayed my marvellous articulation back in there?) Yeah. Sure.

Lady2: You have 30 mins for this activity

Me: (Dont even bother! Am gona shoot this off in like 5 mins. Gimme the damned desktop now)
Alrite. Can i go ahead now?

Lady2: Please do. Once your done, take a print and slip the paper in if am not around. I might be gone.

Me: (You cant put me up with this lame stuff and go out for a smoke!) Ok. Not a problem.

I did finish in like 8 mins. I found her and gave her the paper.
She did the customary "It was nice talking to you" and I did the customary "Same here"

Came out and breathed in some crisp evening air.

Did i jus' tell her it was nice talking to her? Somebody kick me!

I wanna sue life! x-(

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Life's so cliched these days.

Ya, i like to put it that way than rather say life is routine.
It sounds so cliched doesnt it?

I met this super woman at a conference last week.
It blew me off! The way she could talk her way out of things, her hardships, her triumphs, her experiences and her commitment to work and life, to everything that mattered, her family, her kids, her friends. It was all so inspiring. And yet she was so humbly humble! (if there is such a thing as humbly humble!)

Anyway, my point is, life gets cliched when you dont sit up and think in ur head, think for urself.
What do i wana get out of MY life.?
No this isnt a self help book.
Am serious! Am screwed up most of da times, but i can still do this "am serious" thing at times.

Each passing day, we dont realise how we might be ruining dos moments which can MAKE ur life the way you want it to be.
Why should we think in the same lines? What after college? What after ma first job? What after marriage? What after kids?

Its like we are trained to do this. All so robotic!
'
There are days when I have walked on a road without even as much a thought as "is it da right way am going?" because my mind and body are automated to walk that road evry single day so ma mind wont "think". The mind has been put to sleep. It jus' leads me to the place I wana go..magical isnt it? Its devastatingly mechanical, if u ask me x-(
Your mind isnt in control about what you do, where you go, coz it has seized to think.

And life plays its little games on you!
Life is what you make it to be. So its that part of ma life where am sitting up and doing some "soul searching" (beat da heck outta exams and homeworks!! who cares! people do. but they dont rule ma life, do they?)

I, me, maself

Ya i know i am such a self centered swine. But I love maself too much and am proud of me.
To others, I am gona sue you! x-(
Am done sueing life

Amen.

Perspective

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Is the sun rising or setting?

Courtesy: My software engineering class :)

..And even if it kills me am gonna smile :=)

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So says my facebook 'Quote for the Day' app.

Its amusing how people cannot get themselves to smile these days.
And wots more amusing is its taken a toll on me.
Its like I have been trained to do the 'dont-smile-at-people-becoz-they-dont-smile-at-you-neways-so-why-shud-you' act!(phew. that was long!)

I mean, you hav'nt got like the crumbiest teeth have you?

You jus' walk down the road and you see how people are scheming on how to steal glances at you and not smile or plain dart their eyes and roll them down like they are in deep thought.

Like there is this friend o' mine, he knows me, we took courses together and yet he cant bring himself to acknowledge me with a smile. Heck, you dont hav to socialise to smile!

Or there is more pronounced trend amongst us(or so i think!)..You walk by, on a road, sum crowded joint, library or simply by the classroom and you see this person walkin towards you..and your mind starts to race (ya, mind! not da heart.dats a totally different story neway;)).

/me versus mind

me: heck, should I?
mind: who, what?

me: ders smone coming dis side. vaguely familiar.
mind: oh ummm.so?

me: shud I?
mind: huh?

me: shud i errr..smile?
mind: is dat smthing you ought to think so much abt. it aint rocket science. so do it dammit!

me:

the person walks by

me: seeeeeeeeee! he dint even know me! i feel like a fool.
mind: lol. wot a loser! move on girl! see..ders sum eye candy der by the water fountain. watcha think?

so you see folks, listen to your mind.
And ya, SMILE! Even if you dont know me;)

And thats how you build character..

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If you ask me this whole thing about "building character" is bullshit.

There was a time when i jumped around in skirts, basking in ma outdoorsy delights (playing marbles! yayyyy!!)
or simply taking pride in ma elementary school victories (winning a lemon-n-spoon contest! yayyyyy!)

But dad wud'nt think so! x-(

He wanted me to clean the porch or cut vegetables for mom or learn "how to pay the home electricity bill"
Becoz he thot it builds character.

I argued "How can standing in one long queue outside a govt. office drenching in ma own sweat and praying that ma turn to pay the bill came soon, build character?"
Its supposed to give me a headache, if you ask me!

Or there was a time when I was sick and crawled upto him one nite and said, "Dad, i wana puke." and he said, "There's the bathroom. You know what to do".
"You know wot, i dono how to puke! So you better get out of the bed!"

And thats when after da bathroom hustle I was lectured more on character building.

Later as I began to stay out of home, I finally said to maself "Manju, no more character building.!"

Along came "cleanliness" freaks, "perfectionist" team leads, "organized" roommates
All of them with a single motto "character building is the crux of life"

Now when ma dad calls me, he often asks
"So are you guys paying up your bills in time?"

To which I reply, "Yeah. All the character building apparently has gone ONLINE"

Why can't I ever build character in a Miami condo or a casino somewhere?
-- Calvin

Eavesdropping & more..

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Girl at walmart counter: So how u doin' today?
Desi guy: [Dumbstruck..stares at the girl]
Girl: Everyting ok with you sir?
Desi guy: [Wakes up] What?

Me [on fone]: Vet Med Park. This is Manju. How may I help you?
Caller: Ma pigs..
Me: Am sorry (?!??)
Caller: Ma pigs..they are sick.
Me: huh?
Caller: Ma pigs are sick. They dont eat anymore. Wot do i do?
Me: Err..Am sorry ma'm you dialled the wrong number
Caller: Isnt that what a vet is supposed to do? You medicate ma pigs!
Me: Am sorry this is College of Veterinary Medicine. We DO NOT take care of animal medication or consultation and..
Caller: [Getting hysterical] But they are sick!
Me: You need to check the yellow pages ma'm
Caller: So can you gimme the number?
Me: [ha so clever!] Sure.

[At the bus stop]
Girl to Guy: So, what's ur number?
Guy: 979-blah-blah
Girl: Aha. So we meet this Sat to get the homework done?
Guy: Yep
Girl: I have this American Association blah blah meeting I gotta attend. And there's the first meeitngof Origami society after that. So it might take me sumtime to get started on the homework
Guy: [Nods]
Another girl waving at the girl: Heyyyyyyyyy Michhhhelle..[Hugs] Howwww are yaaaa?! I missed yaaa..
Girl: Awwwwwwwwww
Guy: [Crossing his eyebrows and staring]
Girl: I misssed you tooooo
Girl # 2: Oh you dint!
Girl: i did!
Girl # 2: Did not!
Girl: Did!
Girl # 2: Did not!
[Phone rings]
Girl: Heyyyyyy Stephhh!!! howwww r yaaa??? i missed ya..
Girl: Oh my god! Ohhh - myyyyy - goddddd
Girl # 2: [Shaking her hands, legs, hips in a frenzy..] What? What happened?
Girl: Ok!!!! i will be there in a jiffy.
[Hangs up]
Girl # 2: Whatttttttt??
Girl: We are having a party tonite. We gotta get supplies and cook and..
Girl # 2: ohhhh-myyyyy-goddddd! Shudddddddup!
Girl to guy [as she runs off]: Hey J#$%^%. Gotta go! C ya around.
Guy: [Smiles]

Girls walk away

Guy: BITCH!!!!


At a career fair presentation..
Chinese Guy: So is it is the you do fy-nance see-ayl and aaaaa solutions and wan(t) still to ty-ke petroleum ma-jores for soft-wire????
Representative: aaaah, can u repeat the question?
Chinese Guy: [Repeats]
Rep: huh..ya [nods, without a clue about what he was asked]
Chinese Guy: So is it is the work giv-and to thy ma-jores from pet-roll-eum not rel-oh-vent to the areas of inter-rest of what we dooo at compass and how is it go-ing to bene-fitt the comp-ony and you?
Rep: huh..ya. huhhhhhhhh..ummmm
Desi: He wants to know how you are benefitting by recruiting petroleum majors though you are essentially into creating financial software solutions.
Rep: Ohhhhhhhhh! Oh that..ok. it goes like this..blah blah blah

LOL !

On skydiving, clicking pictures & pregnant ladies

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An hour of software engineering classwork:

Me: [walks in. Front rows are empty. Damn! There isnt any place at the back. Damn!]
Lively (professor): What time is it?

Me: huh?

Lively: When does the class begin?
Phoren guy: 3 pm!

Lively: And wot time is it now?
Phoren guy: 3.10 sir!

Lively: Okkie then. I wud appreciate if you guys come to class in time
Me: Duhhh!

Lively: [paces up and down] you thereeeee!!
[Points at a guy behind] Have I taken your picture?

Guffaws..

Guy behind: Yes you have

Lively: hmmm. I dont remember ya. Anyone who hasnt, get your picture taken after the class.Now leme see if i can get your names and faces right.

Lively: [looks at me] Joshi?
Me: Naa..Manju.

Lively: Yeah. You take out your glasses and let your hair down for a picture and then you come all tied up other times. How am i supposed to know its you!?

Me: [holy shitttt!!]

More guffaws

Lively: Girls and their hairstyles.okkie then lets begin the class.

Me: [finally! Time to doze ]

Lively: So what is web engineering? Anyone?
McMillan: Umm, its engineering of the web?

Plenty of Guffaws!

Lively: [paces up and down, faces the class and with a stoic expression] is it wot spiders do?

hahaha!

Lively: blah blah blah. So what do we call systems that can handle catastrophic situations? Anyone?

[pauses]

McMillan: fail-safe?
Lively: Who said that? Who?

Class goes into a lull.

Guy at the door: It came from that direction.

Lively: Mcmilllllllllllllllllan??????
McMillan: errr..

Lively: [eyebrows crossed] McMillan! Whats fail safe?
McMillan: Systems that are safe from failure?

hahaha

Lively: They are called fault tolerant..blah blah blah..Have you heard of the Mythical Man Month? Anybody?

Lively: Okkkie then. It says "Persons and months dont interchange". Or dooooooooooooooooooo they?????Ummm. What happens if they are 1000 developers working on one single project?

Desi guy [waiting to impress] : It leads to conflicts. There wont be a consensus and leads to low productivity

Lively: Good! Let me see. If a woman can give birth to a newborn in 9 months can 9 women do it in a single month??

Guffaws n guffaws!

Lively: Awwwrite! [Turns and stares point blank at me] What is the terminal velocity rate when you sky dive?
Me: [My wake up call!] 124mph!

Lively: You! Manju! You are gona make an A in ma class!
Me: I sure will!

Lively: I was testing if you guys lend me a ear when I talk gibberish.
Me: duhh!

yada yada yada

End of the class.

So anyone can tell me what I quoted about productivity?

Some voice in the class: 9 pregnant ladies?
Lively: Awwrite. Dont write that in ma mid term

How I cooked up blog titles and then ran out of steam..

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It happened on a sordid afternoon, 3 hours back, when in the parking lot me and ma lunch partner discovered....
helmet lock...that can open with any key(huh! wot did u think? wots great about a helmet lock? aint dat dumb. :x)

yeah...and then...i said in ma throaty voice (down with a bit of cold), lets blog abt it?

We lapped up a rotten meal for lunch and felt proud abt skipping an expensive looking restaurant for this rotten meal.
"Lets wash it up wid an ice cream cone", lp suggested

lp == lunch partner, for the uninitiated.

And then we skipped another expensive looking ice cream parlor..

"We can find a softie on our way bak to our abode", we proudly declared in chorus.

And then we dint spot an ice cream parlor newhere else.

"Wots wrong wid da world? Isnt there any sound person who nurtures the idea of opening an ice cream parlor?", I thought.

That's when I thot to hell wid blogging...to hell wid evrything..

If you cant get an ice cream, swell! Wot is life then about?

Life is then abt blog titles;) Exactly..Dint know if relating all ma past incidents across several posts was a gud idea..so I thot why not just end up with self explanatory blog titles!!!!
(Ya i welcum claps..thank u thank u!)

So here goes.

- How me and ma lp found dat his helmet lock opens wid ne damned key and no, human nails arent even close to opening it!

- How I impressed ma visa officer wid a crisp shirt and lots of grins and got ma visa of course!

- How I shopped at a store day after day and end the day with a hysterical fight evryday

- How I am learning to car drive with a barking car instructor who goes spookily silent on evry Mon, Tue, Wed and Sat

- How the li'l girl on the street nudged at me and said "Didi..chaaabi.." and I thanked god she called me didi and not aunty

- How I was treated to a farewell party and people kept asking me "Ur leaving right?" while I was still very much an employee

- And how at the same farewell party I intended to give a farewell speech and ended up sharing controversial anecdotes

- How i frantically Alt + Tab when ma lead comes to ma desk and still orkut will magically pop up upfront

- How I read "Tuesdays wid morrie" and went and asked ma dad "Are you suffering from ALS?" and next day made ma lp read da wikipedia on ALS.

- How I visited a money swindling doctor (and still visiting out of compulsion) and make him record da pulse rate, BP, weight, height and feel satisfied abt da whole affair being paisa-vasool.

Life I tell u...hmmm...dont even bother! I sign off here.
And wot are u doin here? Go watch Chitrahaar! Like I care! duhhh.