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:)