30 Days & 30 Ways

Time flies away when you really dont want it to!

The other day I realised I had completed 1 month in the new company I recently joined. That made me ponder on the events of past 1 month...many things changed, many new were commenced...here's a point by point detail of my 30 days in TPL:

1. TPL has made me diary-gal. I cant do without my daily to-do list. I go off to sleep and something I need to do the next morning crosses my mind - I'm up the very next second and scribbling notes in the diary, with dreamy eyes and shaky hands!
2. My job puts me in a place where I screen people on every stage, starting from their joining our projects till the time they survive there. I hold myself responsible for rejecting "infinity plus 1" people so far... cant say how many more will follow...
3. This job has changed my perspectives a lot. I've turned sides now, I get a two-side view of things now.
4. I used to work 9 hours and travel 4 hours before I joined TPL. Now I spend those 13 hours working!
5. My phone works over-time too. I used to charge the phone battery once in 2 days - now it gets fed everyday.
6. This ones a bad one - I was so used to falling asleep with A's pats on my head. Now since he's moved to decent morning hours, he sleeps off before I do and I dont get those pats I so miss in life :(
7. There's another thing I miss... seeing him sleeping next to me the moment I get up... but I make up for that by calling him while I am still half-sleep.
8. For the first time in 5.5 years, I'm trying to get into a day schedule - the 9-6 routine.
9. Another bad one - the weekend I used to be so crazy for - has gone half - yes, I work on Saturdays, too!
10. I still travel but way less. And I get to travel in Metro sometimes too - makes me happy, reminds me of old days, when I was a regular with Metro.
11. I am a regular with home cooked food, too. Working from Home job has some merits, at the end of the day!
12. But at the same time, eating out hasnt gone down. If I'm travelling, I'm eating out...and eating a lotttt!
13. And that shows when you look at my Tummy. Its never been like it is these days!
14. TPL India team is a 3 women brigade (that includes me, too!) I haven't had female colleagues/boss before - so this one's a change too.
15. I have a weird history of getting along with Leos. Its either too good or too bad. Incidentally, both other women in the league are Leos. Its been good so far... lets see...
16. First thing when I get up - I used to plan the meal I had to cook - now I check the mail.
17. I get to write a lot these days, but that has hit on my reading quota. I am stuck on Brida for about 1.5 months now. Buckle up!!!
18. My break time from work - I solve Sudoku puzzles that appear in the newspaper everyday...1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9.. and you're done! I even have Sudoku on my iGoogle page. I play sudoku when I am travelling - time flies ;)
19. I have promoted myself to a regular Lipgloss from zero make-up.
20. Social Networking sites would soon declare me anti-social. Well...I was never a fan but yes, a regular but its may be once a week now...just so I dont forget my passwords ;)
21. There's been a biiiiiiig cut down on my movies too... 30 days and just 1 movie. Thankfully it was a cute one.
22. I have now entered into a professional relationship with a very very dear friend. This frightened me first, but then enlightened a lot of things later on. I am glad it happened :)
23. One of the very important things I do at work is getting the customers' expectations right...and the way I work is setting my boss' expectations wrong! Leading by example, you see!
24. In my IQR days, I used to think I was a workoholic...I wonder what I am right now...
25. Again in my IQR days, I believed wherever I'd go next, it'd be better for sure - that still holds true. I wont like to compare more :)
26. I gave my first ever salary in my granma's hands, i still remember. My first salary from TPL is due now - and I'm thinking what to get for the 2 most important people in my life...
27. This job has made me take my driving seriously.
28. I have loved to have a planned day, but that's history now. I still begin a day with a plan, but its a plan that has all the deviations and d-tours of the world! Life now is an ad-hoc list of assignments :)
29. Now that i've got myself rid of travelling thru 3 cities everyday (from one end to the other end of NCR), A has got into it and spends a lot of time driving now.
30. My first post in more than a month - the one that you just finished reading!

Some cartoons now, I think I need'em:






Sweety.

100 things you didn't know about me

I'm glad Blogger let me log in and post after what seems like ages! And to make up for this hiatus, here's a gigantic post! You're invited to know, not 1, not 2, but a 100 things about me...which you never knew! (Atleast I hope so!) So, off I go!!!



1. The first movie I saw at a movie hall was a Chinese one and was dubbed in Hindi with title "kaanch ka khargosh"

2. This was during a school trip and I had to see the second half of the movie sitting on the aisle stairs, since I couldn't find my seat after the movie intermission, and was too scared to approach my teacher to help me find it.
3. I'm crazy for SRK. Some of you might know this, but nobody knows the degree of that craziness for him.
4. Despite of this craziness I can patiently hear someone criticizing him - cz I think everybody has a right to voice what they feel about something/someone.
5. And, despite of that craziness, I can easily admit how I agree with some people when they say he should've never done a certain films.
6. I think I like SRK as a normal family guy way more than I like him as an actor.
7. I like and prefer curd over milk a zillion times.
8. I don't even remember the taste of food that my mom used to cook, except that of okra.
9. And that of kidney beans too.
10. One of the things I always wanted to learn from her was cooking.
11. One reason why I am proud of myself is that most of the cooking I know, I learnt myself whenever I made a blunder.
12. I so love it when on random evenings, A appreciates the lunch I cooked and packed for him earlier in the day.
13. And I am so curious to know how the food tasted when he doesn't!
14. I talk about A so much that I don't even bother to think if the other person knows him or not.
15. I had refused to leave the bed when I was told that my few hours old sibling was a baby gal, and not a boy - just as I had prayed / demanded to god.
16. Whenever I spotted a baby, till sometime back, I'd just standstill and look at them adoringly and wouldn't get over them for long whiles.
17. But now post-marriage, all I think is about how my life will be when I'll have one of my own.
18. I also plan to start a mother-baby blog.
19. My skin is so sensitive that my palms would burn the entire day if I mashed boiled potato with salt and pepper.
20. I loooove Khichdi.
21. I have snoozed the alarm at least a dozen times before I get up every morning.
22. I don't think if I'll ever turn vegetarian.
23. One of my fav flicks is "While you were sleeping". I have seen it countless times and still wont mind watching it, anytime, any day.
24. I think Julia Robert's Erin Brockovich is an equally fav.
25. I like eating fish - preferably boneless.
26. Tuna Sub is the one I always pick at Sub-way.
27. It irks me to core when A forgets to switch the bathroom's light off after using it.
28. I once threatened to lock him up in the bathroom if he did that again. It didn't help!
29. And I am always made fun of whenever I switch it off for him.
30. I have always hated Science as a Subject. I thanked god I didn't have to study it post my 10th grade at school.
31. I was so wrong when I thought that since I ended up teaching Science to my sister until she got thru her 10th grade.
32. For the most calculations I happen to make any given day, I can count on fingers and am always right.
33. OK, almost right!
34. I haven't tasted tea yet. I don't plan to, either.
35. "Mother Dairy - Chocolate chip" is the only thing I think of when it comes to ice-creams.
36. I had very bad hand-writing till my 5th grade.
37. Tolerating ACs is a big deal for me. I start getting chill bumps instantly.
38. Entire week, I used to wait for Saturday night, since that was my bed-time story night.
39. I prefer Radio over TV.
40. I quit drinking milk from milk bottle the day I turned 5. That, was perhaps my first promise to mom.
41. The first piece of jewellery I bought was a gold pendent.
42. My first wrist-watch was a Titan, bought out of my savings from my pocket money. This was when I was barely 11.
43. The first time I voted, I realized that one of the poll duty officers tried to see who I was about to vote. And he did see that.
44. I forget what I dreamt of, if I don't try recalling it in the first five minutes of my waking up.
45. Till sometime back, I was confused if I was an atheist.
46. I have now realized that god is there, and that I am not the religious kind.
47. Until sometime back, I was scared of dark.
48. The first time I enter a public utility or a trial room during a shopping spree, I lock and unlock the door, just to make sure its working and that I'll be able to let myself out once I am done!
49. I haven't fractured myself yet!
50. I hate people who interrupt when some body's talking and those who always want to be heard.
51. I once held A's hand assuring to help him cross the road when both of us were shit drunk.
52. I was given a scholarship for being in top 0.01% scorers in Hindi, in national board examinations.
53. My sister tells me that I am very short tempered. I am yet to realise that.
54. Friday is my favourite day of week. I wait for it every weekday :)
55. The first thing I do when I sit in a car - I embrace myself - with the seat belt, that is. More so after A's road accident.
56. For consecutive 3 years, I had my social studies' half yearly exam falling on my birthday :(
57. I prefer books over movies. With books - there's a lot left for imagination. Movies kill that - I think.
58. I hate being preached about turning to Vegetarian food. I respect vegetarians and their choice of food and expect the same from them!
59. I am s**t scared of dogs.
60. I once said 50 p was more than re. 1 and mom gave me a scolding I'd never forget!
61. My first visit to Mumbai city was even before I was born - Mom was expecting me!
62. I am not a morning person and sometimes wonder how I'd manage when I'd need to be one.
63. I can't dance but love to watch people dancing. I think people who say - "you don't need to know dancing to be able to dance" - are liars.
64. I prefer sunflower over rose.
65. I can't handle south Indian food.
66. My first earning was Rs 150 that I earned by tutoring a 6 yr old for a month.
67. I like to get pampered at times. But at the same time, I can't handle too much of love/pampering. I start crying before I have opened all my birthday presents - every year.
68. I didn't like Harry Potter series. I think it has too much of magic!!!
69. One of the best birthday presents A has got me - a musical jewellery box. I cried when I opened it too.
70. Despite of my liking for choppers, I once got scared with one, because it was flying too low and I was on the terrace. I had hid myself in mom's lap.
71. I think bitter gourd and crocodile resemble a lot. God must have had high targets or must have been low on imagination / innovation when he made them!
72. I lost touch with a friend when I was only 5. Growing up, I didn't even remember I had that friend until he reminded me, 15-16 years later.
73. For a long time I was scared of wearing jewellery after somebody had once snatched my mom's gold chain.
74. I think Aamir Khan is a disgusting fellow - he over reacts and wants all the attention - all the time!
75. I have a habit of reading 3-4 books simultaneously. I switch to another one when I get bored of one.
76. I don't like to work on my birthdays. I ask others not to do so, too.
77. Most of the guys who like staring/ogling at the gals don't get what to do next when I start staring back at them. They'd either start looking somewhere else or would leave the place.
78. In school, I would shuffle between rank 1 and 2 every year. Every time I finished on rank 2, I was just 1 mark behind the topper and this was a trend for 7 odd years.
79. My class teacher who was infamous as the least emotional teacher in the school had tears in her eyes when, on the last day of a session, I returned her the class locker keys.
80. I quit playing volley ball when I was in 9th grade. I regret that till date.
81. Pink has never been my favourite colour. I am confused between black and white ;) Does that tell you something about me?
82. For a long long time, "It's my life (Jon Bon Jovi)" was my Friday favourite - for the weekend had finally arrived!
83. "I'm alive" and "Have you ever really loved a woman" are two songs that had me smitten with their lyrics.
84. My fingers will smell of onion for more than 2 days after I have chopped one, despite of "n" number of hand-washes.
85. I was once a part of stage performance at annual day during my primary years of schooling. We had a song on flowers and all kids except me were to sit in a circle wearing costumes like flower petals. My part was to sit in the middle of that circle of other kids and the idea was to dance like a bee when the flower would open. Now, the costume guy didn't get my dress and the item coordinator decided last minute that the flower wont open! I waited and waited to be seen - from the beginning till the end of the song and so did mom n dad who were present in the audience!
86. I cut green chillies with kitchen scissors, instead of knife and I cut them real thin. And then I count how many pieces I got from each chilly. So far the record is 39 from a medium sized chilly.
87. I was once accused of beating the office cab driver, while someone else had. The cops couldn't help laughing their lungs out, when they saw the cabbie was accusing a skinny gal! He had lied only because I had complained against him the day before.
88. I once declared that if I grew up to be a pilot, I'd only prefer flying helicopters. "You have to run on a run-way first to fly an aeroplane, chopper takes flight the very first moment" - was my reason!
89. I never loved my granny - since I knew she never loved me. And yet I gave my first salary in her hands... and then we both cried.
90. I was born on Wednesday.
91. One of the books I'm reading currently is "The Fountainhead." I dont think I'll ever be able to finish reading it.
92. My mom-in-law gave me a sweet nice name long before I got married and she uses that name till date.
93. I dint know a thing about computers before my first job. I took a crash training on a weekend and learnt basic operating - and I guess, I'm still learning something about computers everyday!
94. My goal before I turn 25 - get registered for eye donation. I'm looking for a reliable association. Do you know any in Delhi - NCR?
95. I still believe there's no actress in Indian cinema who could dance as gracefully as Madhuri Dixit.
96. If I get up in the middle of night and realize I was dreaming of something, I try sleeping again so I can continue dreaming - and 9 out of 10 times, I am able to continue with the same dream!
97. There are 2 things that help the most in putting me to sleep - a) someone patting slowly on my head, and b) chanting Gayatri Mantra.
98. I sometimes talk to God Sun - I thank him for being there eveyday, for I wonder as to what will happen if he bunks someday ;) and also because I think he's the prime source of energy. And whenever I talk to him, I ensure its evening time and not morning - because a) I for one believe in setting sun and b) a little acknowledgement and appreciation at the end of the day works for everybody.
99. I am a fussy eater. I cant eat rice that was cooked without salt. I wont eat onion if it stil has its raw taste which I just cant handle. I never liked to have food from my friends' tiffins thru-out my school, though I didnt mind them sharing mine. I finish my salad before I start eating my meal.
100. When I started this post, I thought I wont be able to finish it. I wrote a couple more posts simultaneously but saved them in draft - so I post this first and dont this one.

And looks like I'm done!

If you made it till here, congrats! And if you liked it more than I thought you would, pls write random things about you and ping me here!


Sweety.

Sultan - My Gonna Be Friend

Long time no see...I said to myself when I logged in to blogger today! Anyways...

August 3 is friendship day and I'm gonna get a new friend (atleast I hope so!). Read on how...

Lemme now set a background for this gonna-be-friend of mine. I am very very scraed of dogs and A's aunt has one. A biiiiiiig one. A Boxer. They call him Sultan. So, A's aunt is leaving for the US of A sometime next week and wants us to keep Sullu-Pullu while she's away.

Sultan happens to be one of the biggest dogs I've seen so far, but he comes across as a very very intelligent and gentle dog. (Doesn't help me cz I am always scared) They always lock him in a room whenever I visit'em. Now, I am gonna stay with him under the same roof. So I have decided to strike a friendship with him and the time is apt too!

A has been bugging me with the idea of getting a pup home and I say no always. Not because I am scared of'em, but because I strongly feel both of us wont be able to manage. Dogs need care and you need to give'em TIME. You gotta be in a routine for'em. But I have given my green signal to A this time, for I think its a perfect chance for him to find out if he can change himself a bit, change according to Sultan. Sure he's caring enough, but when it comes to doggy-walk etc., he's the laziest guy I've known.

My friend K says you shouldn't bring him home, cz its gonna be difficult for the two of you when you'll send him back at aunt's. When I told A, he said, "do you think I am gonna let him go back?"

Time will tell that. For me now, its time to learn some doggy stuff! Off I go!!!

Sweety.

The Invasion

I hate it when someone attacks my freedom. Freedom of saying things, freedom of not saying things, freedom of following my heart...

I hate it even more when that Invader is a dear one... but then I realise, only dear ones have this liberty... but I still dont approve it.

I love my freedom more than myself. I love it even more when I am being forced to do something I dont really wish to... and that's when I fight. Like I did last night... though I had to surrender when they overpowered me, but that surrender made them loose their stand in the core of my non stop beating machine. So I dont feel defeated, because they are... What they lost last night, they'll never win that again.

I go down the memory lane and can't find myself acting like this ever. I was never like this. I am forever changing, I think! For good or for bad, is not the agenda at the moment, doing what you feel is what matters...

Having read this far, if you have a feeling that I am using this platform like a venting place, I think we have something in common.

Sweety.

Weekend Insomnia

Not feeling sleepy despite of a hectic night, I resorted to one of the things I love in my life...Music.

Atif's new track is out and its there on my current playlist and I am loving it...like his other tracks, like all other romantic tracks, for I think of A everytime I listen to it, even when he's sleeping blissfully by my side :) and here comes my coffee! Been ages I tasted it, I try and keep away from it so I dont loose my sleep but I thought I can have some today, when I am so feeling like having it and while the weekend is still here and I can catch up on my sleep later too. Coffee always reminds me of tea, which I havent tasted in 23+ years of my life. Mom never introduced me to it initially, for she thought I might start liking it over milk :) and then I also never picked it thinking tea, being dark in colour makes you dark! By the time I realised the truth, I had decided I seriously dint wish to taste it, and so it continues...

Coming back to Atif, K in her usual Q&A session asked if I had ever been to his live performances, sensing my liking for him. Yet another time I said no!

She continued, "do you know how is his voice in reality?" I really dint have a clue so I made it clear from my face expressions. She, after sensing my ignorance, enlightened, "its very bad! In his live concerts, one can figure out that hes not singing live and they play the recorded tracks in the background and he would just move his lips." "So do they edit it everytime he records a song in a studio?", I asked almost worried. And as suspected, she said, "yes!"

When I pondered on it again on my way back to my desk, I realised it really dint matter to me cz I just listen to what I love and I love what I listen to! How they get it is really not my business.

Now about last night at work. Despite of calibration with client and lots of pending audits, I managed to dine out with A between the shift and it was just lovely! No wonder I still love it when we go out for a date cz I can successfully forget the fact that I am married to him!

K met him last night and said she found him cute....

& I cant afford to disagree!!!

Sweety.

Abandoned in the Abundance of Love

Less than a couple dozen years of life and here's the eleventh man to have joined the gang...the gang of love strucks!

Where am I heading? Where's life taking me? How am I going to face the captain?

Sweety.

Yaari Dosti Taaza Maaza!

AP: Keep smiling! Was good talking to you after so long today.

S: :-)

AP: Shabaash!

S: :-D

AP: Alright, dats it! Dont make any more faces now.

S: B-) 8-)

AP: Stop that now. You're gonna be away for 2 days... :-(

S: :-P

AP: Oh Pagal Ladki.

S: :-(

AP: Pagal, Stupid, Idiot, enough now!

S: :'-(

The era of emoticans saves many many words!

Sweety.

Memoirs of a D'uh!

My new colleague K asked me yesterday if I had, ever in my life, rang someone's doorbell and ran away. Somewhat ashamed, I said, "no", but mentioned how annoyed I used to be when someone would ring our doorbell and I wouldnt find anyone waiting outside the gate. This was nothing less than a torture in summer afternoons, where you are half-sleep and all you see outside are deserted streets and no signs of those pranksters!

She asked back, "have you ever played street cricket?" Proudly, this time I said , "yes."and that "yes" gave a green signal to some memories to be lively in some part of my mind. I recalled how I loved to bat and hated to field whenever I played the game. I recalled I wasnt very good at it but still enjoyed quite a lot. I recalled playing with kids who were atleast 8-10 years younger to me! And I also recalled how I had once hit someone, right in his stomach, for I had sensed he was watching me play and I dint want him to. That someone...he was my dad's frnd's son, dad liked him a lot, they both were each other's favs, so much so that dad said it once he wanted to marry me off to him... Anyway, the guy smiled despite of that shot for he knew I had noticed him :D

While I was still lost in all this, K shot back. "Have you been mischevious in school days?" was her next question. I was humiliated this time. Reason being my sis who had asked me the same question just a couple days back and made me realised what I had missed in my life.

2 people have asked me same thing just in span of 2 days and they looked for the same thing...something I had never done and they had reacted identically...I realised being the way I was back then is just not IN these days!

All I treasure from my schooling years is being in good books of teachers, sincerity, obedience, topping the class every year, being named a "book-worm". Such a seedha - sadha bachcha I was, that now when I look back, I laugh at myself.

I love Pink Floyd's "We don't need no education" I so love it in my new avatar! And I am pretty sure, I would have ridiculed the artist for passing out such a message had I heard it in those years ;)

K said yesterday that I looked like a docile and I gladly replied, "these looks are deceptive, babe." She would have hit bull's eye had she said it around 3 years back. Those who know me in and out, would give all the credit (good or bad) to A & I wouldnt disagree. This man has changed me and changed me for good. Its been a complete transformation, believe you me!

I surrendered myself to him, but do you know the best part of this surrender? I have all the freedom I need and more & I love my life like this, I love my life with him!

Sweety.

P.S.: Those who think I was contradicting myself towards the end of the article, I suggest they need to read it over and over and over again until they start feeling that I wasn't! :P

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!

Many many happy returns of the day! Happy Birthday A!

A turns 23 today :)

Going down the memory lane, I recall I gifted him a poem on his birthday few years back. It seemed to be a perfect poem, for it had the ditto feelings I had. It was a long long one so following are a few excerpts:

"ye janmdin, har din, mubarak ho unko

dost to bahut hain par hum jaan maante hain jinko.

Khushiyo se ho malamaal, sametna mushkil ho unko,

God ne khud happy birthday kaha ho, aisa mehsoos ho unko mann ko.

......

sochte hain is mauke par, hum bhi keh de apna kissa tamaam,

bata de zamane ko, kyu lete hain baar baar aapka naam.

tu hi to hai woh jis se raushan hai subah, mehakti hai meri shaam,

meri zindagi ka behatarin hissa hai, tu banda nahi hai aam.

.....

ye dua hai meri ki sitaro se badhkar chamke tere naseeb,

tu jinhe chahe wo rahe har pal tere kareeb.

tu kar dikhaye har kamaal chahe aam ho ya ajeeb,

tu dosto ki ho pasand, tu zamane ko ho azeez.

......"

So sorry A, for sneaking in your file from the briefcase ;)

It was yet another day that made me realise I can never do enough to show what you mean to me!

Sweety.

Acknowledgements (not really!)

I got a few words of appreciation last evening :)
Soon as I reached office and signed in to Yahoo IM, hubby dearest expressed he had liked my last post as it was very well written...

Generally, whenever I update the blog, I tell him I have updated expecting him to read, knowing his schedule doesn’t permit him to go and check it everyday for any updates. I do this for he’s the one who made me try my hands on writing though starting with blogs was my idea.

His appreciation came when it was least expected and the words were so mild and beautiful, I had tears in my eyes (I dint tell him this, now he’d know!) I realized my hands trembling while I tried writing “Thank-You” I was back to normal soon thinking I was in office and was just about to start my day.

While going back home, I thought about it again. And with that, also came memories and all the good times. Sometimes, the fear of losing it all is what makes you get it all in life. Makes you dare to do things you might not have courage to do otherwise! There was a time when there used to be marriage proposals coming for me every now and then. People visiting us pretending they had come to console on our loss and then calling us back to tell they had found me very homely and would like to propose for marriage. Sick!

My hubby has always been my confidante; he has always known what’s going on in my life. And when he came to know of these stupid behaviors of people, he realized he needed to say it now. He knew once I got married, he’s gonna lose this friendship as well. His actions made me also confess I had the same love for him. So the sense of losing me made him get me!

Today when we remember those times, he makes fun of me saying if he had not done this, I wud’ve got married to some mama’s boy, no clue how gud/bad he wud’ve been to me, I picture myself mothering at least 2 kids (may be more), leave alone working full time and managing home simultaneously! Sounds more like a caged bird, doesn’t it? Well it does to me. I never had great expectations out of me, but I had never wanted to end up like this either!

Whenever I seem to complain that he’s not spending time with me, he replies humorously, “You know, the moment I was born, I had my index finger pointing towards Delhi to show everyone that you are there and I have come only for you, see I have been so dedicated towards you and you say I don’t spend time with you?” He leaves me speechlessly wondering how great his imagination is.

He’s always been with me thru my thick n thin, silently supporting me, perhaps leaving me to realize it all…so I wanna let him know…I realize it, understand it and appreciate it!

I owe a lot of things in life to you, including myself!

Sweety.

Office Party <:-)

Friday, May 16 was Office party for TM at IQR. Last one was in April '07 and so this one was much awaited.

I aint a regular at parties and the biggest requisite for me is the presence of hubby dearest. Still I decided to attend this one, after Boss #2 had asked me to be there and left me wondering why he said that...so we left the office at 2200 hrs for the venue. I wudnt really name the place cz it sucked big time and I am not here to write reviews abt places...anyway.

So, I signed on the entry sheet corresponding to my name in the list, got my wrist stamped with the logo of the place at the entrance and stepped inside. Soon as I joined a couple of colleagues, I was asked what i'd like to drink and that reminded me of a small exchange of words merely an hour back:
R: Have changed my mind, I think I am going to party, Oliie asked me to join.
A: Gud, have a gud time. Dont drink too much. Love you.
R: Do you think I am gonna drink? Not without you, darls.
A: I meant water, juice....
R: Dont you kid me, ok?
And I declared I wanted juice. "What, you have come here to drink juice?" Asked PS. Astonished, I replied, "Yes, I dont drink when A is not around." She laughed at me, doesnt matter, I thot. :) Snacks were served and drinks started flowing. I quickly sent a text to A, who was still in office and much to my dismay, having a bad day. Guess it worsened it for him wen I wrote, "boring party, missing you loads."

Music was ok initially, probably the DJ took time getting our taste of music...but does it really matter when people are drunk to no limit and all they want is a loud noise to move thier bodies? But yes, music got better and better gradually. And that was only gud thing about the place. Gud english and punjabi music made everyone move non-stop. I can't dance, honestly and so I was sitting at the back, tapping my feet on the floor, non stop (thats all I know about dancing) and munching on chilly chicken and kababs when Boss #2 approaches. Clicking pix from his cam he asked why I wasnt dancing. "Cz I dunno how to", came the apt reply from me. "Yeah, as if I joined a dance school as soon as I was born!!" Saying this, boss left me speechless, stepping on the dance floor again.

I love to see people dancing. I can always spot a few who believe in "Dance as if no one's watching", it shows from the way they dance! While I refused many a requests to dance, I thot of having some more juice. Spotting Boss #1 near the bar, I approached him and asked him to get one for me, meanwhile, Boss #2 comes towards the bar.
R: Thanks for making me come here, I think its gonna be a gud one for all of us.
Boss: (smiling) btw, what are you having?
R: Pineapple juice!



Guess he was a lil concerned, knowing A wasnt around. Making him smile, I left the bar. Back here at the dance floor, things were getting better by the minute. Booze effect, eh? It was so great to see all the bosses dancing, making faces and drinking. For a change, no superviser scolded anyone for not meeting target and no executive cribbed for break. The best part, no hierarchy, no boss-subordinate relation!


Soon, the booze effect was clearly visible on a few and others were still sober. And then we got some retro hindi music! A gr8 start with "Pyar hamein kis mod pe le aaya" made all the bosses go jump on the dance floor, followed by "bachna aye hasino lo main aa gaya" with Boss #2, moving fingers in his hair and giving cute expressions on his face. "Roop tera mastana" left him wondering which gal he shud tease and dance with! :)




It was a little after mid-night when the DJ announced he was going to play the last track for the night. We all shouted our lungs out asking for more n more! Sensing that I was the only one who hadnt danced yet, MS, our new CEO grabbed my hand and brought me to the dance floor. Dilemma: I cant dance and I cant say no to her! So I called all those who I had refused to dance with and thot of trying it out with'em. Thanks to my misfortune, the track the DJ had played turned out to be "Sutta", OMG! But u know what? I went on, I really dunno who saw me doing that, but yes, I danced for a few seconds and ran back. See the Suttah effect:

& The best one...

Next 45 minutes were spent requesting DJ for more music and dancing endlessly. With the free supply of booze, almost everyone had had enough, but not everyone can handle it, u see. The worst part was when a supervisor was also out and started acting insane. I heard a bouncer(i guess he was a bouncer) asking his boss not to play anymore music fearing we wudnt move out of the place if it wasnt stopped. ;) :P The bosses made sure everyone had dinner which was one real difficult task to get done. I, all of a sudden felt an urge of having ice cream so I asked Boss #1.
R: (Raising my hand like a school kid) I want an ice cream!
Boss: Have ur food and u'l get it.
R: Had it.
Boss: Will just get one.

And I saw him asking the buffet guy, but I figured thay dint have ice cream in stock, strange though. We finally left and I heard a lot of us thanking the bosses, shaking hands, hugging each other. Nice feeling. :) I also moved towards Boss #1.
R: Thanks a lot, S.
Boss: You are always welcome, R.
R: (smiling wickedly) I thanked for the ice-cream, S.
Boss: (Embarassed) Sorry yaar, they didnt have it. We'll have one once we get downstairs.

I smiled and dint say anything, cz I appreciated what he had said and I also knew there wudnt be an Ice Cream wala outside at this hour of night. Its atitude dat matters to me!

I have a special caption for the pix below: "Shikari khud yaha shikar ho gaya!"

It was a gr8 evening that made us see who we really were, what we were made of and our different facets. We were just being ourselves, unlike we are when we are in office. May be we dont realise, but we put on a mask wen at work but the real us comes out only in these times! This outing also made me realise how important such times are for they let you know each other better.

Sweety

Mother's day

Happy Mother’s day to all…




A perfect morning, the day started with a long walk and my fav radio station, and before I forget to mention, lemme tell you the best part of this morning... the weather today! It rained in Delhi & NCR today!

See what I clicked!







Its mother’s day today. Honestly, I don’t believe in these observations cz few people and things are so vital in our lives, that we just cant celebrate them in just one day of the year…they are to be cherished all thru our lives…


But I have a few things in mind which I’d like to jot down today, about my Mom and my childhood…These are a few things I’d never forget in life:

• Mom used to say I was fairer than milk when I was born. Morning after my birth, one of my cousins, after seeing me, told her elder brother how sweet I looked. She was so elated by that feeling that she went on describing me. She used the word “sweet” so many times that her brother (who’d had enough, guess) had declared, “Let’s name her Sweety”.. And that’s how I got my name!



• Like every other kid, when I started talking, it look me long to get a few words right. A pigeon was called “Taate”, soap was “chhanjun”, katori (bowl) was “kotri” and so on. But the best of them all was how I pronounced the word six! No matter how hard everyone wud try, I wudnt say “six”, but I’d say “chick” !!! Pure fun :D



• This was back in 1987, I started going to school when I was hardly 2.5 yrs old. A lady was appointed to pick me and a few other kids of the locality to take us to school. She’d pick me first and the two of us would walk around and pick other kids and by the time I reached school, I used to be half dead! Quite weak as I already was, I used to start vomiting as soon as I stepped in the school. As a result, mom talked to my school principal, who used to live nearby, and she started picking me up on her way to school…and I got rid of those pukish mornings.



• Another school memory…mom once visited school for a parents meeting. As she entered the class-room, she noticed I wasn’t doing the class work, but just looking at the girl sitting next to me…mom enquired my teacher who happily responded saying the other gal had not brought her pencil that day and so I had lent her my only pencil before I did my own work!!! Was I so generous way back then??? Unbelievable…



• I had prayed to God to give me lil brother when someone told me Mom was about to bring a baby home. I was hardly six then. One morning when my cousin woke me up telling me I had got a younger sister that morning, I simply refused to even open my eyes! Turning to the other side I said, “I had asked for a boy, not a gal. Ask god to change it before I get up, or else I wudn’t talk to Him” So bad!!!



• Like every other elder kid, I had my fair share of sibling rivalry too. Dad was neutral, but mom wud always favor her and all I’d get was scolding. I still remember once I fell down from stairs with her in my arms and I was the last one to be noticed, she got all the attention! I had many similar grievances, which were never addressed… but with time, I have understood how natural and real it is, life teaches you everything!

• As a kid, I was pretty regular with TV, mithun da being my fav hero of all… I once saw him getting bruised in an action scene and I ran towards my mom to get a band-aid for him, though I never thought how it’d reach him! So attached I was! In another movie, he dies but re-incarnates (the usual Indian filmy drama, u know). Moments ago, I was so grieved by his death as I thought it was real & I wudnt get to watch another movie of his, but now his presence on screen delighted me and made me jumping and chirping all over the place! Those were the days…



• The place where I spent the initial 4.5 yrs of childhood had plenty of monkeys roaming around in the residential area. They would roam as if it was their kingdom and would ruin everything they had access to. One such afternoon, when mom and I were alone at home, two of’em entered the kitchen, coming down from terrace. Doing the usual thing, drinking water straight out of refrigerator, one of them caught my leg and wudnt leave me while I was in mom’s lap. We both shouted our lungs out and a neighbor came running to rescue us. He literally joined his hands and chanted Hanuman Chalisa and that made the monkey leave me and go back!

For me, days like mother's day or even valentine's day don’t really matter but people do, but this day today has reminded me of the best days of life I got to spend withher…miss ya, mom!

Here's something to suffice my funny bone:

Sweety.

Chums!!!

Yeah I know its Valentines Day today but I am going to write about friends…I wanted to write this for quite some time and somehow realized today is the right day to do it...my fav talk show made me write it today……so here I go…

It was 1.5 yrs back, during a cousin’s wedding when I met a guy who expected me to guess who he was, and if not that, atleast try to recall abt him…and I cudnt...and he was introduced to me as a childhood frnd of mine, and I was told that we lost touch around 15-16 yrs back! Looong time…but before that, we had reportedly wrestled together, besides other games kids of our age play! And since then, we’ve been the best of friends…again!

My wedding is 1 yr old now and I don’t think anything has changed between him n me…atleast from my end… no matter how much he doubted me on this…but today, after listening to my fav talk-show, which undoubtedly discussed about friends today, I realized he has changed…he dsnt call me dat often…he has to think of a good time to call…is it true that my marital status is making him think of all this? Will I also think the same once he’s married…will I also have to think twice before calling him, just like he does? I mean, I feel free to bug him anytime of the day, but will I be able to do it once he’s married too?

Valentine’s Day was a time for introspection for me…he will read it today…may be he’ll think too…may be he wont…may be he knows the answer!

Sweety

A Blessing in Disguise

It’s my first wedding anniversary today and this is whats going on in my mind right now...

Oct 27, 2002, Sunday, 9 AM

“By the way, whats ur good name?”

I heard somebody asking me this, forcing me to stop reading my book…

Believe it or not, this question changed my life! I replied and thought of asking the same, but then, all of a sudden, my funny bone over-powered me and I blurted out, “…and…whats your bad name?”

He smiled and answered and I got in my list, the first (boy) friend! Hope u got what I mean ;)

Lemme explain if u didn’t get that. I had passed out from an “all gal’s” school and didn’t have many friends out of school also and as the case was, none of them was a boy!

I used to meet him every weekend in the college and as destined, we grew fond of each other, so much so that I found him in tears on the first Saturday after the weekend classes had got over and I realized whatever it was, it was 2-way !!!

We managed to meet once in a month and it was end of second year of our bachelors when he proposed his love to me, very romantically! Though drunk, he was in his senses and surprisingly he remembered everything the next morning! I just prayed he did :D

And my response? I could just say, “Itni der laga di bolne me” and he knew I was in love too…days passed and months got over…we got engaged and then got married too, it was a blessing in disguise, I’d say, because I had hated it when he’d asked my name and honestly, I wasn’t all that comfortable when I’d started talking to him…

The funniest thing is that I’m few days older than him in the world and dat our close buddies kept on threatening us till the day we got married of reporting ours as a child marriage!!!

I have learnt that life lies in small things and small things bring great joys in life!

Sweety.