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30 Nov 2009

The Re-union Teacher Invites & Remembering BPS Days...


I've spent the last week, visiting teachers from my school-days and visiting school, meeting students, listening to current lives of teachers, the current school scenario and re-capturing old memories. It's been such an exhilarating experience! Walking down memory lane has taken a new meaning!

Ashwini and I have been so excited and enjoyed ourselves so much that it never occured us to take pictures. We just lived each second of each meeting like an experience we never want to forget. We never will. Time had no meaning, the minutes just kept ticking and it meant nothing to us. We did not remember to call parents or spouses, did not miss friends... in fact, even cheated a couple of hours out of work and care naught for it. It was simply not worth missing these moments for anything!

Sudha Rao miss, Gopal miss, Chandramohan miss, Hema miss, Mrs. George (madam), Rathi miss, Kanakalatha miss, Rina miss, Manjula miss - what a joy to see them all again. They have hardly changed much since we last remembered them. Whereas we struggled to remember names of about 20-odd teachers that taught us over a dozen years, our teachers remembered us, our full names (including initials), our families, what we looked like back then, little things that we did, our friends.... just about everything. Fourteen years after we passed out with as many years of new students and so many batches, they still have such amazing memories! It is unbelievable!

There are no ways of expressing the feeling. No real words that can describe those hours. I wish I could just contain those minutes in a glass bowl and re-live them whenever I want!

I can't wait for the actual re-union. Students and teachers alike. I know it will be nothing like this. Ash & I feel so honoured and are so glad that we got to invite the teachers, we got to spend quality time with them, we got to see them first and give them the pleasant
surprise.


29 Nov 2009

Early To Rise

I woke up at 5 one morning and took Lucky out for a walk. The sun was still on it's way up and it was dark outside. And misty. So beautiful! It made me wonder why I do not do this everyday.

I woke up at 6 this morning and moved some furniture around while the maid worked. My place looks different now. So refreshing! It made me wonder why I do not do this everyday.

Early mornings are such a great start to the day. The world looks so beautiful. Less people, less noise. More opportunities to enjoy the beauty of nature. Why do I not do this everyday?

It gives me more time in my day. More things to get done, less things pile up. It gives me more instances of spending time with my dear ones. Why do I not do this everyday?

Next on plan: Cycle to work tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

25 Nov 2009

An Extra Rupee

My husband dropped me off at the main road this morning, from where I could take an auto to work. As usual, the driver asked me for "10 rupees extra" and I agreed. It's nearly impossible to find an auto who will bring me to work, without extra cash. We had barely started moving when another customer asked him if he could get a ride to Ganesha Temple in Thippasandra. Our generous driver agreed.

As the man was about to get into the seat next to me, the auto driver asked him to share the driver seat with him. I can't help thinking... hmm.. he has no qualms about cheating me, a lady, out of 10 bucks but he is concerned about how I might feel having a stranger (man) sit next to me. Values change to suit people's needs He doesn't want to hurt my woman-sentiments but he doesn't mind hurting my wallet. Well, well, well! For some reason, most auto-drivers think that it is completely fair to charge us poor customers extra fare because we look richer than them and we can just afford it whereas they need it. It is as if they have a right to do that.

The stranger got off at the Ganesha temple and paid the driver 10 bucks. The minimum on an auto ride is Rs. 14 but the driver didn't complain. He was making 10 bucks to just drop someone off to a place which was enroute where I was headed. It was extra cash for his pocket, not to pay the owner of the autorickshaw as it does not show up on the meter.

It cost me Rs.35 on the meter. As per our agreement, I had to pay him Rs. 45. Now, if I told him that I didn't have change and gave him a 50-buck note, chances are that he'd round the 45 rupees off to 50. Instead, I didn't bother to look for change but just paid him Rs. 40 and he didn't complain. He'd made his extra cash anyway, from the other guy. In fact, he made Rs. 15 out of my ride. Everybody's happy!

Wait! Why am I happy? I just paid an extra 5 bucks on my ride! Well, that's not too bad; it's better than extra 10. I guess I can afford to pay the poor man a few extra rupees without making a dent in my pocket. He didn't even have a rigged meter, so must be an honest man with most others who he might judge as not-so-rich.

21 Nov 2009

Lucky, the baby

As she grows older, Lucky is behaving more and more like a baby, throwing tantrums these days. Today, she ripped off the bandage around her ears and hid under the cot (guilt, it appears). She refused to come out until Ullas cajoled her out from under the cot. All because he'd not been giving her enough attention for the last 2 or 3 days!

She was very happy when I told her that we'll go to the terrace to play ball. She waited patiently until we had dinner and then insisted that we go up to play. We went up for a few minutes, played ball and then she sat down with Ullas, both of them having their one-sided conversation - one listening, the other talking.

Soon, we decided to come down as Ullas had a headache. She was reluctant but between the two of us, we managed to convince her to head home with a lot of begging & pleading. She's in a much better mood now, the best I've seen in the last 3 days.

It's cute to watch her behaving like a spoilt kid sometimes but it's also heartbreaking... she needs so much attention, poor baby.

Stranger, Don't Trespass!

I've never tried to 'make friends' with a stranger, so I don't know what it feels like. Frankly, I don't believe most of them are really trying to make friends.

I can't help wondering what people are thinking when they spam your inbox with emails proclaiming how badly they want to be your friend.

I've had ones that simply say they want to be my friend. I ignore them. Then there are others who send me their email ids. Hmmm. Ignore. There are those emails with phone numbers, saying call me. Mate, I must be really desperate if I am going to spend money on a loser like you!

And then there are the 'special ones' like these I found in my WAYN inbox this morning! Get a life people!!!

1.
Hi i am Zafar from Bangalore working with IIBBMM in Finance and Accounts field looking out for good friends so if you are interested in having a good friendship than do reply me...........my id in gmail is zaffar143

2.
Namaskara Sangeetha
HI how r u
iam Manju from bangalore
working
waht u do

do u chat in gmail
if yes give ur id na
manju.bangalor@ggggg.com
is my id

3.
Hello, Sangeeta
I am Sonu from Ahmedabad, a freelance consultant.. I seem to like your profile. though a bit criptic it is.. Hmm come to think of it I think you look very charming. where ? No pic? ha i thought so. hehe..
Me looking for a sweet close frined to share my thoughts, my moods, my fancies and all my mind . I mean a friend, a companion in true sense. I thought may be we have that possiblity. what do you think? May be we have good friends in us. think of it. and do write to me..
Hope to hear from you. and keep smling always any way.
Sonu

Words You Hate To Hear

November 16, 2009, 9:30 PM

Can I Put You On Hold?
By STANLEY FISH

The New Your Times

There is a class of utterances that, when encountered, produces irritation, distress and, in some cases, the desire to kill. You hear or read one of these and your heart sinks. Everyone will have his or her (non)favorites. Mine is a three-word announcement on the TV screen, “To Be Continued,” which says, “I know that you have become invested in this story and are eager to find out how it ends, but you’re going to have to wait for a few days or a week or a month or forever.” In the great order of things, it is only a minor inconvenience, but it is experienced as a deprivation; you were banking on something and now it has been taken away.

In the same category are “Sold Out,” when you’ve been been waiting in line at a movie theater for 30 minutes (I know you can get tickets online, but sometimes you’ve decided to go out on the spur of the moment); “Closed for Private Party,” when you’ve been looking forward to a meal at your favorite restaurant all day; “Back in an Hour,” when you’ve come crosstown to buy something you need to have immediately; “Not in Service,” when you’ve been counting on using an A.T.M. or getting a Coke; “Use Other Door,” when you’ve gone around a long block to get to what you thought was the main entrance; “Register Closed,” when you’ve been waiting not-so-patiently behind a fellow customer with 25 items; and “The role of Violetta will be sung by the understudy,” when you’ve spent hundreds of dollars to see Renée Fleming.

All of these messages involve something you are bent on doing or have almost done or think you have done, and then, at the threshold of success and gratification, you are stopped in your tracks. Most annoying.

Even more annoying are the messages that are instances of formal and programmatic lying. When the dentist says to you, “This may hurt a little” or “This may sting a little,” you know that pain and discomfort on a massive scale are just around the corner. It would have been better had he or she said nothing. When the mechanical voice that interrupts the bad music that has been serenading you as you wait for a live person says, “Your call is important to us,” everything you’ve already endured and anticipate enduring for many minutes more tells you that nothing could be further from the truth. When another mechanical voice says, “I’m sorry, but I don’t recognize your response,” you know that she’s not sorry.

And when the tech specialist who has been unable to help you and seems now to be blaming you for his inability asks, ever so politely, “May I put you on hold for a minute?” you know (a) that you have no choice (b) that one minute will become five and then 10 (c) that you are likely to be cut off and put in the position of starting all over again and (d) that in the event he does in fact return, you will be asked to execute still more procedures that will leave you exactly where you were when you were so foolish as to make the call in the first place.

And then there are the messages suggesting that you are either an idiot or a bad person. When you are told by a salesperson or a machine, “Your card has been denied,” you feel that the bank, the merchant and the world have made a judgment on you: deadbeat, spendthrift, bad credit risk. (This would be the case even if you had a million dollars in the requisite account.) When the prompt system intones, “If you want to make a call,” you want to scream, “What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” When the same system says, “To return to the menu,” you are being rebuked for not having a concern of the kind its universe acknowledges.

When you are admonished, “Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed,” the implications are that you don’t listen carefully, and that the options being offered are sufficient to your needs, and if they aren’t, so much the worse for you. When your computer tells you, “This page cannot be displayed,” it is as if it were saying, “What’s the matter with you? Can’t you even master the elementary task of getting on line? Perhaps you have a five-year-old daughter who can instruct you?” And when the same computer says sternly, “Invalid user name,” you wonder if you have been the victim of identity theft or are experiencing the onset of early Alzheimer’s.

So there it is : a list of phrases that make you wince and say (if only to yourself), “Oh, no!”, because they derail expectation or because they offer condescension and prevarication in equal measure or because they accuse you of failures and weaknesses often before you’ve even had a chance to do anything.

I’m sure the list could be longer, and I invite you to add to it.

I’ll get the ball rolling by adding two more: “Assembly Required,” which is at least honest in its advertisement and promise of frustration and humiliation; and, finally, a saying that is confined, in my experience, to the South: “We sure don’t,” uttered by a salesperson who is telling you not only that an item you know the store should carry is unavailable, but that she is proud and happy to be disappointing you.

A Dinner Date With U

Have you ever sat in a restaurant, watching other people while they are lost in their own little worlds? And laughed out loud, trying to break into their reverie? The husband (U) and I did both recently.

3 people at a table next to us.
Kid: A slim blonde, who looked like an 8 year old, sitting, but must have been atleast 20.
Chick: A dark-skinned, pretty Indian lady in her thirties, curly hair and a sad look in her eyes.
Guy: A tall, scrawny-looking man, in his thirties too, grey or light brown hair, self-absorbed look on his face.

I say: I think they are 3 strangers from different countries. They just met at the table and decided to eat together

U turns around to look at them and says nothing.

I say: What are you thoughts?
U says: To con the other two and take the chick away

After a moment of silence, we both burst out laughing. All 3 at the table look at us!

I decide to make a note of the conversation to write later. He's bothering me incessantly with his fork. I shush him and he says, "I get shushed during my own quote?"

Oh dear God, I had to write that down in my note too, so I would not forget it. In between all the giggling and shaking, it is really hard to write.

Finally, I'm done writing. I put my phone away.

We turn to look at the people on my left. This time, it's 2 people. A 'happy' couple who smile so politely that you would miss the smile if you weren't staring at them real hard (Umm... yeah, we were the 'shameless couple' for the evening).

The girl talks so softly it's a wonder that the guy across the table could hear her. He kept a blank expression plastered on his face, so we couldn't tell. I'm willing to bet he did that so she wouldn't know he couldn't hear her! Being polite, you see. Occasionally, he says something funny (I think), for the girl appears to think for a moment and then curves those lips in the faintest of smiles taking care not to cause any wrinkles on that pretty face or hurt the mouth too much or display the steak stuck in between her teeth. If I am not concentrating so hard, I might have missed the smile, I swear.

She cuts the steak with her knife so gently (Thank God they have good knives at The Only Place) and holds it in her fork for a while as she speaks (whispers?). It reminds me of all those girls who smoke to look chic. They light the cigarette, puff it once and then let it burn out the next couple of minutes. Another puff, another wait and lo! The cigarette is finished! Coming back to the table next to us, well, the steak didn't do the disappearing act or anything. Maybe she hated it and was just 'being polite'.

I didn't realize that U was looking too, until he could not stand it anymore and says, "Look alive people!"

They don't even move a muscle. Maybe they didn't hear him (phew!). Maybe they were being polite. What do you know. I was too busy rolling off my chair, laughing!

When You Left

Weeks have gone by since an angel whispered in my ears
Today I saw the light of it

My vision is blurred with pain
I can't see it clearly enough but my heart says it's true

I reach out but the distance is too great
I can't see how long I need to stretch, 'coz I'm blinded by the agony

Broken promises, broken heart, I drag my feet, they fail to rise
I'm waiting for you to close the distance and lift me up

Faith I lack but hope sparks up time and again...

Staying alive with a wandering soul is hard
Harder not to, for the soul is lost but ain't dead yet!

~~ Dug out from old notes

Miss You, I Do

I miss you :'(

Not for the memories or the friendship.

I miss the hug that would've made going through this difficult patch a possible ordeal!

I miss the smile and the hug that would make my today a tad bearable and tomorrow not seem so bleak.

I miss the comforting voice and the assuring words...

I miss you loads :'(

~~ Dug out from old notes

17 Nov 2009

My First Massage

I had been ignoring the crick in my neck for a while. As is bound to happen, one day it got so bad that I couldn't sit for long, without my neck giving me grief. I hoped it would go away with some well-needed sleep but when it didn't, I decided to get a massage. That had to help, it was just a few knots in my neck and shoulders, after all.

Mum suggested I go for a proper ayurvedic massage, instead of the beauty parlour. So, I looked up on the internet and booked myself for a full body massage on Saturday afternoon, at the Ayur Wellness Centre.

I received a warm welcome and the girl at the reception explained the various massages available. I picked the Ylang Ylang Olive Oil Massage, which was supposed to help me get rid of stress and such distress, in addition to making me feel good. When I mentioned my neck situation to her, she consulted an in-house 'doctor', who suggested they give me a Karpooradhi oil massage for my neck.

All set, I walked in. The girls waited while I switched off my mobile. They continued to wait after I was done. I waited for them to tell me what next. Then one of them looked at me and asked, "Is this your first time?". It felt embarassing to say yes, as if I had erred in not having been massaged earlier. I nodded and pretended that it didn't bother me. They directed me to a cupboard, opened the door and asked me to undress. What??? Okay, fine, this is my first time and I didn't see that coming. Silly of me, though, because I did sign up for a 'body massage'. For some funny reason, I just thought it was going to be a neck massage.

Once I was over the initial reaction, it was plain sailing. I just closed my eyes and decided to enjoy the feeling of a good massage. They started with oiling my hair with warm olive oil. There were two women and they were in such perfect sync that I wondered if they ran by a computer program that someone was running somewhere far away. Trust me to think like that, a typical software developer with a limited sense of real life. It was nice to watch them when I occasionally opened my eyes. They moved with the grace of two swans.

During the hour-long massage I waited for that feeling so good that I'd fall asleep but it never came. Well, I consoled myself with the fact that if it helped my neck, it's good enough for me. Probably. Then it was time for the 10 minute steam. It felt good. As good as the massage itself. Well, almost.

It was time for a bath afterwards. Clean bathroom (how I love those) but hey... what were those little things there? Towels? Really? I was expecting a nice huge steamed turkey towel. What do they have. The flimsy, thin, white 'Kerala' towel things. Whoa! Anyway, a not-too-bad experience. I come out, drink up the concoction they give me (pretending it was tequila) and water.

The girl at the reception explains something to me about the 'packages' they have and then asks me to fill a feedback form. Considering that I hadn't tipped the masseurs (wasn't sure whether to and if yes, how much - remember, it was my first time), I gave them excellent feedback.

Walked back home and by the time I had returned, the crick in the neck was crying out loud already. So much for the massage! Cost me a good two thousand rupees too. Sigh!

I slept for some more time but it wouldn't help. Mum came over with her ayurvedic oil (Mycodin) and gave me a quick massage for 10 minutes and made me do a few neck exercises and voila! I was feeling much better. The pain remained the next day and another of mum's massages, some exercises later my neck is back to feeling human again.

Well, if I keep working at office without a break and if I keep coming home to write more on the laptop, it is not going to help my neck. I had better watch out. Off I go now.

10 Nov 2009

Google Logos

Take a look at the logos in the link (click on title). This is the kind of work I would love to do. Unleash your creativity, go crazy, splash colours, create something! Ah, it's a long time since I've felt that high, the one that comes from loving your work.

Writing, sketching, drawing, dancing, singing... tried them all. I wonder how it might have been if I had been talented in any one of these skills. Or photography, making a movie maybe? There's such a long list, such variety out there and what did I pick? Writing code. Duh! Any moron can write a code and rig up a document.

Well, maybe it's time to pick up a hobby, do something creative and see how I go? Looks like it's a day of 'see how I go' today. Second one this and there's more coming.

Mmm... I'm loving it. Oh, that was the ice-cream I've been hogging... chocolate flavour with choco-chips. Have to go, before it melts or I will have to drink it up. Ciao-ciao!

Twist A Cliche

Becky Clark, in her blog (http://www.beckyclark.net/page2.html), says it's time to twist some cliches... she picks some & gives us the first half. I'm trying to complete them, let's see how I do.

Don't judge a book by its __________ (author, it might be good)

It's the squeaky wheel that __________ (makes noise)

Nothing ventured, __________ (time saved)

A penny saved is __________ (a penny to spend another day)

People who live in glass houses __________ (must be rich, marry them)

If you can't beat 'em, __________ (run for your life)

A hole big enough to __________ (dump in)

When in Rome __________ (shop in Paris)

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man __________ (a disciplined weirdo)

Two's company, three's a __________ (bigger company

If the shoe fits, __________ (wear it)

All good things come to those who __________ (are walking towards it, in the opposite direction)

1 Nov 2009

I forget...

It happens a lot these days. I have a brilliant thought, something to write about, I login and then I completely forget what I wanted to write about in the first place.

Absent-mindedness.