Waiting

1. To discover new flavours & dine out at a new restaurant/ café ( My pick Spaghetti Kitchen Bistro)

2. For the Season Sales to start- Can’t wait to start striking off stuff on my ‘To Buy’ list

3. To finish the Ramayna Series by Ashok Banker & start The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi

4. To visitBangalore, Pune, Chennai, Gangtok (the order can be reversed 😉

5. To write a story or a rapchik blog post

6. To work on a stimulating, full of excitement project

7. To go dancing and clubbing yet again

8. For Rains…. Lots of it!!

9. To hug, chat, gossip, share some more hugs with Dr. D

10. To go on a breakfast date with Dr. D.

11. To do point 1, 2, 4, 7 with Dr. D 🙂 🙂

August 7 come soon!

 

Time to talk yet again!

Yes, I missed you all too. It isn’t that I didn’t try, I did! There are times when you want to talk but can’t, vent out and express but the words just refuse to sync in with mind.

So while I have been away India witnessed a lot of action. To begin with Paes- Bupathi duo clinched the No. 1 ranking in the ATP World Tour doubles and we won the World Cup Cricket.

Of course The World Cup Cricket excitement couldn’t have left me untouched but I am over it (almost). All thanks to overdose of it with IPL where you see the Indian team players on the opposite sides. Frankly, I don’t know where to put my loyalties in IPL because Delhi team is incomplete without Gauti, Yuvi is not batting for Punjab and Haryana doesn’t have a team as yet, such is life dearies!

Jantar Mantar is not just a historical site but Delhi’s modern day address for revolts & revolutions. It is here Anna took the Nation by storm and Centre felt the tremors. The mass movement saw everyone marking their attendance from filmwallas to netas. How could media’s blue eyed boy Chetan Bhagat be left behind? He too ‘twittered & tattered‘ about ‘Anti-Corruption’. Well, in all fairness if Dr. Pratibha Patil can watch the game of Cricket why can’t CB give gyan on other things than love?

It was definitely a thumbs-up moment to see India undivided in support of the cause. Something prevented me from participating in light a candle march or a visit to the site for the heck of it ( another post).

Political fever is running high with elections in TN, Kerela, WB & Assam. The biggest will be West Bengal which will see CPM go out of power after 33 years of reign. I don’t know if Mamta can weave some magic for the State (she shooed away TATAs) but the people finally seemed to have woken-up to see the world move by.CPM did little in more than three decades to prove that communism can do good for development. I hope Mamta Banerjee has some great plans for the state’s progress too as she did for the election campaign by hiring people like Derek O Brien &  Sabeer Bhatia. Didi has to ensure WBs train to progress catches speed.

Most importantly two dear friends make a debut as entrepreneurs in e-commerce. So let nothing stop you from clicking on http://dealaram.com/and sign-up for some ultra cool deals! Inside scoop is with its launch our wait for the much awaited sales might end…Do keep a look out.

And I shall be back soon with my next, and a series that will follow. Its time for me to know hit the blogroll I follow 🙂

You’ve Got Spam

Dear Rajiv,

Oh! How did you lose the phone? Got mugged or what? Here is my number

Hey Rajiv,

You don’t remember my number? Call me, we need to talk…..

Hey there, my number is….

Oye Rajiv, long time, lets make a plan. Will call you tonight….

 

I dread getting a mail where the sender has marked me in the endless list of Ccs because it means my inbox will be spammed with trail mails. Is it carelessness? Or ignorance? Am I the only one who feels this way, or you too get irritated when you get random responses from just about anyone?

What beats me is when someone sends festival greetings and does a CC or To all- why do the responders only address the sender but click on reply all??

Is it so challenging to click on ‘reply’ button and easier on reply all? Is it out of silly curiosity to be noticed by the unknowns on the list? The one who invented the concept of Bcc was not a fool; it was done for a purpose and is meant to be used freely!

What do you have to say about this? ‘Reply All’ 😉

 

Vegetarian Cappuccino, please?

The story is based on  real-life experience of Sourav Pandey with zero elements of exaggeration. When I heard what he had to say, I couldn’t resist myself from penning it down…

Blind dates can go three ways;

1. You meet; have fun and part on a good note,

2. You meet and it turns or to be the worst ‘day-mare’ ever,,

3. You make a plan to meet-up again the next day and then the following and day after that…

Sourav, didn’t anticipate the first two because as the mushiest love story writer ever, prospective romances last a life time.

He was taking a stroll in GK – II market, near his house when a long lost friend called him from behind, ‘oye Sourav Pandey’ the next big thing in Bollywood. Later that evening he received a friend request from Sakshi Rawat along with an intro mail which read, “Hi, we don’t know each other but mainey apko aaj GK – II market mein dekha and apkey dost ney jab bulaya toh apka naam maloom chala. I’m frm Himachal stdyin Mass Comm in Delhi. U lukd quite nic”

The mail read like a plot from his next short story ‘facebook(ed) for love’. Moreover she didn’t sound like an ultra cool girl, a ‘desi’ touch made it even more interesting for him; and anyway isn’t everything in pink supposed to be pretty? On an extended holiday and nothing much to do Sourav decided to play along; her profile picture in a pink dress was pretty enough to set his pulse racing. Exchanged numbers, chatted on the phone for four consecutive days in a row. Too much, too fast is it? He thought, but this is what he told the world, ‘love happens in the most bizarre situations and passion makes you take the risk.’ Time to put his preaching to test and he asked her out for date. Saturday, 4pm, ‘McD’, South-Ex, Sakshi suggested, which she claimed serves the best pizzas ever!

He was taken by surprise that Sakshi came accompanied by two friends for a date. They had barely exchanged hellos when one of her friend’s shouted out, to the other one “Hey baabieee, happpiie Rose day”;

Covering-up his irritation he asked, “Can we go somewhere else, this place is too noisy?”

But kahan? Sakshi asked without looking at him and continued to chat away with her friends.

There’s a Costa Coffee just across the road, Sourav suggested.

Costa, woh kya hai?

Let’s go and find out, you might like it. It was getting a little too much already and was clearly not going the way he would have written it.

At Costa, Sourav looked at the menu and said, “I will go with my regular Cappuccino. What about you?

How nice you are a vegetarian, same pinch, Sakshi added with a childlike excitement

Confused, Sourav asked her how do you know I am a vegetarian?

Arrey abhi toh you said you will have a Cappuccino, even I’d eat a veggie Cappuccino!

Ouuch, this hurt and really bad. How come he didn’t realize the girl he thought could be heroine of his story is not a desi but clueless about coffee and so much more…

Even though Sourav is a ‘little’ bruised by his experience, he is hopeful of meeting a dusky tall beauty with brains. Happens rarely, he says, but ‘I am not going to let one experience deter me from going out again the next time… anyone interested? 😉

The ‘ If-Then’ Tag

Tagged on Sapna\’s blog in ‘If –Then’ post. Here is my take on if I were…

• If were a colour then I would be blue-It’s a happy color and my wardrobe has many shades of it. Sky is blue and so is the sea, tried to make it sound poetic 😉

• If I were a drink (apart from water) I would be- Nariyal Pani, sweet, refreshing, inexpensive and available in abundance

• If I were a season then I would be Monsoon- I love rains! Somehow this one reminded me of this really cheesy song from a Govinda movie Paatjhar, Sawan, Basant Bahar, ek baras mein mausam chaar… just couldn’t resist

• If I were a Mobile set then I would be Nokia- irrespective on the model, it is reliable!

• If I was a Fruit then I would be – I don’t’ know what fruit I would be but I know what I wouldn’t be and that is a Pappaya, I just can’t stand its smell.

• If I were a Tree then I would be Banyan, Lives long enough to witness generations, centuries and history in the making. It withstands all changes, is strong, gives shade and supposedly is home to the ghosts. Fun!

• If I were an animal then I would be a Labrador Dog because it’s easy to find a good lovable family who would dote on me and feed me lots of non-veg food. They are easy to be with, just like me and forever ready for a snooze.

• If I were a Time of the Day then I would be Evening- A pleasant time of the day to enjoy an outing and close to nightfall when I can sleep..!

• If I were a sport then I would be Golf- A passion and game for the elite. Snob value? Just kidding 😉

• If I were a planet then I would be Mars, simply because Earth is where we all live, Venus is already associated with us and Mars is where men think they belong to so conquer it!

• If I were a Month then I would be September – I was born in this month and somehow I always feel it’s a very happy- happy month.

• If I were a Day of the week then I would be Love to be a Saturday because soon Sunday comes calling. 🙂

• If I were an Element then I would be Water- Can’t survive without it

• If I were a Stone then I would be a diamond- Clichéd but true it is always a woman’s best friend.

• If I were a musical instrument then I would be the drums-They Rock!!

• If I were an emotion then I would be Contentment–an open secret for a happy life

• If I were a sound then I would be the sound of cuckoo- somehow I associate it with time maybe because the famous Swiss clocks.

• If I were a Name then I would be Pallavi– it means a new leaf

• If I were a Food then I would be… Chutney, it adds that extra zing to any kind of meal, dish.

• If I were a scent then I would be the scent of Lemon-Fresh, tangy and pleasing

• If I were a Bird then I would be a Parrot- They can talk!!! And I can’t live without doing that.

The ones I would have tagged have already been covered so I tag, ummm, no one!

 

Enjoy Maddi 😉 Right Sappy 🙂

 

Times; Y2K to 1- 01-11

No analysis, no pointing out the good Vs better, no this happened in India or what shouldn’t have, no world politics talk, no how to make this world a better place discussion, just a nostalgic dose of the days that were in the previous century to what changed in the decade that ends in next few days. Feels like yesterday when there was a big buzz about the whole Y2K phenomena. It wasn’t mere beginning of a new century but a millennium and boy we are already ten years into it!

Amazing isn’t it? I count myself amongst the luckier lot, born at a time when the pace was smooth, no hurry, stress was an unheard word. Any activity playing a sport, watching tv was a group exercise unlike today where everything is so individualistic and just for you. Things had a longer shelf life and left a never to fade impression like, writing with fountain pens, filling ink and while doing so staining hands and clothes. It now has an exclusivity factor. In fact who writes that often? Hand written notes are now a rarity. Walkman, a possession that was counted as owner’s pride and peer’s envy ;). Old-style MTNL phones, it actually meant dial a number not punch. Bi-cycles– I cycled to school..! Kids these days don’t have a privilege to do so with the traffic on the road and of course chauffer driven cars at their service.

Now, there is 1:1 ratio for mobiles and soon it will be the same with cars. Games are on play stations with or sans a partner. You have one TV for the living room and one each for every family member. FM is huge and its not just AIR, every frequency has a station but strangely each one is limited only to music?

www shrinked the world and all dead, alive and non-living things became Google-able. If Orkut was about school re-unions then Facebook is the third most populated place in the world after China and India. And if I quote a friend then FB has achieved what many in a family failed to do in reality, “Being friends with family”. How can I not add youtube, the easiest way to find an audience and achieve fame.

First came MP3s and then Mr. Job became the same to Gizmos as Mr. Gates was to computers & Microsoft. Apple as fruit may not be available in every part of the world but as ipod, iphone, ipad, itv it is most sort after and desirable. If e-commerce changed the way you shop then e-readers like Kindle, Wink changed the way we read. There is an e version for almost all newspapers, magazines and books. Do stuff the way you like to because choice is unlimited and we are spoilt for it!

Look at me when I was in college I filled sheets with my so called ‘ creative pieces and stories’ and now I blog, write whatever little I can and read a lot of mind-blowing stuff some of you publish.

If ten years redefined the way we live, think, communicate, enjoy, express then it is a good enough reason to look forward to beginning of a new decade with 1-01-11.

Cheers to wonderful and ingeniously crafty times ahead!

Public Display of Affection- how much is too much??

Travelling on the very colorful Doronto Express and for company we had a young college student and a newly wed couple, who just couldn’t get enough of each other… a matter of few years my dad said under his breath ;). While the husband was excited about sharing stories and telling us about their trip to Rohtang and Manali.  Wifey dear was only bothered about clutching him tightly, as if the moment she would let go off him he would flee. Unaffected by presence of strangers around them they fed each other every bite of the three meals that were served during the journey…  The lovey-doveys were so high on show-offness that their attention grabbing stunt of announcing to the world about how much love they had for each other failed to get them a ‘they look so lovely together’ compliments or an ‘aww’ aspiring moment.

Why don’t well-educated mature people realise their delight could be a reason for someone else’s plight??

Shiny Shoe Syndrome

Yesterday I bumped into an acquaintance at a bookstore (a well known journalist, blogger and my contemporary). He was browsing through the heavy duty intellect section of the store and me was picking up Noddy, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, know your animals, numbers, colours and blah. He gave me a look, which said, what are you doing with books meant for 1yr olds and above? And before he could word it I replied, uhh though I am above 1yr so technically I too can read these but I got them for my niece.

We generally got talking about so what’s the latest when my eyes went on his shoes and oh boy! not only they were shine-less they were muddy. He was dressed in smart yet casual sort of way but unclean leather shoes is such a no-no!! Those who know him know that he cares little or not a bit about his appearance but black shoes which had clearly lost its blackness is not acceptable… While he continued to talk I wanted to say bye and move on not because the conversation was unpleasant but the look of his shoes was and I did not want to commit a social faux-pas by pointing it out after all we were no friends!

I made an excuse and left the store, what is it with me and the black shoes? Is it a symptom that I could possibly have shiny shoe syndrome?

Is it just me? Or they have this kind of an affect on you too??

For a Read

Not many posts, novels, books make me shed tears or even evoke that emotion but this post really did! http://wp.me/pbs1y-zr .

Author of this blog and post is not known to me but I liked the content … check it out guys.

 

Alarm Bells…

It was a sudden draft of chilly November wind that woke up Reha, with closed eyes she moved her hand under the quilt and then pillow to look for her mobile. What time was it? It couldn’t be day so soon. Mobile flashed 5 unread messages and 7 am. A snooze for fifteen more minutes is all she wanted but sleep won’t come back to her. Curled-up in the coziness of her bed, she wished if there was someone to make her hot cup of tea and serve it in bed, “I must get someone to do chores for me”, she thought.

Wait a minute; did I say I need a companion in form of a helper in this house? What has life come to?

Reha was 25 when she got an opportunity to work with BBC, Delhi bureau of course she grabbed it both hands and moved on for a life she always imagined. Chasing stories, interviewing top industry and political guns, international assignments, she couldn’t have asked for more… Best part was she got it all but everything comes at a price and she too had to pay one.

Reha’s folks encouraged her ambitions but never anticipated that she would eventually moved out to her own apartment. Gradually the family started to count her as someone who called or dropped by on special occasions. Relationships were never meant for her or like she puts it, “they are not tailor-made and I don’t like anything which is free size and for all stuff in my life”!

The alarm went off again, gosh! 7:45 am, when did I doze off, she switched on the news and poured herself a cup of hot Jasmine tea. While getting dressed she noticed the fine lines under her eyes, she remembered her mother who looked so beautiful even with her wrinkles. Reha thought, how come mom never cared to cover them up?

She hurriedly gulped a glass of milk and was getting ready to step out for office when her phone rang.

Reha, Good morning, this is Kavita from Dr. Nandini Jaiswal’s clinic you are scheduled for a visit today, this call is to confirm your appointment at 10.

Oh! How could I forget? Yeah Thanks Kavita, I will be there.

A few weeks ago while in a shower she had noticed a small pimple on her chest. Odd she thought, but ignored it. When it didn’t go even after ten days and started to hurt she realized it was time to see a doc.

Having read and done many stories on changing demographics of breast cancer she knew her lifestyle was a tick-mark against all risk factors for the early onset of disease

• Alcohol √
• Growing waist line √
• Hectic lifestyle and unhealthy diet √
• And Nulliparity or no kids √

To be continued