Men ARE from Mars, Women from Venus

...how typical !!

Standing alongside my friend who kept feverently glancing at the exit of the arrivals lounge with her equally anxious looking husband, I totally could connect to them. They were eager to receive their soon-to-turn-two son spending the past few weeks with his grandparents.

At the precise moment when my friend moved away to check the other side to the arrivals, her son exited wearing a radiant smile, rightly curious about the milling crowd, excited about this seeming adventure.. His father was beside him in a thrice, lifting him into the air, beaming with affection, holding him lovingly tight and looking about with proud happiness as if to announce, 'Listen up everyone, MY son is back !'

My friend rushed in to embrace and cuddle her son in her arms. Time lost it's meaning and world as we know it ceased to exist as mother and son stared at each other..the moment belonged but to them, as their eyes met. Hers - pleading, scared at the thought of being a lost memory, searching for a hint of recognition; His - surprised to the point of consternation to be thus suddenly confronted by the live vision of an image that haunted his dreams and thoughts alike as he went looking into empty rooms. As the child handled reality, a smile lit up his face and tears ran down his mums. I confess motherhood is divine.

Ah..what about me you wonder, no ?? I wait for him to look at me and put my tongue out(bad habit you say ?? But his parents surely would teach him the good ones, won't they ??) and he responds the same.. Yaa-hoo, he recognized me too !!

Every dog.... it's day !

Ah, since my Firday posts are meted out with evasive comments, I have changed gears to shift focus onto this weekend as an exception.

Dinner in an Indian restaurant on a weekend in Central London.
Posh.
Dinner in a six time Michelin Star Indian restaurant on a weekend in Central London.
Very posh.
To personally know the sous-chef of the restaurant ??
A distinct advantage over the ordinary and the influential both alike.
To try all the dishes and not having to end up paying cash/Mastercard ??
PRICELESS ;) :p !!

Some snaps graciously produced below to act a Catalyst to the already green shade somebodies reading this post might have now turned..

Ta-ta !

Tempt Me ;) !

Fridays are tricky if you have pending work to attend to ! As the clock moves past 3.00 in the noon, it gets increasingly difficult to do what you are paid for - work ! I tried consoling myself - login from home clear the long To-Do's tomorrow..as if that would ever happen :o), tsk !

Further more, it has been interestingly noted, hunger always strikes when less work is done..though logically it does sound contradicting. Perhaps it's the nothing-else-better-to-do syndrome striking again ! As I contemplated if a trip to the vending machine was really required or it was possible I attend to some work instead, the unopened box of shortbread from my trip a week ago flashes upon the inward eye.. Oh no, not so soon ! One does feel guilty to such a treat, especially with the To-Do list growing from a just then arriving Customer request and the 'healthy diet only' resolution adopted but the previous day popping into mind.

A plan now formed causing a quick ping to be sent to a friendly colleague on the intranet communicator(ah, the luxury brought by technology !), 'Hey.. how about some shortbread ?? Just remembered having left a box on my desk.. fancy some ??' I now tell myself, 'if she says no it's NO to you as well ! Leave the box alone.' but my inner voice feebly protested..'..you have invited a person who skipped her b'fast and made a face about lunch served, she is but a victim !..' I straightened thinking more practice should be attempted to keep one's mind from faltering.

'These are hand baked..so have some more' - conscience prick was making one turn extra nice now. As, I turned back to my desktop with a big chunk in hand to chew, I realized having understood my own question in a better light !

Well, like a friend of mine used to quote Oscar Wilde - I can resist anything but temptation ! :o)

What's the CONnection ?

I was told -

"Bending rules is not quite the same as cheating.."

is this true or am I naive if am to believe it ??

How REALly reel !

What is it with stars and movie premiers ?? Do they think their movie might not get the thrust until they contribute star power to impress upon us ?? If that's a yes, is the movie about them or does it actually tell a story ?? I always believed story was the protagonist and Director, the Hero.

So, it was self shocking to find myself part of the overwhelmingly John Abrahamic crowd, cheering even at his poster. Sometimes it is surprising what friends can make you do; just sometimes it is surprising what you do for your friends :o) !

One could sense the crowd's feverish pitch when such statements are overheard -

'Wonder if he would walk in holding hands with Bipasha..' - I am sure this chap wanted to see Bipasha not John !!
'I hope he wears a tight T-Shirt..makes him look so macho !!' - The child looked about 10yrs old..
'Will I be allowed to touch him, else what am I waiting so long for??' - Her two daughters now giggle..

An agonizing(only for ME) 1.5hrs of wait enjoyed by the crowd as a privilege, a clean shaved, gel smoothed security personnel who was taking his duty to protect John from us a tad seriously, cleared his throat to announce - 'John says he is extremely sorry to have kept you all waiting and he promises to be here in two or three minutes..' Yeah, like John is his childhood friend !! The excitement now reaches electrifying levels, as every gadget capable of capturing any kind of image is fished out and strategically positioned to do their job !

Ear splitting screams from the upper deck confirmed what I had suspected - they had a better view than we on the ground floor did ! John arrived, clad in a fitting white Tee, much to the delight of the 'child' whose face now assumed the pallor of the fortune telling lady with her magic crystal ball. Countless(has nothing to do with my Maths allergy) hands reached out to grasp his extended ones as the screams now reached deafening levels. I took a step back to survey the crowd and for a silly moment contemplated asking - 'Any idea who the Chief Of the Army Staff of our country is ??'.. but do we care Deepak Kapoor !

It's ONLY words

..or is it just me so assuming ?? Is anyone else out there as put off by the Xmas ads everywhere, big and bold; small and smooth adverts alike are making this word sound a cliche !

Delivery ONLY £5.99 claims one..

Canon & Nikon price crash - from ONLY £379 shouts another..

HD ready plasma set ONLY £1299 screams yet another..

Book before Xmas to grab our bargain offer of ONLY £240,000 is splashed in a local news paper, the price being quoted for a 2 bed apartment..

What a trite ! Who is to define the limits here..and does the advertiser realize I only earn as much and only never save ! No wonder maximum financial bankruptcies are filed only following Xmas..

Not quite MUM...

...but still special in every way..that's a Father. Captured this special moment last weekend on a Highland tour to Scotland. The picture seems to speak, am sure !

What to THINK !

Still stuck in a meeting on Friday evening, having been thru the worst week ever at work, I was cursing my Manager for his habit of never wearing a watch when he commented thus to my colleague who was stalling us all giving no concrete reason whatsoever for his arguments -

Mate, do you think so or you believe so, I am not clear. If you think so then you will not want to accept our approach but if you believe so you will have a reason not wanting to adopt our approach.. we are waiting to hear..

Nice one. So am I but assuming when stopping with a thought and ascertaining when supplementing the thought with reasoning ?? If it's just a thought ideally does it result in blind leading the blind scenario ?? Too heavy for a Friday, eh ?? Perhaps I should have a think and come back ! :p

One for the road ??

Not sure if this is the greatest song ever written.. but it certainly made a 5 yr old by the aisle dance non-stop and got me interested(in the song of course !!)

03 - Ye Ishq Hai -...

Just do it !

Bought this for self, in a frenzied moment needing a bit of motivation and realized something - Self Motivation does not cost much ! ;)

Old wine in an older bottle ?!

After a nightmare time house hunting(believe me, this one's much tougher than witch-hunting), I zeroed in on an apartment having run out on time.. but that's besides the point..!

As a resident of a country proud of it's place in the prestigious G-8 summit, a reassuring standard of living is expected no doubt in this era of HD plasma screens but was gobsmacked to find such a rusty electric meter after having moved in

No surprises here, it can be operated with coins of only a particular denomination dropped one after the other in the designated coin slot followed by an anti-clockwise twist to the knob which brings about an increment to the visual counter. With no operation manual available handy, had to experiment awhile before bringing those lights alive !!

Let me put your doubts to rest ~ I do really reckon this contraption could well be on it's way to becoming an antique if retained a few extra years.. probably my landlady wishes to include it in her will perhaps.. but that's also besides the point.. !

Sweet Nothings !

Some days am lucky enough to get away with just over 8.5 hours at work. On one such occassion, walking on the station platform with my colleagues, to strategically position ourselves where the last car generally stops, an anecdote was born !

Colleague 1 with concern: So where is SHE(name modified for convenience), it's about time the train approaches !
Colleague 2 lightly adds: Oh, SHE might not make it you know.. SHE prefers to stay back and leave only when her Manager does..
Colleague 3, eyebrows perfectly arched looks at me with a slight bit of gleam suggesting we-might-be-onto-something-here look !
ME, tries to stare straight ahead hardly suppressing the smile already playing around the corner of my lips
Colleague 3 now excited: So how long has this been going on ??
Colleague 1 shaken as if out of her reverie now stammers: Oh ! Uh.. I mean.. well.. actually thats not what I meant.. Er, SHE likes to um, stay back and leave after her Manager does so she can impress.. ah, NO ! She simply leaves only after her Manager does.

Hurriedly makes her way to the approaching train while we follow with a twinkle in our eyes..

Hey, did I tell I hate gossip and work politics.. I am the apolitical kind :p ! Now you are feigning that look of shock, aren't you ?? Well well, what do I have to say now except to borrow my good friend's quote from her blog -

It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit

Tsk ! Tsk !

How permanent a change ??

SIX whole weeks of prolonged disappearance.. isn't that a kind of sabbatical in this part of the world ?? Apologies for the rude silence on blogosphere but I was moving house yet again to my own chagrin and it took all this time to get my broadband up and running.

Hey..is it possible for people to change their personality in an overnight kind of fashion OR is my new apartment possessed ?? It will have my friends in splits, not to ignore their guffaws upon hearing my confession of having turned a cleanliness freak ! Polishing door knobs, wiping every drop off a sparkling sink, brushing the window sills, cleaning the shower every other day, hoover carpet daily NOT to leave out the special spray used on those mirrors every week making them shine like a fairytale one which might one day announce 'You are the fairest in the land'.. aren't these actually the kind of thing Monica Geller goes about doing as her very nature ?? When did such a gene take control of my consciousness to transform my other self ! Could it be true am mutating possibly since the only thing permanent in this world is change ?? Ah, Robin Cook is not the only one to strike a sci-fi plot I s'pose.. ;) !

G A P

On this yet another tired evening from work, rushing out of the station towards the lights to make it across a traffic piled road in time to catch a big red bus that makes up the last leg of my journey to reach home and relax with a cuppa and the new home cinema, I was surprised by a sudden lack of co-operation between the mind and limb. Two teenagers stood right in front, dressed very much their age, noise(mistaken for music) blaring from those hideous contraptions called mp3, shaking their head vigorously in rhythm with the noise(ah, and folks here tell me they get confused with Indian way of nodding !!)..AND sucking these !!!!

It took few seconds for the scene to sink in - the limp and rain and production support was taking it's toll I s'pose - looking around one could observe mixed reactions from annoyance to couldn't-care-less to incredulous looks. Suddenly a powerful mo(ve)ment was felt, as if falling into a Pensieve..

'Aiyoo, what kind of books have you started reading ?? What has got into you ?? What will Pattu mami(read nosy neighbour) think if she walks in now ?? Whatever is the West doing to our kids.. should unsubscribe MTv channel first thing !!'

Lady exits.An innocent(namesake) child was taking in every page of an unusually interesting plot - Betty scheming against Ronnie ! On the floor beside her lay more copies, High School teens ogling at their bikini clad girlfriends on a warm summer day on the beach..what a cover page to make a grab for !! ;) !! Lady enters, drops a bunch of books next to the child. Lady exits. Innocent kid shrinks away from those chandamamas and tinkles, nose upturned, furious at having her intelligence questioned thus !!

Drawn back to my body at the lights, I break into a sudden smile which slowly turns a grin when nearby lady murmured under her breath, '..into their second childhood when hardly out of the first..!!'

Global Warming

100s of emotions
100s of arguments
100s of statements
100s of broken promises
100s of discussions
100s of occasions to reflect
100s of moments to ponder
100s of Politicians
100s of questions
100s of demonstrations
A picture's worth more than a 1000 words afterall...
Maybe I am happy for Global Warming ~ reassuring to know warmth is still around even if not in our hearts !!

What really sells !

Strange but true - being away from the country makes one positively patriotic. How many times have you gone visiting rest of the world to return(even if for a vacation) to your hometown towards the end only to turn euphoric at the very sight of the roads(you cursed for traffic), malls(you spent days together talking of noting but the visa), alleys(your gang had exclusive lease over).

So, revisiting the point of patriotism, it should also be mentioned how every desi news portal & blog is devoured in a desperate hope to keep abreast of current 'affairs'(pun seriously intended) back home.

On a nothing unusual therefore mundane morning, an article in the paper catches the eye - SECOND HONEYMOON - under the 'News from around the World' column. Funny as it may sound to an International audience the Government's move is welcomed as a measure of taking the right direction to provide basic amenities to more than a minimum number of people. Having interest thus spurned by Reuters every desi online news portal was scanned eagerly hoping for a bit of first hand news. However, it was a shocking disappointment to realize such news was a turnip in comparison to someones breakfast in Mumbai Jail !

A few days later one did find a mere mention of the article in discussion(NO! Not the b'fast) and sighed, turning back to the monitor to continue yet another day of living away from where one's heart belongs..

See what I see ??

The fleeting summer in this part of the world leaves a sun worshipper like me to assume expecting trying times to descend soon which obviously explains sunflower like attitude of gazing at the orange ball whenever wherever ! Ever felt the warmth of sunshine after being plagued by incessant rains which reinforce your belief that sun is really all those miles away from earth ?? Now that you are inside my mind, we continue..
Having found myself a window seat to comfortably settle in and gaze on way to work, I was drawn moth-like towards a source light ~ a spec of golden drop from the sky seemingly taking a cautious peek at the world spread below with all blues, greens, browns and more shades of hue which make it up. The scene struck kind of an irony having experienced days when this giant ball beat down mercilessly with pleasure much like the D(a)ork Lord ;) as compared to the shy Indian bride on a suhaag raat look being thrown from the skies today. That's not all.. the morning sky clouding around the sun seemed to cause refraction, making the rays diverge, springing a halo around the huge cloud, beams lighting up the horizon in a very mesmerizing reddish yellow.
As I continue to take in this scene, my mind's shutter working in conjunction with an USM lens.. er.. eyes, the train makes a sharp turn at a bend, the captivating scene disappearing as a result ! With a sigh, returning my eyes back to carriage I am pleasantly surprised to notice the face of a fellow passenger at far end of the carriage light up as if spellbound and bewitched by a scene outside the window, before returning to my morning 'paperwork' with a smile..
The excitement thus experienced not having faded, it is eagerly mentioned to a colleague at work. 'Crepuscular rays', he grunts before turning back to look at those lines of unintelligible code where it is believed a bug was resting causing havoc ! Trust science to explain my entire post in one tactlessly plain and brusque monosyllable(almost..).. little wonder poets have been rendered redundant in this era of science !!

Magpie rhyme, Potter time !

Ah..funny as it may sound, not to rule out the possibility of having those who know me and this blog in splits, a confession needs to be made about the new activity undertaken this summer - running ! Ok, cut that smirk out ~ this lasts only while the summer does. Afterall a healthy mind leads to a healthy body and a healthy blog..now can you ever argue that ! Actually it even made me compete with Kamal Haasan for his last scene performance in Sadma(NO ! No monkey business here, was referring to the limp earnestly !)

Now that you have had your share of comic relief(at my expense), lets move ahead to the reason behind this post - So, there I go 'trying' to jog(and not pant much) along the small gravel path with the shimmering trimmed green grass unfolding on either side for miles yonder just like a new luscious green carpet dotted with irregularly spaced magnificent tress tempting one always to stop for a break before finally the path leads onto a lake where the two white swans lift their heads to give a rather wide grin or is it just me ! It was typically same sight that Friday evening too when I embarked on my usual routine except that halfway down something stops me dead in my tracks ~ on both sides of the sprawling lawn were 100's of crows, most of them seemed real solemn as if they are convened there to discuss/declare a state of emergency; to ponder over some prophecy which loomed ahead; a situation but imminent ! With showers forecast for the evening, the sky was such a mourning grey with heavy clouds hanging all around making it appear the descending darkness seemed for a reason..none of these magpies so much as move when I jog past them having snapped this initial sight in my mind's eye.. It did seem a scene straight outta Potter magic !! :o)

Hmmm, insofar as it can be witnessed, this is a rare event in the muggle world..the magpie rhyme counts no more than 10 ! :o) Time to peek into the crystal ball perhaps ??

See an end ??

Roommates are no new concept ! In fact everyone of us at some point in time, eight on a scale of one to ten, have had to share our space ~ some inters tingly some not so interestingly. Intriguing talks, late night movies and crisps, reassuring hankies, few of the agree to disagree incidents and more is ideally the package after the initial rapport clicks. When a close kin was taken aboard it was 'reassuring good times' as certain comfort level is bound to exist. Little did realization set in ~ assumptions are precisely that !
A typical evening sees this roomie approaching and enquiring cautiously if the prepaid card used for travel can be borrowed for a lil while ~ yes, it's simply human to forget topping up one's own card ! Being the epitome of goodness that this blogger happens to be, not knowing to say NO(yes, never got around to finishing Herbert Fensterheim) watched helplessly as the card is drawn out from the blazer pocket where it safely resides. A faint note of thanks is imagined to be heard at this point.
On an other note, it needs to be mentioned "Oh dear, Monday !" syndrome affects majority of those who wake up following Sunday nights.. a deja vu of Friday the 13th of sorts ! Scrambling out of bed and cursing my geography teacher for logically proving to me Monday follows Sunday(read ROTATION), a clockwork routine follows where every check of time reveals accumulating overdue minutes. Grabbing the shoulder bag, running down the hallway with a practiced to perfection act of wearing shoes on the go, dashing across the road and onto the sidewalk quickening pace every second finally sees' me reaching the bus stop.

'Yippeee...a lucky Monday after all' thought strikes as a bright red bus comes to a screeching halt, opening it's doors welcoming one and all. Queuing up to board, casually reaching into the pocket for that magical pass which takes me places(quite literally), I freeze as the inward eye replays a scene from previous evening, 'Can I borrow your pre-pay card please ??'. Ahhh, of course. Coming back to senses, ignoring the bus fast turning a small smaller red dot in the distance, a frantic call is made. No answer. More frantic a call. Still no answer. Very frantic call. Sleepy answer. A seemingly eternal 15 minutes wait sees roomie approaching with a pleasant smile, 'Ah, you forgot the card, dint ya ! No worries, see its so handy to have someone helpful around like me !". No reaction. An innocent request question now follows, 'Hmmm, am planning to jog today.. was wondering if can borrow your iPod to give me company while running.." Is this what English from Oxford claims to fit the description of a continuum !!

Quo Vadis ??

Spotted on the company in-house communication channel, whilst enjoying a cold sip from the water fountain -

Save the Orangutan BOS Project sponsored by XX(censored duly)

The above project has been termed 'social responsibility' and 'donation of a defender' ! For all those first timers of Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation(BOS), a lil general knowledge gift awaits here !

One couldn't help but wonder about a possible ripple effect in this case as is but only too well known a certain sophisticated evolution resulted from the Ape family the species above belong to.. ;) ! But I digress, don't I !!

Googlenope

I chanced upon this post not incidentally while Googling ! Ever tried to find something on Google and not succeeded though the chances of such occasions are really slim.. that then consummately sums up Gene's theory behind coining Googlenope for a word !

Ah..it does remind me though of the exasperated look to be worn by a certain teacher down the Southern tip of India, who it should be stated here is an aficionado of the Oxford language, and the crinkled nose effect such a word would have upon a request for inclusion in her lexicon.. Hehe payback time of sorts perhaps ?? :p

Well, if you exclaim, 'Googlenope !' and it is understood as googlenope, whether or not agreed to as googlenope, googlenope it is !

'Sun' barsaat ki dhun ;)

Here I blog !! Yipeee..

There is a near magical quality about the first rain which follows days of sweltering heat. One imagines, associates and finally hears the pitter patter raindrops as Kirk Hammet stringing on the majors and minors to produce enticing tempo. Desi directors are aces in capturing every mood of this element ~
* rain, an expression of love - Pyaar hua ekraar hua isshtyle !
* rain, synonymous with calamity - Devar Magan & the unexpected dam breach..
* rain, the saviour in absence of a storyline - Tippu tippu barsa pani isshtyle !
So as not to digress, lets cut to the chase...

But what about the rest of us, the victims of countless rain soaked weeks yearning for a bit of sunshine in our lives(atleast my garden, to dry the clothes !) and the free Vit-D supply ! Isn't it more cruel than falling in love alone ?? After weeks of lazing on the couch with only free spyware supplying movie sites for company, it is reasonably sensible to conclude sleep is a virtue and with such an enlightening thought for opening gambit there is no resisting the first post. With renewed energy(MARS does help !), I reach out for my laptop when the miracle happened..

Blinds in the living room slowly start to emit a strange yellow glow(Nooo love, Pratibha Patil was nowhere to be seen at this precise moment), the chinks move rythmically lighting up the room with growing brightness, the passing red bus reflects the sun which bounces off my glass display cabinet ! I run to the patio door to slide it open and step out to feel a spreading warm glow embrace me and think, 'Surely, today is the day for my first post with some re-engineered perspective..!' So here we are fellows, another blogger enters blogosphere only to contribute scoops of nonsense, unsolicited suggestions, not-charged-for advice, unrequired endosrsements and more of all these...