Adventures of Venom - 2!!!

Day 2: 13th November 2007
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We wake up at 6.00 AM to leave. But VS is unwell – has a stomach infection. Already!!!! And someone talks about me being dainty darling!!!
VS is in a bad shape and no medicine seems to be working! Finally the Gharelu Ilaaj & Dadi ma ke nuskhe come to his rescue. After having a horrible tasting kaadhaa & some heeng (eeeks!!!), he seems fine (or at least claims to be).

We leave home at 1100 AM. Still debating whether he is fit to ride for such a long distance.
My bums are stiff and I have come up with a brilliant idea. Remember the hot water bottle that I had packed for back aches? Well, it’s now being used for bum aches. I use the bottle as a water bed. :D – fill it to half, press it to push the air out and close it. Your water-bed is ready; and trust you me – it is SO VERY helpful ;) Don’t forget the hot water bottle if you are planning a bike ride!!!!

The next stop is scheduled to be Mt. Abu. We ride smoothly and having ball of a time (It’s on the highways that you realize that India is REALLY changing). I am busy hogging sitting in the pillion seat. And then, as is inevitable and expected (Suruchi can vouch for this), I need to use the loo. VS is pissed, and gives me “I told u not to hog like a pig, but you wouldn’t listen to me” expressions!!!

Then the search begins. I am getting anxious by the minute and he is getting annoyed. Finally we spot a “highway authorities” office. It looks like it’s been closed for ages. But fortunately the loo isn’t locked. But there’s another challenge – the way to the loo is covered with thick bushes and thorny ones at that!!!! Well, desperation is the mother of all adventures – so I decide to tread the path. 5 minutes and I am back – relieved, but wailing like a baby – I have thorns all over my body, jeans and some of them have been daring enough to be found inside my jeans (how, is a mystery). Then the mission begins, to pick each one of them. And VS is doing a good job at it. It takes 30 minutes for me to be back to normal and for him to pick out all visible thorns.

We are already late – it’s almost 200 PM. We rush off on our journey. I am too scared to talk about lunch now so we have to skip it!

We are on our way to Abu road (it’s a small town which is the “flats” for Mt. Abu). There is a steep climb to Mt. Abu from Abu Road. The road to Abu Road is quite bad – ‘Four-laning’ in progress and practically half the road is closed down. The truck drivers in this part of India are crazy – they take sharp turns and cut from tiny spaces; they will drive on the wrong side of the road (there is no divider to mark change of direction) and while you are cruising away, you will suddenly see a truck right in front of you, who will not budge nor respond to your light indication. Finally, if you don’t want yourself crushed, you will have to get off the road on the mud (if you are lucky) or in the fields (there is no shoulder) and stop by till the truck is gone.

We reach Abu road by 430 PM. The stretch between Abu Road and Mt. Abu is beautiful and steep. We manage to reach Mt. Abu at around 5.30 PM. Our aim is to get to the famous ‘Dilwara Temples’ before 600 PM. (It closes at 600). We reach at our destination at 5.55 PM, and I run to queue up, while VS searches for a parking space. We have to leave our luggage on the bike (no place to keep your bags). We are amongst the last batch that was allowed to enter (thank God!). The ‘Dilwara Temples’ live up to their reputation and only when you are inside do you realize why they are famous the world over. The marble carvings are out of the world and the temples are more than 1200 years old. It’s a pity that what has lasted for 1200 years is damaged in 100 years – thanks to the pollution that our comfortable lives result in!!

Sorry, no snaps – no camera allowed!!!!!

By 630 PM we are thrown out of the temple, though I couldn’t get enough of it! The next stop is the lake. It is a sure disappointment – too commercialized and artificial (maybe honeymooners will enjoy it!!!). Didn’t even spend 15 minutes there, and are already on our way back. By the time we reach Abu road, its dark and cold and we are hungry. We stop by in a small dhaba for food. Either the food is just too good or we are too hungry, I can’t decide – so I concentrate on food. Now the important question – where should we spend the night? There are no hotels available in Abu road (the entire Gujarat is in Mt Abu - they have 5 days vacation after Diwali). We decide to push off towards Jodhpur and stay in some motel on the highway wherever we find one.

The journey is chilling! Its cold, visibility is bad and the truck drivers in this part are worse at night!!!! We ride on for what seems like eternity – no motel in sight. Finally at around 1145 PM we spot a restaurant (more like a dhaba). We walk in to ask for directions. We are told that there is a motel around 5 kms down the road.
Those 5 KMs took us 15 minutes but the anticipation made it much longer. We finally stay in a motel called “Arbuda” (what a weird name!!!). The name is bad, but the motel was decent. It turns out that the motel was the official guest house for many a JK cement employees. We thank god that the factory is closed for Diwali vacations and that there rooms available. We don’t even know the name of the place – guess it was Sirohi if my memory serves me right!
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Day 2 ends. Trip Meter reads 857.. 11 more days to go..

Adventures of Venom!!!

For those of whom wondering where have I been: there was long break. The post explains half of it!

This post comes in a little late – actually a lot late – but that’s what happens when you are back to work after a 15 day break!!!!!!

I had truck loads of thoughts running in my head, but I had vowed that I will not write about anything else, till the time I have finished the post on my trip!!!!

Venom, VS and me! The three of us set out for some adventure. And before you ask – who’s Venom? Let me tell you, Venom is the new love in VS’s life. Venom is the bike – a beautiful silver-coloured Royale Enfield.

OK, so now the trip – the biking trip! Yes, we did it, finally! After months of planning and anticipation, it’s already over and it feels great. Though it leaves us with a desire for another longer one and NOW, but I guess the 2nd trip will have to wait for sometime.
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THE PREPARATION:
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There was a lot of thinking and preparation put to this plan. It started from choosing the route. We knew we had to start from Mumbai, coz that’s where we live. But where to go and how, needed route planning. The 1st thought was to do Himachal via Rajasthan and Delhi and it spanned for 3 weeks. But then the “cool” boss butted in and shortened the leave to 2 weeks.
The plan had to change. Himachal had to be struck out of the plan.

Finally we agreed on

Mumbai – Anand – Ahmedabad – Mt. Abu – Jodhpur – Jaisalmer – Jaipur – Delhi – Agra – Delhi – Jaipur – Ajmer - Pushkar – Udaipur – Vadodara – Mumbai.

Then the work began

1. Buying helmets (while you are in the city the pillion rider doesn’t wear a helmet, but it surely is needed on the highway)
2. The “how to carry luggage on the bike” discussion, which led to the purchase of a saddle bag (I had never even heard of such a thing’s existence before this day)
3. “How to carry my clothes in that saddle bag? It’s so small” – such questions are almost always met with VS’s icy stare, which means – “Shut Up”. And so, I knew all I could carry was 3 bottoms and 7 tops.
4. Then came the spare parts for the bike – including the extra tyre tubes!!!! Needless to say that the spares took up almost half the available space. OK, I am down to 2 bottoms and 5 tops now.
5. Purchase of glucose and Tang, and a small First Aid box (very essential)
6. Collection of my skin care products – let me tell you – nothing's more important for you (if you are a girl) than sunscreen on such a trip!!!!!
7. Getting glares done for VS with power, so that he can wear them while riding during the day (he wears spectacles, remember!!)
8. Remembering to keep the hot water (rubber) bottle for back aches.

THE TRIP BEGINS:
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Day 1: 12th November 2007


We started at 6.00 am. This was an achievement in itself, considering that we had partied till 2.00 am the night before.

Trip meter set to Zero.

The 1st break came almost immediately – around 9.00 am for breakfast - at Kamat’s on way to Surat. The 1st day of riding can be tough. My bums were already hurting and I was begging for a break.


At around 2.00 pm I was tired and dozing off (yeah on the bike). I ate VS’s brains out till he stopped by at a road side tapri for a break. I promptly lay down at one of the benches, much to VS’s embarrassment.

I had to drag myself up to the bike within 15 minutes, coz VS threatened me (with a straight face) that he was going ahead with the trip and I could catch the 1st flight back! (And I was like – yeah rite, this tapri is the swankiest of the airports, rite!!!!)

At around 3 PM we were nearing Anand. OK…for the curious ones who are wondering ‘Why Anand??’ … Anand is a small town in Gujarat famous for AMUL MILK. And as to why we were visiting it, VS has graduated from BVM engineering college in Anand. SO I wanted to relive his memories with him.


By now I had created a ruckus about VS not letting me ride the bike. Finally I succeeded and VS handed over Venom’s control to me. (Thats an achievement, and those who know what a control freak VS is, will agree)

We reached Anand by 400 PM. It was a beautiful experience watching VS in full action around his campus. Telling me stories related to every nook and corner of the building, showing around the hostels, the canteen, the mess, the dhaba, the shady theatre where they spent hours watching porn movies – all of it. Lovely!!!! Worth the back breaking ride.

At about 600 PM, we proceeded towards Ahemedabad. It was getting dark and riding on the highway after dusk can be dangerous. I was obviously scared. I wish to spend many more years with VS and have kids by the dozen!!!

It was complete darkness all around us by 645 pm - 1st realization of "Shit man! We should have gotten the headlight replaced by the Halogen one”. We almost had a disaster when VS tried to get on the shoulder of the road to let a speeding car pass. Before we could realize the shoulder had metamorphosed into a pavement!!!!! We missed it a fraction of an inch!!!!! Heart beats pacing and with a sinking feeling of what could have happened – there was silence for the next 15 minutes. We didn’t speak with each other for what seemed like ages.

We got to Ahemedabad at around 800 PM, safely and decided to take a night halt at a friends place. My shoes had given way by then – thanks to the silencer! Once in the city, we were fairly relaxed (though the bums were emphasising on every muscle they had - if they have any under all that fat!!). We spent some time looking around for shoe shops. Couldn’t manage to buy any shoes – I either didn’t like them or they didn’t have my size!!!!

930 PM we were at Mitul’s place happily chit chatting about our 1st day and the plans for the remaining days. Had nice home cooked food and dozed off like logs.
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Day 1 ends. Trip Meter reads 573... 12 more days to go....

Radio: Music vs Ads

Coming to work is a pain... driving to work is a pain in the a$%e.
My drive to and from work is 2 hours each way - WOW! I spend one-sixth of my day driving!!!!

Now, don't get me wrong - I LOVE driving. It's just the traffic that kills me. And what better way to kill time than listen to music. Talking of music, I am still an ardent radio fan as opposed to the CDs. I love the feel of not knowing which song will play next and the random mix of moods.

And I switch stations everytime there is an ad playing. And I always wonder if everyone does the same.

I tune in to a particular station coz I like the kind of music they play. And when more people tune in, the station becomes popular. And when the station becomes popular, they get more ads. And given the limited time, more ads = less music. So people like me start to leave.
And then the station becomes unpopular = less ads = more music. Then I
tune in again!!!

OK I am confused - Will someone please explain it to me
How does this whole thing work???????

Random...

Random Thanks:

1. That I don’t have a strong (and unpleasant) body odour (I know of people who do, and every time I talk to them, I feel truly thankful)

2. That I don’t stammer! That I can walk and drive and dance!

3. That I am married to a man, who accepts me as I am, even if he doesn’t like a few (ok.. ok.. a lot many) of my idiotic characteristics; That I have a mother-in-law who doesn’t behave like a typical stereotyped MIL. (You got to meet her to realize how lucky I have been to land up with her.. and how unlucky she must have been to land up with me!!)

4. That I am not fat or ugly looking!

5. That my mom didn’t meet with an accident when she was carrying me – and I had the privilege to be born with no defects!! (OK.. SHUT UP)

Random Questions:

1. How are you supposed to behave when you meet your boss in the loo? (Thankfully I haven’t had female bosses till date, so I haven’t had a chance to experiment!!)

2. If you had 2 dying men – one who has met with an accident and the other who has tried to commit suicide – and you could save only one of them; which one would it be?

3. Why can’t the office AC be just right? Why is it either too cold, or too hot?

4. Why do I have to work? Why can’t I be paid for doing nothing?

5. Why does the house maid need a day off, exactly when you are expecting lots of guests?

Random Facts:

1. If you give me attitude, you either are already insignificant to me, or will soon become so.

2. The best thoughts will occur to you just when you won’t have anything to note them down on

3. I have realized over years that you don’t have to be with people to love them. You can just love them.

4. I never have enough money

5. I don’t know what makes me happy
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Ray thinks I rock!!!!

Thanks Ray!!! (Resh as most people would call her, but I prefer to stick to Ray)
Well, I had no clue on how to accept this pink 'Rocking-girl-blogger' award, and hence the delay in this post. Finally Ray enlightened me on the process and here I am.

Thank you, Thank you. (Bowing)

Had an amazing week - in the negative sense - and this compliment does bring a smile to my so stressed face.(after all not many people think that I rock!! Most of them think I AM a rock!)

Won't go into the details of what happened, but broadly

1. Managed to get my laptop stolen, and hence lost ALL data. (Don't even ask me how it happened)

2. Lost a cheque of approx 11,000 bucks. (Thankfully not a bearer cheque)

3. Managed to get bad bad rashes and sun burns on my face - and now with the skin peeling off, I can pass off as a horror film star. (I am truely upset!)

4. Found out that my ideal job would be a 'top-gun-fighter-pilot' (whatever that means).. and wondering what the f%^& am I doing here.

5. Realized that I have gained 2 Kgs. (sob sob)

The list is really long, but since Ray would come back to me and scream for making it more than '5', I shall shut my trap for now!!

And for the fact that this post is about accepting the "Pink" (and so lovely) award and not about my escapades.

Quantifying the craziness…

Picking up the tag from Rayshma, I sit down to perform one of the very few things that I find difficult to do – list down my insanity.

The difficulty is attributed to 3 main reasons:

1. I like to believe I am perfect, and so there isn’t anything that I don’t love about me, including the insanity
2. My arrogance makes it difficult to accept my madness on a public forum
3. Ray asked me to limit it to ONLY 5, which is a mammoth task – includes a lot of thinking and organizing and reorganizing the list (anybody who knows me will vouch for it)

But, I am told that if someone tags you, it’s rude NOT to pick it up, so here I am. The quirkiness below follows no ranking; it is purely listed in the order of realization and I have tried to touch a different trait with each one...

1. It is eerie how Rayshma and I are SO similar – ref to the ‘meow’ and 'clawing' and ‘coriander’ reference on her post. Never seen so much similarity between two very different individuals. Almost ALL the restaurants that I frequent will not put coriander in my food, by default; and my ‘meow’ depends on (and also shows) the mood I am in… the ‘meow’ can range from purring to roaring, accompanied by clawing!!

2. I am 29 years of age, and yet whenever I am in a hypermarket or store, I spent maximum time in the stationary section. I just LOVE to be surrounded by pens, erasers, notebooks, pencils, crayons, post-its and what have you. I still use a pencil at work, and that too, the one painted with Disney characters.. Shhhhhhhh….. and I am VERY possessive about it (Thanks to Suruchi, she gifted it to me)

3. If I am hitching a ride with someone, I will NEVER put my laptop in the rear seat of the car – I will cling to it, even if I am sitting in front. Opening the rear door, dumping your laptop bag, and then sitting in the front seat, is a VERY personal gesture to me, and reserved to a very few cars (and car-walas)

4. This is my 4th job in 6 years. And unlike ALL others whom I have known, I NEVER find a new job and then quit. I always quit and then find a new job.

5. I can’t keep my eyes open in a moving vehicle IF I am not driving it; I ALWAYS fall asleep as if I was drugged. I don’t know what this is called – a distorted version of motion sickness – maybe. But when I am driving, I can go on without a break (and without blinking) for as long as 10 hours. I don't know how to explain this. Needless to say, I love driving, but my husband is paranoid of my so-called-motion-sickness.

I can go on and on and on, but since Ray (and many others) wanted me to limit myself to ONLY 5, I shall sign off!!!!

Baby Talk

Time: 8:15 in the morning
Mood: morning panick, again-late-for-office mood
Background: Radio is on, the song playing - "Suraj hai tu, mera chanda hai tu, haan meri aankho ka taara hia tu"
VS is busy shaving and complaining as to how men have a tough life, having to shave EVERYDAY (this is probably the only thing that I think he should do more often, and he wishes he could do it once a week.)

I am filling up warm water in the bucket to go in for a bath.
Suddenly I say - "I want a baby"
VS almost cut himself with the razor at this unexpected shock.

"Why?" he asks.

MJ: So that I can sing him this song, when u ditch me. (The song under consideration is the "suraj hai tu...")
VS: What? U want a baby so that u can sing to him?
MJ: (with a straight face) Yes, I will sing this song to him after you ditch me.
VS: But why will I ditch you?
MJ: YOU have to answer that!!!!
VS: But why do u think I will ditch you?
MJ: I just know you will.
VS: I have nothing to say to you..
MJ: See, now you don't even want to talk to me. That's why I believe you will ditch me.
VS: Whatever.... I don't want to talk about it.
MJ: So get me a baby, then I won't bother you.
VS: I Can't ruin some baby's life, just because you want to sing to him.
MJ: (Puppy face) You don't get me anything that I ask for..
VS: (The puppy face is working) Baby, what I am saying is that THIS isn't a good enough reason to have a baby.
MJ: (Eyes rolling) There is another reason as well....
VS: Which is???
MJ: When I hug you, you feel claustrophobic, he won't have an option!!!! I can hug him as much as I want.
VS: (Hugging me) I have my baby to take care of... you worry about yours.

By this time we are already late for office, so the conversation ends abrupty and both of us rush off, blaming each other for the delay!!!!

I m loving it...

18th Sep:
- Running with my luggage to the airport to catch a midnight flight. (I have always hated these odd hour flights, but somehow I always end up with those - its the cost I guess)

- I usually travel very lite and carry just one cabin bag. This time, due to the odd hours, and the transit time, the lazy me decides to check in my one-n-only bag, carrying nothing but just a laptop with me.

19th Sep:
- Land at Dubai airport at 3.00 AM (yeah!! you heard it rite, 3 in the morning). Mentally preparing myself for a 10 hour long layover time at the airport. (Again, its the cost I assume).

- Trying to catch up on some sleep, bundling up on a cramped chair. Sprain my neck in the effort.

- at 8.00 am, I decide to buy some booze for myself. For the 1st time I spend $70 on booze (OK, OK ... not for the 1st time) and also buy some chocolates.

- At around 9.00 AM, Maalik decides that I should take a halt at Dubai, and hence I am "requested" to take a transit visa and get out at Dubai.

- From 9.00 am to 12.30 pm, I am running around the entire airport shuttling between arrivals and departure, trying to get myself a Transit visa and get my bag off-loaded from the Mumbai flight. For the 1st time (and maybe the last), I thanked God for the crappy size of Mumbai airport.

- At around 12.30 pm, my booze and chocolates are confiscated at the security counter. I still don't know why!!!!! My best guess - I was stepping out of the security counter, and the duty free is meant for departure. (OK I know this reason sucks, but I haven't a clue)

- Emirates tells me that my bag will take 3 hours to come out. I decide to go to the office and make use of the time.

- 9.00 PM and I am still without my bag, wearing the same clothes for the past 30 + hours. Emirates says I will get my bag in the morning

- 9.30 PM, I go to shop for something to wear the next day. And I have to buy every single piece of clothing for the next day. EVERY, if you know what I mean.

20th Sep:
- I call up Emirates every 2 hours to check on the status of my bag.

- 7.00 PM, Emirates said, I may get my bag tomorrow. If not, I have to report it missing, which means they will take their own sweet time finding it.

- 7.30 pm, I am still in office planning to go shopping for something to wear the next day.

The comments I received from people
- AAH says "sorry" (which is sweet of him given that it's not his fault - he only does what Maalik wants him to do - and there's nothing he can do about it)
- Maalik thinks I got a reason to shop for new clothes, and I should be happy.
- VS thinks I am an arse that I agreed to Maalik's idea in the 1st place. And that he has no sympathy for me coz its my fault. He also refuses to pay for ANY of my shopping.
- SR thinks I am an absolute idiot coz I agree to anything and everything. But SR also offers to send me money, which is very nice of him. He also calls up twice a day to check up on how I am coping up. Thanks for being there, dude .

I am absolutely clueless, helpless, with limited amount of resources to keep buying clothes, tired, angry, frustrated, annoyed, in a could-kill-anyone mood, pissed-with-myself ....

I M loving every single moment of this.....

The analysis continues

This gentleman called RD – I place him in category 3. (and I make sure that I let him know). He does not seem to pick up subtle hints, so I have the below to say to him.

This post is a draft of email which will go out to him very soon.
The only reason this is here and not on its way to him as yet, is coz I am waiting for the “right” time and of course, still improvising it, so that the message is EXTREMELY clear.

Dear RD,
It pains me to add ‘dear’ to your name, but I have to, coz unlike you, I actually have some corporate communication etiquettes.

Below are a few of my observations. You may want to work on them (or maybe not, I couldn’t care less – either ways I have no respect for you).

1. You don’t know how to write corporate emails, nor do you have the brains to learn.

2. Multiple ‘requests’ made to you to add PLEASE in your email, have been in vain.

3. Your mails are more like “1st prize winner in an essay writing competition”,

4. You have a knack for digging out 1 year old emails, which run into 4 pages, and pointing out something which was written on line no 214 of your email.

5. You believe that the CEO and COO of the organization are your “best” buddies coz they happened to pat you on your back some god forsaken time.

6. You also believe that the COO has no other work to do, but to read your ‘essays’ and its his prime duty attend to you within the next 4 hours.

7. You strongly feel that copying the CEO on ALL your mails makes you important in the organization.

8. Your limited vocabulary does not let you differentiate between “support” and “subordination”.

9. I admire your confidence when you believe that you have added quantifiable value to the entire system, and it’s not your problem that the quantum stands at ZERO.

10. You have so brilliantly managed to leave an impact on my entire team – ONE email from you, and they are unable to concentrate on work for the next 30 minutes!!!!!! That’s some achievement!

11. EVERY team member assigned to you, requests to shift to some other team – within 2 months of working with you!!

12. I just love your responses, when you say – “I don’t have the time to do that kind of thing”. And BTW may I remind you that “that-kind-of-thing” is exactly what your job is?

I wish you all the luck that you may have, for your future (coz you really need lady luck on your side - you haven’t anything else with you).

How things change…

A few people have the ability to change / influence your decisions, without the intention or the knowledge of it….

Every time I make up my mind on this one particular thing, this man comes in, throws a few words around and changes everything for me – and he doesn’t even know that I am listening to him. And whatever he says has nothing to do with what I have in my mind. He doesn’t know and couldn’t care less about what I think, and I am not even sure he knows that I exist.

The charisma around him and the way he talks makes me begin to wonder if I should not trust my gut feel at all, and just believe every word he utters. Its like… when he is talking, everyone around him is non-existent, he believes in every word he says and lives every moment, he is so passionate about his work and ideas that you start believing in him from the moment his words fall on your (deaf) ears. When he says he will change things, you buy it almost before he completes his sentence, and then wait patiently as if he could change the world at the snap of his fingers. He can weave visions and goals out of nothing at all; and has the amazing ability to make you visualize those dreams almost as passionately as him.

I put him under (1) (expect that I will never let him know) and almost nothing will ever change my respect for him, in spite of all the stuff that he did or did not do.

And then he is gone, just as abruptly as he came. And leaves you as confused as ever.

I have done this before, but not again. This time I will trust my gut feel.

……….. I will leave a few dots here, and leave it to people to ‘connect the dots’.

Food for thought!!

I receive a lot of those viral forwards that can irritate you to death, but this one just caught my eye, and I couldn't help posting it here.

Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there

What am I?

Someone once said to me:

"The principled are easy to break; it's the unscrupulous you need to worry about"

Honestly, I haven't gotten over it till date.
Either I will break down soon, or I am someone I hate to be.

Frogs

I am a complete nature lover, would love to be left alone in a jungle… well… OK, maybe not alone!
I love animals, all of them; and I hate reptiles, all of them.
And I hate frogs.

But this post is not about animals or frogs… it’s about people.

I meet many people. And I remember each one of them, even the bartender who served me that extra Tequila shot (on the house) in a particular pub, when I was already 7 down. And the scary part is – he remembers me too. I smiled at him when I visited the same night club the following week, and he smiled back and said, “how you doing, Mridula?” I never went back again.

Back to the original plot – I remember each one of those I meet or see. And I love to observe them. I can broadly classify people into 4 categories:

1. Those I love / admire / respect (and I let them know)
2. Those I hate (and I let them know too)
3. Those who are too insignificant for me to make a mental note
4. Those whom I write off completely from my life (while still making a mental note to pretend that they fall under 3)

Now various people will fall under various categories and I do not claim to be the best judge of people; but my observations have seldom proven me wrong. And I cautiously choose the word ‘seldom’. There have been times, when I have made mistakes and learnt the bitter way, and then shifted someone from 1 to 2 to 4. We all make mistakes and grow wiser.

This post is about this “someone” that I have known for quite sometime now, but still haven’t managed to decide whether to put him under 1 or 2 or 4. The fact that I am thinking about where to place him, automatically rules out 3.

So this someone - lets call him Mr. X for now (he is THAT mysterious!!)
After knowing him for more than 6 months, I still can’t claim to know him. And whatever I know of him scares me!
Mr. X reminds me of a ‘frog’. No, he is not ugly looking. He doesn’t LOOK like a frog, but he still reminds me of one.

- I am told that frogs were hopping around, even when the planet was ruled by dinosaurs. They have survived millions of years. Mr. X seems to be around for ages.
- Frogs can adapt themselves to any environment. Mr. X can, to ANY environment.
- Frogs use camouflage as a defence mechanism. Mr. X sure changes colours before you know it.
- Frogs pop up from anywhere and everywhere, when it’s their season. Mr. X pops up out of nowhere, and when he is around, you know it’s for a reason.
- Frogs have a skeleton, but still appear spineless. Mr. X IS spineless.
- Frogs are slimy. Mr X is, too.
- Frogs croak louder than their sizes. Mr. X talks bigger than he can do.
- Frogs scare the shit of me. Knowing Mr. X scares me equally.
I try to ensure that my interaction with Mr. X is only limited to absolute necessity, but it’s not the case always. And as long as he is talking, he seems to be making sense, ONLY if you don’t read between the lines.

I don’t know whether I like Mr. X or I hate him. But the fact remains that he drove me to dedicate a post to him – an honour limited to a few men!!!

I think the bitchy ‘myself’ is slowly and steadily taking over the good ‘me’ (ref: me, myself and MJS). And I am not imagining things. Lately I have been feeling very strongly about this. Not that I was the “nice” nice ever (I was born the mean bitch); but I always felt that there was something in me that wasn’t so hopeless after all (whatever little goodness I could manage to pretend all this while).

I still can’t decide where Mr. X belongs – 1, 2 or 4. Any suggestions???

Happy Independence Day

Desh ke liye marna zaroori nahi hai, desh ke liye jeena zaroori hai.

You don't have to die for your country, you have to live for her.

Thot of the day!

95% of the people don't quit their jobs, they quit their bosses!!!!!

So in the light of the above, you should do a little retrospective exercise, specially when your employees start leaving before you realize that they had joined!

Dumb and dumber

Below is the result for an IQ test that I took at Tickle.com




You're a Visual Mathematician!


Congratulations!
Your IQ score is 136
This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.

Your Intellectual Type is Visual Mathematician. This means you are gifted at spotting patterns — both in pictures and in numbers. These talents combined with your overall high intelligence make you good at understanding the big picture, which is why people trust your instincts and turn to you for direction — especially in the workplace. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.
The Classic IQ Test


Well, i remember the last time took an IQ test (some other test, not tickle), the score was 145...Now it's down to 136...
Am wondering if it's coz the tests are different, or am I genuinely become dumber!!!!
Does it have anything to do with the company I keep?????

Quit playing games…..

I love sports. I love sportsmanship.

I hate games. I hate indoor games – the ones that are played inside cubicles and across cubicles and inside cabins and outside and all over the place… I hate all of those.. Each one of them…
But it is interesting; interesting to see the games; to observe; to understand; to laugh; to be hassled; to learn something new each time. It is fun to be dragged into it. It’s even better when they think that you don’t understand it. Its better that way - You know it, but they don’t know that you know; and you know that they don’t know that you know!!! Brilliant!

But then again – I hate games. I hate everyone who plays games. Each one of them. I have no respect for such people. If you don’t have the balls to be straightforward, sorry!!

I hate myself when I am a part of it – willingly or dragged - even when I am having fun. That’s not what I am. That’s not what I want to be. That’s not what I will let myself be. I prefer being in my FIC zone. I am better that way – coz that's what I am.

"NO WATER"

There will be a few who will instantly relate to the title of this post; others will need to go through the trouble of reading this entire post.

There is this thing, very unique to my current office (actually there are many, but this one tops the list). The AC will never work in some parts of the building, suffocating you to death. At times, it can get so uncomfortable that I feel like I am sitting inside the boss’s cabin and its appraisal time. And mind you, the AC works just fine, at places (read ‘cabins’) where it matters!!
The heat forces you to gulp gallons of water (is that a polite way of letting me know that my skin doesn’t look radiant anymore and I need to start the ‘water therapy’????!!!!)

AND after you have stored enough water in your belly, to embarrass a camel; you will encounter the “no water” sign-board outside the loo!

I sometimes feel that the McDanolds outside the office bribes our house-keeping to ensure that there are regular visitors to their outlet. (More often than not, you will end up buying something out of courtesy, if you visit them for reasons stated above!!).

I often wonder if this is a trait unique to my office building, or does it have anything to do with the global problem of depleting natural resources!

Need I say anything about my current mood / state???

I am pink!!

I came across Rayshma's post My dil goes bluu..
Needless to say, I follow her blog very very closely. The post tempted me to take a test myself! And I must admit that I cannot deny the below findings.

Your Heart Is Pink

In relationships, you like to play innocent - even though you aren't. Each time you fall in love, it's like falling for the first time. Your flirting style: Coy Your lucky first date: Picnic in the park Your dream lover: Is both caring and dominant What you bring to relationships: Romance

I would especially agree to the last statement - what I bring to the relationship - ROMANCE. I just hope that the right people are reading this post!!!

Thats MY money!!!!

This is a picture of the pavement outside mahalaxmi station.

This pavement is built by the Mumbai goverment using MY tax money, for MY convenience so that I walk on it and can avoid the risk of being run-over by speeding traffic.

I take this road every day to and from office, and it KILLS me EVERYTIME to see my hard earned money being put to this use. The slums are coming up on this pavement growing like wild fire adding new inhabitants with each hour, while I still have to walk on the road and dodge the vehicles who speed up the moment they see someone walking down the road - as if to emphasize that roads are meant for vehicles and pavements are for pedestrians!!!!