Serious ranting !!!!!!!

So many things have happened since last blog, and as much as I really want to I’m at loss of words to share. I’m seriously not sure of why I accepted the offer for my new job. Though I don’t miss the people in my old one, I miss the challenges that I rose up to. I admit that things are going to be much different here, but the change in pace, the newness of it is numbing.

BTW, did you ever eat those chocolates with mint layer in it, I don’t mean for flavor, but there is a layer of mint chocolate in between the dark chocolate. I hate them, no really, it’s like eating chocolate with your mouth full of strong “mouth wash”.

So last nite, on NDTV, there was this discussion about how hyper sensitive are Indians about the national flag and anthem. Apparently, a roar broke loose from all sides when Narayan Murthy had played the instrumental version of the anthem at some function. After a big hallah, he felt the need to explain why, in poor choice of words for a man of his stature, he said he didn’t want to “embarass” his foreign dignitaries who wouldn’t obviously know the song, but then all the Indian nationals would stand and sing along, while these firangs woundnt be able to. Makes sense to me…the panel of other contributors (some journalists, govt officials and so on) gave valuable insights of why that might be right and one lady dresses in a pink sari took her stand to say no it’s not acceptable.

Then they continued to discuss the idea of how Sachin Tendulkar cut the cake in SA which was a replica of the Indian flag, ok, I personally don’t see a problem with this either. We cut cakes in “celebration of life”, so most of the audience didn’t seem to mind except one lady who said she felt that in some way it symbolizes mutilating the country, wow ! that’s deep.

From the panel, one guy said, we’ve always cut cakes for various reasons, if I’m cutting a b’day cake with my child’s name on it, that doesn’t mean that I’m mutilating him. WELL SAID ! The mithai-wala’s sell tiranga burfi during the independence and republic day occasions, so why is cake cutting a big deal—good very good. They all agreed that as long as the intention of such occasions are well placed that shouldn’t be constitutional insult!

aah hah…from where I’m sitting (in my darling couch), I’m digressed to another topic, in sexual harassment, it all depends on the perception of the victim. How do you define these perceptions, there is no hard lined rule to say, this might not be perceived as offensive. But it depends on the perception of the other party.

Ok now comes the interesting part, flag burning. How many of you agree to it, well none did ! I was like huh, my spouse of eight years, also agrees, no way to that. I was like why not. The host of the show, mentioned the democracy of other countries allows their citizens to do this, no matter how condemned that is.

For the sake of conversation, I wanted to tip the scales and see the pulse, I said yes to V, if tomorrow, some god forsaken politician, announces, I now give away Kashmir to China and Pakistan, then while I’m at it, I’ll also let Assam have their say to be another country. Ofcourse, V gave me “ok where r u going with this” kinda look, I said I want to protest such things, I’ll be enraged, maybe in that state of mind if I burn the flag, it is to say how disgraceful it is for India, to tolerate such things. I think we should still burn the flag for the judicial system we have in place, but that’s another story. If we are the largest democratic country out there, why cant we practice a little bit of it. By this time, the panel of judges on the show said, burn effigy’s of the PM or the politician, put some banners out, why burn the flag! One of them said, how come nobody says anything, when you give out the plastic Indian flag which are used as hand fan, during some celebrations that are thrown away after the party and somebody eventually brooms them to a corner and maybe even burn them ! Hmm…there u go.

I have immense love for my country, I’ll take a stand if someone is blatantly talking rubbish about her, I have done this during a meeting, where another desi guy was generally ranting off about cows on the street, the weather etc etc, I fought him back, no way.

But I also think, that things like what I said above are of mild importance when we have more pressing matters at hand.

6 women, 4 stories

I noticed that Friday afternoon's most of hte BI and FM team go out for lunch, last week we went to Panera's and this week to Gramm's - gramm's is all about comfort food, Gramm's means Grand Ma, they say. We were 6 of us and when you put 6 women together, some stories are bound to come out, you like it or not, women share and talk.

Anyway, on our way to Gramm's I found out that K met her spouse on Match.com, hello! That is so .....(I don't know hte word for it), she is a petite, feeble, sweet, pretty girl with an Italian last name but who's been married for 2 years. Then once we reached there, sat on a round table and the smell of comfort food was enticing, someone started talking about Anchorage, Alaska, K then mentioned that her sister lives in Fair Banks, Alaska, wait ! That's not all there in no water and electricity. Right now, she's “baby-sitting” 30, yes, 30 sled dogs, she brings water to them in buckets, and feeds them meat and stuff. Her (K's sister's) bf builds cabins there, ok, it's only like -3 degrees there, and it's dark most often, so go figure. This is more interesting, since they don't have showers in the houses, the Laundromat and the Video Store has two showers each….OOOOkkkkaaay. Yeah, imagine that! You go to do laundry and decide you might as well take shower since u r there, the shower is yours for 20 minutes, people! I find this so adventurous, this is hardly scratching the surface, I believe she even lived in Nepal for a year and somewhere in a town near a pretty beach in Puerto Rico, c'mon, it takes so much to be so gutsy, I so wish I could do that. I believe K's folks are also bitten by travel bugs long long time ago, so they think that K's life is so dull and boring since she hardly travels and she only thinks that she's “Normal”. Ha ha ha…what is normal ? Normal couldn't be normal if it wanted to….

So, then C starts talking about this wedding she has to go to of her first cousin's, which is scheduled after a month. She's amazed at how someone could have a wedding on Sunday, that too “around 3 pm” as it says on the invite. She thought that though it's none of her business, she thinks that couple is very immature to get married. Apparently, they don't want to live together nor get engaged and instead get married right away, and they feel that this way it'll be more exciting. Okkkkaay. Marriages are anything but….She also mentioned how that neither of them have a job yet, and that the groom is not welcome in her other cousins home because he stuck a play dough kinda thingie in the kid's hair and that poor child had to cut her hair to get it out, and he (the groom, u need to concentrate) thought they were joking about him not being welcome at their home. She then said they are only like 20 something.

So ofcourse, I replied “20's too early to get married”, well, C would agree but apparently she got married at 18, she's my PM, people, so I had foot in my mouth. Next time, just remember to politely nod without any stupid comments. Since we were on topic of weddings, I recollected an incident of a “Halloween” theme wedding party that was taking place in the lower deck of this dinner cruise I went to last year. The bride was a dressed totally like a slut, and the groom like a dirt biker and the entire party members were drunk and loud. Top that u all !

Oh by the way H was offered a vacation to disney by her folks, no she's not 8, she must be 20 something. Anyway, she refused bcoz she sensed that the reason they invited her was to babysit the nephews that they are taking along....ha ha ha. good one.

Meanwhile, somewhere at the Alaska story, the food arrived and the fries were yumm….

( P.S: Later when we were in a meeting, I had a mild panic attack that I'm not as involved in configuration of BI stuff as much as I was in my last job, and was trying very hard to concentrate. )

Ex vs. Current

Let me see what I miss from my old work place:

o Internet connection
o Sharing popcorn
o Wearing jeans on Friday
o Long lunches
o Coming in late
o K and M
o Other friends
o Can leave the desk area haphazardly, which I never did in the beginning
but eventually caught on to randomly placing documents here and there.
o Close to home
o Business Casual (more on the casual side)
o Genaurdi’s & Eckerds was on the way to and back from work

What I don’t miss from my old work place:
o E.N and D.H
o My out of control work load
o My aggressive deadlines
o The nightmares I’d get sometimes : (
o Old technology
o Being on call for Prod support (yeah I don’t have to do that anymore)
o Micro-management

What I like in the new work place:
o New building
o Cafeteria in my bldg
o Good b’fast
o I’ll be mentoring
o And training
o Close to home
o New technology
o Has a dish washer
o May or may not travel

What I don’t like in the new work place
o No Internet access allowed
o Didn’t locate a closest microwave, until then no popcorn
o Cant wear jeans let alone on Friday’s
o Cant do 1 and half hour lunches, try to back in 55 mts.
o Try my best to come in early by 8.45am
o K and M
o Have to keep my desk area organized, it's a big wig area, so the
probability of a big wigs walking across and to spot ur desk in chaos
will apparently reflect bad on my mgr. I dont know how that big wig
will find out.
o Business Casual (scale tipping more on the business side)
o I have to turn a right to go to Genaurdi’s & Eckerd’s.

what reaaaly happened 1+1

Booker’s got me confused now, today he said that the problem had been pre-existing and he still loves her and on and on…so now I’m leaning towards the thought that she’s an alcoholic. Well, whatever really, I dont think his life defining moments deserve a spot on my blog let alone my busy head, so, I’ll just file that thought away, until I feel like gossiping again, which by the way my sister HATES to do, so she wouldn’t approve of me doing it if she’s reading this, so for her sake I’ll move on to something else.

Anyway, the sun fairies has been blessing us some today; there was this warm and cool breeze to add to it, so a walk was warranted. After lunch at Wave Noodles with L, we strolled in West Chester downtown and stopped by at this quaint little antique store, which had this prettiest bed spread with this intricate embroidery and a lovely price tag of about $350 I think, maybe someother time. We didnt have enough time to check “The Lily pad” a stationary store, it was all pink with polka dots and what not…

what really...really happened

So, this morning when I turned to radio for my dose of Philly gossip and good tunes, right after Fergie's “Glamorous”, Booker the host announced that him and his GF are no more, he so eloquently put it, they broke up except he didn’t say those exact words, and he said she’s not at a place she likes to be and because what she did, he’s hurt. In translation I think she cheated on him, and he caught her red handed. He went on to say how he cried and called her this and that, in translation he cursed her to be a slut and still wants people who know her to respect her and…...beep….engine turned off.

Half way thru his story I reached my office and wanted to listen to rest of his story. But Diego started talking and I was running out of time, so I resorted to cooking up stories of his turbulent love life in my head and stepped into work. Mental note: look up his website once u get home, to get he full scoop. I know I'm so vain but I cant help it, he started it : )

Wish me later !

Today, someone at work with yummy candy at her desk asked me to update the departments "happy birthday" list, just then i was reminded of a bitter-sweet moment.

I’m one of those few people who have two birthdays. And the moment i was talking about goes like this......

One day, many many years ago, as we were walking towards the principal nun’s office at St. Theresa’s school, my dad suddenly halted to ask me something. He said “if they ask you when is your birthday, what’ll you tell them?”

Well, I know when my b’day is so that should be easy and I’d get admission in the same school my sister goes too, and since she is a SPL (Special Privileged Leader) I thought I could get away with most of the stuff. So I said “abba, I’ll tell them it’s sep 15th, na!”, to that he replied “Would you instead tell them it’s aug 15th. “

I was like what, no I wouldn’t, I cant change my b’day, I love that day, and was almost in tears, He must have thought that I need more cajoling and we stopped under the big neem tree and he explained how I was born a month later the cut off date for school and so if I have to get into this school for this year, I’d have to just say it this once but we can still celebrate my birthday the same day I was born, infact he raised the stakes and said we’ll celebrate my b’day twice. Once on aug 15th and the second time on September 15th.

Remember, aug 15th is Indian independence day, so you can have lots of friends over for the party, he bribed me. I was hooked in split of a second. I wiped my running tears and walked into that nun’s office, while ignoring the sound of the ceiling fan blade slicing the still air, I started answering the questions needed for school admission.

My father was asked to stay outside the room, so towards the end of my admission questionnaire, she asked me when my date of birth was, I quickly smiled and said 15th august. She nodded heavily and asked me to fetch my abbu. They spoke in restricted enthusiasm and my abba rushed to me with glee and said I was in, I was in ! So, that’s my birthday story.

Now everytime I give date for informal b’day lists at work, so that people can wish or bring a cake or get a card kinda ritual, I habitually just write aug 15th, but go home and celebrate on sep 15th. So there is a thin line how my excitement is divided by exactly 30 days of inconsistency.

What a week, dude ?

After many premonitions, I QUIT, i quit my job (for another one, ofcourse) with such vigor that I decided to take a week off. During this past week, I absolutely did NOTHING. Watched endless hours of mindless tv shows, until late in the nite and woke up at absolutely ghastly hours, except for one day, had the cleaners come on Monday, Tuesday the GE guy finally came to install our refrigerator doors (don’t ask, I’ll tell u later about this), Wednesday went to a spa, Thursday to the doc, Friday I was supposed to go to mall and library but my will was up against nothing to do. So I chose latter. Meanwhile, during the mid week, V ordered the Cricket World Cup on cable.

My week of silent bliss came to an end with few surprising shocks, India lost to Bangladesh, Pakistan is out of the World Cup competition after losing to Ireland on St. Patrick’s day and Bob Woolmer passed away just the morning after, it feels like an unfolding drama, just a day after their lost game, to find the team’s coach unconscious in the hotel room, all this seems like a secret CIA plot. I feel so sorry for the team.

I wish I had another week off and could see the game between India vs Bermuda and India vs Sri Lanka, but for now, my first “Monday” at my new employer starts tomorrow at 8.45am.

I'm all that and more : )

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Do you want to trade in

Are there times you wonder and feel like you could live somebody’s life. Well, don’t think no more, Nicael Holt, infact has done just that on Ebay. He SOLD his life ! Yes, you read it right, he sold his life. Everything, his name, his surf borad, his lifestyle as a package, even his friends and ex-girl friends come with deal. By now he must have trained his bidder to be him.

Sweet thoughts your way ....

We'll always remember you with love, Huma.

Not just flowers...

Every office has their own quirky things, memos posted around everywhere in the office, in the lunchrooms, restrooms, Dilbert clippings on desks etc. Among many such we use to receive an email every Friday morning to give your names if you’d like to win the floral arrangement, which is on display during the week in our 1310 building. This email stopped I’d say hmm…8 months ago.

But this afternoon, M hangs up the phone and beamingly announced that she won the vase of flowers. We are like “what flowers?”. She then reminds us of the email and we all are pleasantly surprised and cheer her for getting something for which she gave her name last year.

This is not the first time she’s won something; she’s the kind of person, who wins the strangest darn things. Like for e.g., on our annual day picnic, her name was randomly chosen for a 20$ gift certificate to her choice of restaurant AND also a full paid day off. Now, c’mon, winning 2 things in one day….I’m not a statistician, if I was I know it would be one in millions.

I continued to tell her, “Maybe you should go quickly and buy a Pennsylvania lottery ticket, with the same streak of luck u might win lots of money”.

Then she dwells us into this interesting story about how she, her husband and her 1 yr old won the Green Card lottery in December of 2004. Now, what is that …..I personally don’t believe in “luck”, but this colleague of mine seems to defy all odds of it.

After a decade and few more, her husband works as an artist and holds gallery shows and sells his paintings for thougsands of dollars and her son loves to play soccer. They are living the “American dream” if there is any such thing. Get this guys, he refuses to learn English, and doesn’t talk it, only their native language. So any mail, any phone, any break down in the house, my colleague is there in a heart beat to take care of it.

But I was totally bummed to know that her husband saw a tiny ad in a Belrous newspaper and responded by just sending in their names with education details on a paper ripped from a notebook to US and bingo, they got the invitation, 6 months later.

I'll just have to wait and see if there anything else turns with all the quirky memo's and emails streaming into my inbox.

At Viceroy

It was a weekday, late afternoon, I decided to head to Viceroy’s coffee shop by myself for a cuppa tea over a novel. The coffee shop was quite and deserted, as predicted for that time of the day. Braced with my thoughts and my novel, I got seated by the lake view. As my tea arrived, I was sipping it and enjoying every bit of it. Then the waiter, shyly walks over to me and excuses himself for interrupting me, but he had a question that he wanted to ask me. I said go ahead.

He asked me if I was a columnist or restaurant critic for any news paper.

I constrained my elated alter ego with great struggle and asked him why did he think I was a columnist or restaurant critic.

He continued to say “you are by yourself, reading a book and carefully noting something down, so I had to ask”. I went along with it and replied “even if I was one, I cant tell you that”. He then apologized for his brief interruption and excused back to his world. But there I was sipping my tea and felt like a renowned under cover journalist, giving a review to that coffee shop.

I completely forgot about this enchanting memory from couple of years ago, until this morning over our hot chai, V brought up something about “Taj Banjara”.

Colbert Celebrity Feuds

Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report on the celebrity feud between Amitabh Bacchan and Shahrukh Khan. It's a kick just to hear him pronounce Preity Zinta's name. Ok, now, bollywood is fiercely catching on to hollywood, aieh ? Full of s*** gossip, making it to comedy central and all. C'mon shahrukh, rest the case, u aint no Amitabh.

At DMV with manners

Few days after my run in with the cop, while waiting at the DMV, I came across few interesting people. There was this lady who wanted to renew her license, because it was going to expire few days after her b’day or something like that. She was of petite built, with an oversized pale blue sweater on, curly blonde hair, a very homely face, with bare make up. She’s the kind of a woman, who you’d think is married (maybe happily), has 2 boys, is over worked at home or at work.

We got talking and she admitted she doesn’t look forward to her b’days anymore, and the mordant part was it’s her b’day the next day. I felt a pang of sadness for her at that thought. When would someone STOP liking their birthdays and why.

While that thought bubble was in the air, a young mother and her young toddler were walking out, and I heard her say to him “Please wait, dear, let the ladies come first” and from the other side of the door a little girl trots in with a princessly aura. That did it, in the room full of bored faces, few of us cracked up laughing….

Oh, by the way

Few days in the past, in a hurry I quickly hopped into my SUV and started to pace fast to get to work, for my 1 o’clock, but the cop behind me had other plans and pulled me over.

Actually I saw him just while I was entering the school zone and put on my seat belt reluctantly. Nodding my head in denial, I pulled over to the curb side.

Anyway, I had zillion things on my mind so i didnt have any energy left to "act" cautious, and so I was left with my natural charm.

Cop: “Do u know why u were pulled over.”
I was almost about to say: “Was I speeding?”
Cop: “Your registration sticker is from last year, please give me your insurance, DL and registration papers”.

I grabbed my over sized bag from back seat and looked for my wallet, grrh…I couldn’t find it, shoot, not today! I looked again, no luck, and so without choice I sheepishly told him i changed my purse this morning and looks like I forgot my wallet at home : (

I guess as any man with a lady in his life would know this situation, he nodded, and said well, dont worry, just give me ur DOB, Name and last 4 digits of ur social and I did. I was sure he was going to give me a ticket in the next few minutes.

Tapping fingers on the steering wheel and cursing V, for putting my registration sticker on his car, then in an attempt to take it off, he ruined it, and shamelessly put his reg sticker on.

Anyway, the cop comes back and as if he was reading my mind he said you are good I wont give u a ticket this time, BUT, tell your husband his DL expired 16 days ago, if he gets caught his license will be suspended. Score !