'broken' experiences

I know I have been really late in posting here. Initially it was the work pressure: coming from the s/w industry where i worked shorter hours than a govt employee, this was a rude shock to me.

Gradually the pressure lifted (atleast for ppl like me who thought it would be wise to just side step and enjoy the two years out here .. )

there are so many things to write about: my first term, first week, t nite, summers, the dorm parties and teh dorm naming ceremony etc etc . the list goes on and on and on ..

but the inspiration to blog comes for totally different reasons,

I just heard two very interesting stories from a friend of mine regarding HER life experience:

story 1
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She is walking down a pretty busy street trying desperately to ignore the stares of a particular man who kept rotating his head as the sunflower might in case the sun attempted to flee all of a sudden.. In her desperate attempt to get away from that place, she ended up breaking up her slippers. Totally dazed at her good luck, she tried in vain to flag down an auto ( murphy's law: when u need an auto, there are many coming ur way but all of them are ALWAYS occupied) .. she looked around for a cobbler who might be able to fix it for her ( so she claims) and then ... ok lets save tat for later ...

what would you ppl have done ?

- waited patiently for an auto and caught one and gone home? ( estimated cost: 50 bucks)

- my friends must be sniggering to themselves muttering under their breath" who cares about the slippers, I would chuck them and take the next bus home .. "

- worst case: called up a friend and asked him/her to pick u up from that place ..

- look around for a shop where u can buy an alternate pair of slippers ..

do i see some of you out there saying " yup, that would be a good idea" .. well she did exactly that . the problem was the nearest shop was a REEBOK showroom and she ended up buying a brand new sneakers worth around 5ooo bucks !!!! . My marketing profs keep preaching about impulsive buys and mind space, but this to me was mind boggling and outright stupid to say the least .. when I tried to talk sense into her ..she told me another incident which is


story 2
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Have always heard from everyone who can speak that experience brings in loads of confidence to handle similar situations .. guess thats exactly what happened in her case..

she had a pretty decent day in office and towards the end of the day realized that the fly of her jeans was malfunctioning .. *stop laughing guyz, it is NOT funny*

(btw i must admit that i myself doubled over with laughter when i heard this) *grin*

Not to be outdone this time and armed with the proverbial experience of being in a 'similar' situation this time she does not even hesitate to make a quick exit from her office and hurries back ( home u think ?? nah .. ) .. she makes a beeline for the nearest Levi's store and gets herself a new pair of jeans worth 4K !!!

all things said and done money is supposed to be spent and it depends on the person on how he/SHE wants to spend it .. but i do wish to god that next time she is travelling in an auto, let the auto breakdown in front of a Merc showroom and there be no other transportation in the vicinity

ps: I always wanted to drive a Merc :) ..

akkare akkare akkare !

My friend came from Tuticorin (where he claims he works) to tvm so that he could catch a flight to Dubai today. He lands at 10 in the morning and calls Anilesh and goes on a shopping spree .. ( he has an allowance of 10K for the trip accessories and he plans to get everything. for ppl who know my colg gang . its JT).

excerpts from what transpired during this period of total chaos:

scene 1
------------

J.t barges into the costliest retail store in the city and proclaims : "I don't care how much it costs, but I need the best."

hearing this, the prettiest damsel saleswoman walks over ,smiles demurely and asks " what is it that you intend to buy sir ?"

J.T (unabashedly) : get me 5 underwear !!!!

ps: anilesh looked around and said " I am NOT with him " and walked away.

scene 2
------------

They go into another showroom to get a tie. JT is in a very foul mood because he lost more than half an hour due to uncooperative(!!) staff at the previous place. so he goes into this shop, grabs a tie and says " I will pay the cash now, you can make the bill later .. "

the shop ppl being very honest and truthful (as all Indians are) say that they would not part with the 'tie' unless they have a bill for the transaction ..

JT grumbles "I hate these bloody Indians" and says in a dubai accent " ok ok hurry it up"

While the saleswoman is packing the tie .. JT gets hold of the bill, pays it and starts marching out of the shop .. perplexed and surprised .. the sales lady calls behind him " Sir, don't you need this thing" . She is holding in her hand the tie for which JT had just paid the bill.

JT .. nope , I don't need it .. you can keep it! " and walks out of the showroom triumphantly for having saved some time ..by not picking up the tie (yet paying for it).

Anilesh does the mopping up this time round.

Scene 3
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Next they move into a shoe bazaar ( chor bazaar types) and some thug hands him a shoe that he claims is 'woodlands' and is selling it at a discount - now it costs just 2500 .. JT jumps at the bargain and gives him the cash and before he could say " you can give me the bill later", the thug has vanished !!
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he somehow finishes his shopping, get home. packs everything he has just bought + the official samples ( this is the reason why he is flying to dubai) and we pack him off to the airport .. we reach there and give him an emotional send off and start on our way back .. halfway back from the airport he calls and asks us to come back to the airport ..

me: why? what happened ?
JT: eda, they are not letting me take those samples with me .. so you guys will have to take it back.

me: then what will you do once you get there ? what will you show your client ?
JT: I have taken fotos, I will show them the snaps of the sample.

Ok ppl .. the sample that he was taking with him was some kind of SOIL .. foto of soil ????

scene 4
-----------
emigration check officer (ECO) : sir are you going on business?
JT : (impatiently) yes yes .. (looks at his Rolex watch).

ECO : Sir , could you please show me the license?
JT : huh , what license?

ECO: Sir don't you know .. you need a license to export Underwear from India to Dubai !

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I seriously doubt how he would last in Dubai for 5 days . I hope he keeps his hands in his pockets(!) and more importantly doesn't venture out to shop on his own .. ALL THE BEST J.T

nb: special thanks to Anilesh for filling me in on what I missed .. I arrived late(as usual) and missed the shopping part!

Cheque washing!

I know I have not been blogging regularly and as Bullshee says " this blog has spider webs hanging off it!" .. hmm .. am no cleanliness freak .. and lil spideys never hurt anyone .. so all those wannabe spidermans .. walk in and get bitten !

I was hanging out at my friends place, I get a call from my roomie-Thanku. He was going bonkers about some cheque.(uncashed one ofcourse!)

Thanku: Eda, do you remember giving me a cheque for 12K some time back ?
Me : err .. hmm ... yeah! (unless he is talking about something that i have to return .. what is the harm in saying YES!)

Thanku : hey, that cheque got washed off..

I have heard about bouncing cheques .. but washed off cheques.. *perplexed*

I knew that he had gone to some water theme park with his 'friends' .. but diving in with your wallet that has a cheque worth 12K .. ridiculous!

Me : so ?

Thanku : Do you think I can get another cheque from that person ?
Me : err .. *sheepish grin* ... time to own up my mistake .. which cheque are you talking about ?

Thanku : tries explaining .. eventually he succeeds! should have heard his sigh of relief at that point of time .. worth more than that washed out cheque i tell you!

Me : sure .......I will........ try asking him.. ( am still dazed that he had not encashed this cheque because this 'recent' incident happened almost two months ago!

He murmurs his thanks and signs off .. and leaves me thinking ..

1. What if the cheque was from some person I hardly knew .. slim chance he would write me another one!
In such a scenario who ends up being the loser ?

Me - who got my friend the phone worth 12K

or
Thanku: the person who lent me the 12K.

I thought and then decided let the JUNTA decide .. SO ..what do you people think ? ( i can always delete the 'unfavourable' posts! )

A positive

A positive : - Kudos to the Aussies who have yet again won the world cup, they have a way of making a mockery of the finals every time .. first it was pakistan, then India and now Sri Lanka. I commiserate dear Lankans , guess the kangaroos were too much for the Lankan tigers to digest.

If that 'Island' ( i meant Australia) could have been banned from playing WC finals .. the last thee world cups would have been won by the sub continent 'so called giants' . one for each of 'em.. guess the next final would be between Bangladesh and Australia .. *fingers crossed*

A positive: second meaning .. yeah yeah .. thats my blood group .. so if u see me in a hospital bed saying .. " muzhe thoda blood chahiye,mera gala sookh raha hai" please you know which flavour I want!

and as an afterthought: i got through IIM A .. IIM A ( let me check that once again so that I can be sure I am not dreaming) *refresh the page once again*

guess that would classify as a positive, or would it ? ( rhetorical Q, please don't bother answering that one!)

Would like to thank all the well wishers, ppl who prayed for me, ppl who guided me, prepared me for the interviews. Thanks a lot ..

Roomies, all said and done.. no1 can clear even his kindergarden series tests ( do they have one?) if the roomies conspire against that person .. thankfully my roomies were busy conspiring on how to empty my coffers once i get in .. thanks a lot dudes for all those tied knots .. those long hours of 'forced' silence and abstinence from Television.
special thanks to all the 'candle lighters' .. somehow I feel those candles are magical .. thanks Tommy!
Also to the 'transporter' .. for porting me to the venues and waiting there to bring me back also !

and yeah would like to thank HIM .. without him nothing would have happened .. thanks a lot GOD ! I owe you one .. :)
would like to ask just one more favor from HIM .. let all those 'treat mongering' friends suffer from 'treatophobic amnesia' .. :)

Cheers.

cricketophobia

Curtains will soon be drawn on the world cup, where everyone expected it to be a 'grand finale', there are more than enough pointers to indicate that this would be yet another 'we came-we saw- we won' world cup for the australians. you ask me what pointers?? here goes:

1. The ardent and irrepressible Cricket fans have gone silent, SetMax has been all but tuned out. My roomies prefer watching Mallu serials and Discovery channel to sitting and watching (yet another) annihilation by the aussies or for that matter seeing 'India glorious' on ESPN. (tired of seeing the same matches over and over again! did India win only these many matches??)

2. The sports page in Papers is filled with some golfing exploits of an ethnic african whose great grand father was an Indian ( we indians have a tendency to tag anyone worthwhile as Indian, if we can ie)

3. The ads in between overs (yeah we do watch the matches sometimes) are pathetic. Seen the BINGO ads anyone ?? (vaaango -poooongo-bingo!) *aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh*

4. My roomie discussses 'globalization' and 'quota issues' over dinner (yeah I know its not relevant .. but couldnt help it) *grin*

5. There is a sense of respect for the Bangladesh team all of a sudden. they are Minnows no more .. wait maybe we could reclassify Indians in that case .. how about 'whipping boys' of world cricket?

Wait, I sound like some delusioned fan who is venting his anger just because of the one-off defeat at the hands of Bangladesh. hmm . maybe I am .. and yes it hurts ..it hurts to see an 'island' thats maybe 1/50 the size of India and is also split in half by the LTTE producing such sublime cricketers and entering the world cup final, whereas the BCCI convenes a 'meeting' and decides to sack the coach (wat can he do ? teach those superstars how to hold a bat?) and 'rest' the senior players and prepare for the enormous 'battle' against Bangladesh. Sad .. real sad.

All things said and done, have to admit there would be more viewership to the India-Bangladesh match (if its shown on DD) than for the world cup final ! Thats Indian fans my friends .. yeah thats US (yup I am one of 'em allrite)

Afterthought: all the best to South Africa and if that doesnt work - to Sri lanka ..cmon make a fist of it .. make me eat 'humble pie' .. well everyone cheers for the Underdogs, dont we!

Me-Myself ( and Irene)

Have been reading a book : 'Blink' . am still reading it so cant say definitively as to what the author says, but from what I have read I inferred the following:

No matter how much we sit and analyse,think and break our head over an issue or problem, our own sub(un) conscious mind would have already SHOUTED out the solution within a blink of an eye. We just dont listen to what it says , maybe it sounds like Mr Suresh Kumars voice - a prof who had the privilege of teaching me during my college days (!).

Well If I were to somehow acquire the required expertise and cunningness using which I could decipher what my alter-ego yells at me, then I would be in a quandary. Have always believed in the dictum " do what you think is right" . Now things would get a bit difficult- which part of me do I listen to - my subconscious mind or my rational thinking, analytical Conscious brain?

lets take an eg:
I see a girl in the mall, whom I so badly want to hit on ( u might think i am really desperate, wel I am! )
my subconscious mind tells me : go for it buddy, after all she has eyes only for u !

my conscious mind says: look dude, she has eyes only for u - she is glowering at u ! she has a boyfriend who looks lik all that you are not - tall, handsome and more importantly has a 6ft 6'' frame. She has been on a shopping spree for the last 8 hours ( not good news for my wallet)

Which of these 'voices' would you like to hear ? The one that gets you beaten up, bruised,bankrupt and running for cover. Or the one that gives u the sensible option, a boring time at the mall and err some more boring hours afterwards!

I would prefer both .. atleast I get to make a choice, next time I say " abe, she looked at me, chal follow karte hain .. listen its not the quixotic valentine inside me thats doing the talking, its my subconscious brain!!"

Well everyone is here to make a difference, to do something unique. Irrespective of which voice we listen to, we will end up on a fork on the road and will have to make a choice ( la Matrix) .. just be sure that you dont mess up at that time ..
still in doubt?? well I have a solution for that also : " when in doubt, act DUMB"

Waiting . . .

Yes I am still waiting for a reply from that female , and NO a simple "hi kaise ho" scrap on ORKUT does NOT count as a reply.
If you think I spend the whole day in office peeling off the rose petals and saying " she loves me, she loves me not" get a grip on it .. i am not brooding over that, not yet anyway.

When are your results coming? That is the only Question that people want to ask me nowadays. even my mamaji's chachaji's nephew's new born sons kindergarden friend asks me that very question !
Pehle pehle to it was similar to " how are you? how was the weekend ? " kind of questions but after a certain threshold it gets under the skin. It was so irritating that I sat down and instead of reading all the blogs and tabloids and economictimes (kya kare aadat se bechar hoon) I sit and think why do they ask me this question. I raked my brains and came with the plausible conclusions

1.My teammates- " They see me as an 'outsider' now and want me to be where I belong ( no not IIM) ie OUTSIDE ! "

2. company ppl -"they empathise with me and want to alleviate the pain that I am suffering by sittin on my bum the whole day counting the number of ppl who peep into my cube and sulk away when they see me grinning at them. '

3. Friends - " Friends being friends , wishing me well , want to see me doing something worthwhile for a change" (yeah rite .. they want the treat !! everything else comes later!)

4. Roomies : " they really wish me well and want me to do well and blah blah" ( get out so that we can fag inside the house and dont have to worry abt ur 'tantrums' !! and also the treat )

Hope I make it through this time esp coz I don't want to break so many hearts ( and MINE).

Every time I hear some1 ask me that question, I know any reply that I give could be misconstrued as being presumptuous, cocky, arrogant or dismissive depending on the 'Pakaoo' answers that I give them ..

Wait .. waiting *raps fingers on the table*.. still waiting ..
"time is one thing that I have in plenty but patience is definitely not my cup of tea .."