DNA, Dor and More!!!!

Martina hingis V/s Sania Mirza turned out to be quite a dampner. I was glad that there were other matches scheduled for the same day. How can anyone loose so tamely?? Well I guess thats Indian sports for you....Hockey, Cricket, Tennis...ummm (do we play any other sport?? Shooting is hardly a sport....!!). There's something majorly wrong in our very DNA. We, as a race, give in easily where we need to be aggressive. The aggression is saved for people we least need to be fighting against.....eachother! And we end up feeling proud of ourselves. ......A sense of false achievement!

Talking about achievement, the other day I got appreciated by my bosses...apparantly for the "contingency planning" I was supposed to do for the renovation of one of the Airtel Showrooms in calcutta. It felt nice....but the corrupted DNA played up again and I ended up telling them that i took a lot of help from a person in the Delhi Office; when the truth of the matter was that I did it all on my own.....with some very vital help from vikram, who happens to be one of my bestest friends. I wonder why is it so difficult to accept appreciation. I almost turned red when I heard the words "Good Job!"

Sunday was lazy. I happened to go watch a movie with Abdul which otherwise I wouldn't ever go for. Abdul wanted to see it and I had nothing better to do...so we went. "DOR". A rather intelligent movie. Its got a lot of massages which come out in a very subtle manner. Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia are pretty good. Shreyas Talpade stands out and shines. I have not seen any movie lately without any male actors in lead role. I just love the song "Yeh Honsala". A must watch for a real movie lover...... trust me you'll not regret this!

I received a mail today. Well...I do receive a lot of mails but this one made me think. I usually just delete the fwds I get but I just happened to read this and found it very familiar. It was the exact same mail which I'd gotten about 4 years back and I'd taken a print out of it then and put it up in front of my desk....I just have to post is here.

1) Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

2) Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

3) Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

4) Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

5) When you say, "I love you", mean it.

6) When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.

7) Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

8) Believe in love at first sight.

9) Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much

10) Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

11) Don't judge people by their relatives.

12) Talk slowly but think quickly

13) When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

14) Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

15) Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

16) When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

17) Remember the three R's:

Respect for self;

Respect for others;

Responsibility for all your actions.

18) Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

19) When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

20) Spend some time alone.

Read all of them if you've skipped it....I'm absolutely in love with it...It goes in front of my desk yet again....4 years and I still loved each and every point it has. Some things just get better with time!

Smiles all around...Now is not forever!!!

Raindrops keep falling on my Head....

Thurday Morning....I woke up to the pleasant sound rain pelting down on my window. I got up and opened it. It was pouring heavy. A gust of wind and I got a faceful of rain water bringing a smile onto my face. "This is gonna be a good day!!" I jut love rain. I can sit and watch it rain for hours but I hate to get wet. I did watch it rain today, but it wasn't for hours coz I realized that if I didn't get moving I'd be late for work.

Abdul, my roomate, was already up and ready and doing something which I didn't bother to pay attention to. 30 mins is what I take to get ready in the morning. (I don't time myself but its almost a routine....brushing my teeth, a daily shave, going through Calcutta Times while doing "other" work and finally the bath...I guessif it weren't for Calcutta tilmes i'd manage the routine sooner.....but thats not the point!!) The smell of curry leaves being fried greeted me as I stepped out in my towel. Abdul was infact, preparing Lemon Rice for breakfast. I smiled again at the prospect of having something other than those godforsaken 12 buck "veg sandwiches". We get that at the Monginis, close to our office. We got our gas rolling a couple of days. Ghar ka khaana is soo much better! I'm done with eating out everyday.

Its Pooja time!! And I'm in Cal.....all I can hear people around me talk is how do we decorate, how do we organize, what do we wear, what do we eat, where do we go. Pooja is still a week and half away!! And its not just the people....its the radio stations as well....I heard a radio station give out tips to the listeners to ensure that their kids don't get lost during Pooja!! Made me realize the enormity of the celebrations I am in for..... If this is the build up, I can't wait to see what the real thing would be like.

Which reminds me....there are a lot of things I am looking forward to. Life's suddenly goten better.. we have the tickets for the Sunfeast Open in Cal. I'm gonna watch Sania Mirza play Martina Hingis if all goes well! and I have baseline seats...anyone coming? My presentation for my project happens next week as well. I usually wouldn't be this excited for it but for some reason I am looking forward to it. Here's the big one.... next thurday evening, we leave for the much awaited vacation to Sikkim. We've been planning this ever since we came here and its finally happening. I already have the tickets done for siliguri and we'll backpack from there....anyone coming? Hey october starts with me moving into sales which I am agian lookin forward to.....A real good friend comes down in mid october ...I hope we get time off to meet up! Come Diwali, I am back in Delhi....saddi dilli!! I can't wait for that either....

Life suddenly doesn't look like the negro's left ball!!!!! It was still drizzling when we left for work and for a change I did not mind getting wet.....

But Then I'm reminded...Now is not forever!! I better get back to enjoying my now..My coffee waits....:)

Zindagi Rocks...

"Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian"

I get back to my favourite topic....understanding life as we are.I read the above quote somewhere and I just fell in love with it!! You can't ever be sure of what is in store for you on the next corner.More often than not, what meets you is not what you expected. One tends to....well on second thoughts let me change it....I tend to associate this unexpectency with a certain degree of discomfort. And this in turn, makes my life seem rather tragic. Tragedy...half of which is self created and self inflicted!!

Lets take for example my desire to get back to Delhi. If I ask me why do I want to go back...I have no concrete answers! Yes it is my family....but haven't I stayed without them earlier?? Don't a lot of others stay without them?? Yes there are my friends....but are they a reason good enough??? I think it is the comfort....but am I uncomfortabale here?? A perfect example of self inflicted misery!! I could be happy for the fact that I've gotten to be independant...i have an opportunity to learn and grow.....i have an opportunity to discover new places...But I choose not to look at it and feel miserable abt being in kolkata!

I received a forward the other day which made me laugh and think at the same time....It was just a one liner and read:

Life is like a negro's left ball.....Its neither fair nor right!

True...wouldn't u say too?

Its almost end september......time for me to wrap up my project in CSD here..CSD=Custer Service Delivery!! I was with my boss the other day and we were talking abt work stuff. He just happened to mention at the end of the meeting a simple line which has energized me into taking up newer things before finishing off. A Simple line like...."Don't leave HR...U'll be an excellent HR person!!" I'm actually proud of myself...! 3 months in kolkata....time for a bit of reflection and learning....

• Being happy does not mean that everything is perfect, It means that you have decided to look beyond imperfections.
• Unhappiness is directly propotional to the difference between your self concept and the expectation from you. The greater difference the more the unhappiness.
• Question the status quo. If everything seems ok, there is something wrong!!!
• Expect the unexpected and u'll never be shocked!
• In order to get your work done, you have to make the other person feel important.
• Hard work always gets appreciation.....but looks matter! You need to do things which make others feel that you have worked hard!!!
• Confidence is important. It is the key to success.
• Proactiveness works wonders!
• Greet everyone ...irrespective of who he/she is and do it with a smile.It pays!!
• If you wanna succeed, enjoy what you do else start looking around!!
• If you think you've got it all figured.....think again and wait for the next corner!!!

Nowz not forever:)

Lets Talk Food Baby!!

Here's the deal...the previous post...A very dear friend of me who tagged me promptly informs me that I had to do it differently....Missy not doing it firse...too much effort!!

Too much effort reminds me of "eating fish"!! Trust me....the calories you burn searching for the bones in a piece are more than what the godforsaken piece will give you! No wonder it's "The recommended Meat"!! This last sunday my landlord happened to call me to his house for this feast that he had organized. One of my roommate's hates bengali food to the extent that he refused.. sayin that he had an upset tummy.

Now me and this other room mate of mine were left looking at eachother with no option but to go. Come Sunday we dressed in our smartest best clothes and reached his house only to realise that everyone else whas in Kurta pajama's....white one's!!And I was there...in my orange T shirt and blue jeans..."standing out" in the crowd. If there's one place where i didn't want to stand out...This was it!!

We were ushered in by some bengali speaking servants of his and taken to a room where we saw 3 old ladies sitting on the bed. We were asked to sit on the bed....The 3 ladies looked as lost as us. It was yet another awkward moment...i looked around and could only see females(read aunties) running around. I couldn't see a single male member....!! I wondered if we were supposed to stay on the ground floor as well....We moved out to the balcony before the ladies started bombarding us with questions which we half understood...

**THe bad part - Noone except my landlord speaks hindi in his house, or was that the good part???**

Luckily I did see the landlord's son standing there. He is an adorable 8 yr old ...extremely mild mannered for an 8 yr old. He wanted to play "catch-catch" with us...we were more than glad to entertain him. 5 minutes in and me having dropped 2 catches, a person comes out and tells us ....in bengali....that we need to go up and we complied.We saw people sitting in a line on huge tables waiting eagerly to be fed. We were duly alloted seats in the center of the room which made us the objects of attention!! If we were lost before, this almost scared us. All we could hear was people chattering away to glory and shouts to "jhol" and "lucchi" reverberating the room. I guess those are the only two words we could understand! Don't worry...you will too if u come to calcutta....the two most famous dishes in Calcutta!

The first thing we were served was salt and lemon...yes in the plate that i was supposed to eat. Next came some kinda red colored chutney made of some weird vegetable..I'll never know, it tasted pretty ok though! I for one am not a big rice eater...and thats exactly what i was served next. And then there was nothing for a while...I looked at my friend and then around and saw all these people mixing the red thing with the rice....Not knowing what to do i did it as well.. . the feeling was almost that of me in a foregn land eating foreign food. What followed wsa typical bong food....dal, aaloo "dom", "maach"(without bones), "maach"(with bones) and more "maach"(with lots of bones). O ya...did I forget to mention...there were no spoons!!!!

After all was done, there were "mishti". Had I known we'd be getting so much of it, I'd have skipped the "maches"!! I love Cal for its sweets and only its sweets. Awesomest rosogulla....divine sandesh.....yumm ...slurpppp. Okay, lets move away from food!

Its been 3 months and a lil more in Cal for me.....Howsoever much I might crib about the place it does have its own charm. The people are always friendly, the taxi walas don't try and cheat you, the food is awesome, the city is cheap and there is soo much to explore. It ain't that bad a place....but I still miss Delhi! 3 months compared to 9 YEARS...and you still wonder why, you still ask me why....!!?? :)

More lataaa...Nowz not for ever!

Grrrr....tagged!!! I hate answering questions about myself which make me think.....

1. How does the world see you?
See...??? The world sees a 5'10" tall guy who happens to be uncannily bulky. Someone who has his priorities clear and someone who'd like to see everyone around him smile.

2. Will I have a happy life?
I sure will...I'll make sure that I end up having one....come what may...I'm a strong beleiver in living the life in just one way....with a smile on your face.

3. What do my friends think of me?
I wish I could get into their minds and find that out....stoopid question!!

4. Do people secretly lust after me?
errr...I wish they do:). do you ...do you??? this is stoopid question no. 2

5. How can I make myself happy?
loll....there can be interpretations to this question!!! I would say its got to do with your attitude...and how you look at things..!

6.What should I do with my life?
Live it up....!!!

7. Will I ever have children?
I hope I will....! But this is another stoopid question....no. 3

8. What is some good advice for me?
Loosen up!!

9. How will I be remembered?
Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisaar
Kisi ka dard le sako to le udhaar
Kisi ke vaste jo tere dil mein pyar
...Jeena isi ka naam hai!!

10. What’s my signature dancing song?
Shamur- Let the Music Play

11. What’s my current theme song?

I love this one...You gotta read and understand the lyrics!!!

Aerosmith --- Dream on!

Every Time I look in the mirror

All the lines on my face getting clearer
the past is goneIt went like dust to dawn
Isn't that the way
Everybody's got their dues to pay

I know what nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know its everybodys sin
You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life is in books written pages
Live and learn from fools and from sages
You know its true
All the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if its just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away

Dream on, Dream on
Dream yourself a dream come true
Dream on, Dream on
Dream until your dreams come true
Dream on ...Dream on....Dream on...

Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if its just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away

12. What do others think is my current theme song?
Knocking on Heavens doors...Coz its mah Hullo tune!!:P

13. What shall they play at my funeral?
Rote hue ...aate hain sab
Hasta hua jo jayega
Woh Muqqadart ka sikandar....Jaaneman Kehlaayega

Oh yea....I'm gonna die laughing!

14. What type of men/women do I like?
I dont even understand this question....Stoopid question no. 4

15. How’s my love life?
Errr...non existent.... dare I say!?