The Guinness record for Talking goes to…

This post is a request…I had mentioned to my friend that a certain gentleman was BLOG MATERIAL and then somehow didn’t get down to writing the blog. She reminded me…it appears to me that she is following my blog and has been eagerly waiting for this post. (Well..SJ if you read this, you better leave behind a comment as this one is for you!)

On a recent trip to Chennai, my friend and I were forced to share a cab with a gentleman from our office. Our manager mentioned as we were leaving…’he’s a real nice fellow…but talks a lot’. That from him should have warned us…as he himself talks non stop and nineteen to a dozen!!!

We had barely settled in the cab that he started firing questions at us. In about 1 KM i.e to someone who knows the route, I would mention till we reached from our office to the main DLF Park gate, he had gathered from us how long we had been working with QA team, which project we were in now, how long we had been with Logica, how long in Bangalore, how long in Chennai etc etc.

Without even catching his breath, he moved to the next topic. It must be appreciated that he was NEVER, not even for a second at a loss for a topic to converse on.

Where do I stay in Bangalore, is it my own house or rented. As I mentioned ITPL, he asked if my husband works in ITPL. The moment I said happily unamarried, his brain started working double time. Calculations…and as he started asking more questions on my experience I could feel he is trying to calculate my age. I saved him the trouble and told him my age. I couldn’t see his face but am sure his jaw dropped. But still that didn’t stop him from blabbering away. He was like ‘Look at the girls these days. And then he started telling us about another colleague of ours, who was also not married, saying that she says ‘ she is happy like this and doesn’t want to get married’. The saving grace was that SJ is married! I wonder what would have happened if SJ also said she was unmarried!

But she wasn’t to be spared either. She was hungry and this gentleman decided that the next topic of discussion would be food!!! It all started with where I was staying in Chennai?  I was in a guest house and this place serves only vegetarian food and that was why he hated it when he was made to stay there the last time he was in Chennai. He was like “I need at least 15 non veg items on my plate when I am here in Chennai…chicken, muuton, fish…’. Had we been to XYZ restaurant (cant remember the name now)?” As we said no, he made it sound as if we had missed out on life itself. “What a place, so much food, chicken, mutton, gravy. He was like, I have told admin, I will stay only in the hotel. No guest house for me.”

The excitement in his words was infectious. SJ was like…should we go and have food there now?

Then he went on to describe the previous evening. He went to some bar and restaurant near his place…he refused to tell the name of this place as he began his anecdote. Not that he gave us a chance after that to ask him once again the name of the place!!! It seems with the beer the waiter came with…not one BUT 4 BIG bowls of snacks…and free!!! There was chips, peanuts, mixture…he ate and drank and ate and drank.

By now SJ’s stomach was growling and growling. She wanted to know if we could get anything to eat at the guest house. I was like I can ask the caretaker to make some idlis. That was it. Our conversation…

Him: for dinner?

Me: no snacks. (actually I could have Idlis for dinner but he made it sound as if we were crazy)

Him: At this time? (It was 7:00). If you have snacks now, when will you have dinner. What time do you have your dinner, what time do you have lunch? What time do you have breakfast?

Without even giving us a chance to speak, he was like…looks like you all eat the whole day long!

These are just some of the discussions we had that evening. But believe me, he didn’t pause for even a second in the whole 1.5 hrs journey. So much so that by the end of it, SJ decided that we would get off and take an auto.

There was one more person from his team in the car who was to get off in town and where SJ and I decided to get off also. And as all 3 of us got off, you could hear the disappointment in his voice…all 3 of you are getting off.

We smiled and nodded and at least SJ and I thought…poor driver, he’s in for it now!

I talk a LOT! So does SJ! And definitely our manager too. Well, he talks more than the 3 of us put together!!!

Growing old…gracefully?

As we got off the cruise ship at Molde, a lady caught both my friends and my eye. At the risk of sounding ageist…she was, I would say, a senior citizen…maybe in her seventies.

Enchantingly dressed…what with matching shoes, bag, hat and  chunky jewelry.  A designer haircut – top half of her hair were naturally grey, she seemed to have dyed the lower part a black!

I would say… dressed to kill.  

My ideal…that's how I would like to age. It reminded me of a poem that a friend forwarded some time back.

Warning – Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandles, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

We are like that only!

Every morning at least 8 to 10 people get off the bus at Nokia...Koreans, Chinese, Finns and some Indians...

Everyone walks on the pedestrian pathway…Oulu is known as one of the most friendly cities for cyclists and pedestrians.

Today, Suddenly I see this Indian, running across the road and the grass, cutting across from all corners to reach the office. The difference that this zig zagging made to the total distance is less than 10 steps!!!!

Pedestrian crossings exist at regular intervals on the street with several office buildings...Our man crosses the road bang in the middle of 2 pedestrian crossings!!!

Why are we like that only?

Horse Riding Camp – Summer 2009

During an outing with Ruchi and Poorvi I mentioned that I wanted to learn horse riding...and what a coincidence – both were interested too. So Ruchi was given the task to find out some where we could get enrolled.

She did some amazing R & D and found out that Bangalore Amateur Riders Institute (BARI) which is under the guidance of Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) was organizing a ten day Horse Riding workshop for beginners to promote amateur riding in April-May 2009.
Each day there would be one hour of riding and on 2 days they would add half an hour of stable management where participants would learn how to handle horses and groom them and eventually develop a bond with the horses. A visit to the equine hospital in BTC was also included...sounded quite interesting, so we decided to join the camp.

First 2 days I had a horse called Soldier. There is a person (Srinivasa in case of Soldier) called a 'Side' who leads the horse and so all went well. Managed to get on and off Soldier, do a basic walk and some trotting AND importantly with no casualty. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. Day 3 the sides were asked to let go off the horse but stay close by. I was a bit nervous but luckily again the day was uneventful.

The following day my horse was changed to Al Habib...a young fellow. I just couldn’t get my rhythm with him and unfortunately I developed a severe back ache :-(
Somehow rested for a day and went back on Day 6 after the pain got better but the pain started again and so with a lot of difficulty I decided to stop the classes :-((((

It was really a difficult decision since we all were enjoyiong ourselves so much - some of my friends at the camp even created a blog (Horse Riding Notes) specifically for learnings from the camp and other useful information using mind maps, videos and the works...

And because I was feeling really bad I didn’t even go for the show that was organized for the last day where all my friends participated...

However, what raised my spirits was that Anita organized VIP Race Passes for the 1st day of the Races at Turf Club for us. An SMS from her read – “Tomorrow’s dress code for the races – Men: Jacket and Tie. Women: smart- no jeans, though trousers are allowed”. Hats and summer dresses came out of the cupboard as we got ready for the races.

Loved the VIP treatment ...for people in the VIP lounge they arrange lunch and high tea too!

Great races and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we got initiated to the world of horse race betting.

Human emotions are amazing – though we enjoyed the 1st race where we didn’t bet, the excitement levels were distinctly lower than in the following races where some of us decided to bet. At the beginning of the race we were seated but slowly rose from our seats and as the horses came closer to the fishing line we could be heard exhorting our favorite to run faster.

It was a different experience altogether...and one which made me understand how people get addicted to gambling. It takes a lot of will power not to bet in that kind of an environment.

Even though I found myself poorer by Rs 100 at the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. But yes...I don’t want to be a regular at the races:-)

Red Bull Air Race - London 2008

Red Bull Air Race - the name said it all…high energy and excitement…and I was not disappointed! It was awesome!
Red Bull Air Race is an international series of air races held in different cities. The pilots have to navigate a challenging obstacle course made up of a series of huge inflatable cones called ‘air gates’ in the fastest possible time.
Pilots must not only be fast but deftly accurate as hitting these air gates, missing an air gate or flying through at an incorrect angle incurs various time penalties. Quite death defying!
Pilots fly individually against the clock. There are 2 types of penalties – the 3 sec and the 10 sec one, which basically means that either 3 secs or 10 secs will get added to their clocked time.
Apart from that if they do what qualifies as dangerous flying – flying too low or crossing the crowd line they get disqualified.
If the plane hits an air gate, it is designed to break apart. Course personnel nicknamed "Air Gators" replace the damaged parts of the air gate. They were quite impressive. They took barely a few minutes to bring up a fallen air gate.
The races are held mainly over water near cities, but also at airfields or natural wonders.
And this year in London, River Thames against the backdrop of the 02 arena was the base for the race. Seating was arranged on both sides of the riverside. The air gates were floating on the river.
The day started with some other side activities before the qualifying races. There was the skydiving where a few guys jumped from the helicopter leaving behind them a trail of orange. That was good but what followed just took my breath away. The Helicopter Spinning or back flipping was mind blowing. A helicopter is a much heavier aircraft than the usual aircrafts used to do acrobatics and when it spun around in the air it left us all gasping with admiration. It's one thing to see a fixed wing aircraft do manoeuvres like that but it's totally different to see it being done in a helicopter. Then there was the Helicopter rescue sequence, which was also quite good.
And finally the excitement of the actual races as the pilots zoomed about. It wasn’t long before we had our favourites and mine was Péter Besenyei, the Hungarian.
All in all I had a great time!

Independence Day Celebrations @ London Office

The dress code was Ethnic. However, only 5 of us went in ethnic clothes. Of these 2 were British women – bless them!!! Dawn wasn’t in Indian clothes but she was very sporting and innovative – she wore the colours of the Indian Flag. What hurt me was the lack of enthusiasm among my Indian colleagues. These days I think they only want free food and free beer!

Loving somebody and...

I recently read a very interesting piece. Its one of the "Lisa Kogan Tells All" series from O, The Oprah Magazine…and am going to quote from it below.

"...Loving somebody and then having the guts to let them love you back doesn't always come easy. For the first three years of our life together I kept waiting for him to rip off his Mr. Nice Guy mask and turn into every boy who ever broke my heart. I poked, I prodded, I harangued, I guilted, I entrapped, I tested, I stopped short of waterboarding. But Johannes refused to take the bait. Instead, he maintained his calm, retained his benevolence, and developed migraines.

He made sure I understood that he was in it for the long haul...The man makes me feel loved - even when he hates me. And that, I've come to realize, is no small thing.

I have a friend, we'll call her Jane...Jane is married to this guy, let's call him Dick...I've had fun with Dick and Jane; we've gone to the theater and dinner and a couple of Knicks games together. With Johannes frequently in Europe, I became like a little dinghy tied to the boat of their marriage, just kind of bobbing along behind them in case of an emergency. One Sunday a few years ago, we were brunching in SoHo...Anyway, Jane knocked over her water glass, prompting Dick to spend the rest of the meal excoriating her for every single misstep she'd ever made. He opened his rant with "Christ, it's excruciating to sit next to you at a table," and closed with a reference to her "fat idiot sister." Check please!

Jane called the next morning to apologize for making me part of their Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? production. I wanted to say, You're not the one who should be sorry. I wanted to say, Your only mistake was in not lobbing the basket of stale sweet rolls at his head...I wanted to say, Janey, Janey, Janey, what's become of your self-respect? I wanted to say, It's not whether somebody loves you...it's how he treats you that counts. I found myself wondering: Is Jane afraid to be alone? Is it a money thing? Maybe she's an unindicted co-conspirator, provoking him in some way that I'm just not seeing? Or maybe she woke up one morning and 22 years and two sons had simply come and gone - right along with her energy and confidence. Maybe she just forgot who she'd wanted to be when she grew up. In the end all I managed was, "I'm here if you need me."

It makes just so much sense...something that I can relate to...especially the 1st para, where I can easily replace Johannes with A.

Facebook - My latest obsession…

I guess all networking sites are cool but I never really spent any time on them… Someone would send an invite, I would accept and that was the end of it…never used these sites actively to search for old friends or make new friends…
The first time I appreciated these was when one of my friends from BSF School, Jammu found a friend of ours on Batch Mates whom we had not been in touch with for 17 years.
Then a couple of weeks later I got a mail from a friend from Welhams…thatz like a friend from 19 years back…who found me on Facebook… since then I have got hooked to this site…we have our own group …the Welhams Batch of 91…and in one shot I have caught up with 35 odd friends from school…
Many posted recent snaps and as I looked at those snaps …I was like ….how some of us have changed over the years…To put things in perspective I loaded some snaps from our school days…I had them handy thanks to my blogging… In August 2007 I did one post on Hockey in Welhams (this pic is now the profile pic of our group) and then in September I did one on our social service activities.
I never thought I would meet anyone of these friends again…but recently B was in London and we caught up…next month S and A are going to be around…its wonderful meet up with such old friends…

Patricia Cornwell

A couple of weeks back I was depressed...my library had closed down for refurbishment. They did open in an alternative place...but only 3 days a week for a couple of hours. My library opened 7 days a week and on Fridays it was open till 8:00 PM!!!
I happened to mention this to my colleague and next day she bought a book for me. The cover was sinister and the name weird –Cruel and Unusual.
I doubted that I would enjoy that book...but I thought something is better than nothing...a couple of chapters and I was hooked. And a few days later I stayed up till 3:00 AM to finish that book...
Currently I am reading Blow Fly by the same author...half way through now. When I started the book I thought so many characters, different locations...how do they stick together...but as the plot unravels...it is amazing...
I have always enjoyed mystery books...whether it was Secret Seven & Famous Five as a kid, or Nancy Drew and Hardy boys as a teenager, or finally Agatha Christie, M M Kaye, Sherlock Holmes. Now Blow Fly has made me an absolute fan of Patricia Cornwell.
She’s a crime writer and both the above books are from a popular series featuring the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner. They involve a great deal of detail on forensics - innovative but sometimes quite grisly…Gripping and horrifyingly good…
However, when I discussed her with another friend, she said she loved the initial few books but the quality has been dwindling…
Guess I’ll just concentrate on her earlier works!!!

Mother’s Day…

Different countries,different days to celebrate motherhood...
Which means we ended up confusing our mom when I wished her on 2nd March and then a few days later on March 21 my brother wished her...and finally my sister surprised her on May 11th...

But I guess even if we celebrate Mother’s Day every day of the year, it is not enough a tribute to Mothers...Someone has rightly said MOTHER IS A VERB.

Everybody thinks that their mother is the best...and I am no exception...
She has been God’s blessing in my life and I want to thank her for showing me what I am made of, and giving me support and strength during really tough times.

Her life has been quite a roller coaster, and all her children gave her enough anguish :-(( yet her love for us is unconditional. It surprises me from where she gets her strength, positive outlook and optimism in the face of difficulty...

While many people would criticize the way she bought up her kids...I wouldn’t agree...we’ve all turned up just fine...

She is also my best friend…my confidante and I can talk to her about anything under the sun, knowing that she will understand, advice and not be judgmental...

Bottom line is MY MOMMY BESTEST!!!

The Gift Of Friends

Met a school friend after 17 years...but we just picked up the threads from where we left...it didn't seem that so many years had passed...changes and yet no change at all...

This poem by Karin Schaefer is dedicated to my friends...Param, Rahul and Rohit...

There are days when
bubbling from us comes
the innocent child within,
who giggles at the little things
and wears a silly grin.

There are days when
melancholy comes to
visit for a while;
the mind feels tired, the body weak;
we have no strength to smile.

There are days when
joy abundant
grabs a hold of you and me;
wraps us up in all it's splendor,
lifts us up and sets us free.

There are days when
sorrow wraps us
in its cloak of grief and fear,
'till our hearts ache to the breaking,
'till our eyes can't shed a tear.

There are days when
love bestows us
with its wonderment and light;
with its beauty and its mystery,
its power and its might.

And there are days when
life rewards us
and seems to make amends
by granting us a marvelous gift,
the precious gift of Friends.

A not quite mortal Sachin!

Isn’t this picture conclusive evidence that Sachin Tendulkar is not-quite-mortal? While others ogled, Tendulkar looks just about as interested as he would be in running an extra single after pushing the ball to Jonty Rhodes.

J.M. Coetzee

Noble prize winner and the first to win the Booker prize twice (For -The Life and Times of Michael K and Disgrace)...that made me pick up one of his books (Youth) from the library to read...

Am sitting late in office...just waiting for a reply from a US 3rd party (I need the info for a morning meeting)...decided to surf the net and am amazed at what i find out about him...

He is known for his economy of words...He goes entire dinner parties without saying a word (WOOOOOOOOOH)!!!!!!!!
He taught a two year literature course in South Africa without speaking until one day a student asked him for a definition of postmodernism. After a long, tense pause, he calmly said, 'It's something to do with loss.'
A colleague who has worked with him for more than a decade claims to have seen him laugh just once.

He is known to be reclusive and eschews publicity to such an extent that he did not collect either of his two Booker Prizes in person.

He spends at least an hour at his writing-desk each morning, seven days a week.
Strongly influenced by his own personal background of being born and growing up in South Africa, many of Coetzee's personal experiences and beliefs can be seen in his books.

Coetzee has revisited authors of the past, rewriting Robinson Crusoe as Foe from the female castaway's point of view. (That should be interesting...now on my list of books to read)

Rakhi Sawant

Hers is not the kind of music I enjoy...so this is not about her as an artist... I can't comment on that as I have never seen even one complete video of hers...I have just seen clips on some news channel every time she has been wrapped up in some controversy.

This is about her as a person. A couple of days back I was watching snippets of Koffee with Karan episodes... where she appears as a guest...maaaannnnnn.....does this woman have guts!!! She came across as an honest person...says what she thinks unabashedly...no double standards...

Many other celebrities appearing on this show have ridiculed her... is it because they are envious of the fact that she is able to say what is on her mind... or are they threatened by the publicity she gets by some of her silly gimmick... But do they really have the right to judge her? Honestly they are mocking themselves by ridiculing her!!!

People have said such nasty things about her – ‘she’s a man who has had a sex change’... ufff... don’t they have anything better to do… but she has taken everything in her stride…

She has had a breast implants...but does not go about hiding it like most others...she admits to it...in fact her comment is one of those quotable quotes..."Jo bhagwan nahi deta, who doctor deta hai" (What is not bestowed by god, is provided by the doctor)...

She could do with a bit of toning down...and talking a little slowly and softly (can I afford to say that...my friend says I ate an amplifier when i was a kid and it has got stuck in my throat...)
Her inability to speak fluent English is not a big issue…if only she would speak her Hindi with a bit more class…

Rakhi on Koffee with Karan is a must see...hope there is a replay soon as I didn’t see the whole episode...

P.S (Are blogs allowed post scripts?) An article on the Rakhi-Mika kiss controversy...

Best Friends....

"Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend,
as you will always find me yours."

I still remember my first day in MH hostel...Room no C9...Room mate ...Namrita Sharma...In 2-3 days only I realised (I think both of us realised) that we were poles apart...

I was Miss Organized...too spic and span...got up early...never missing even the 1st lecture of the day ...she was just the opposite...The hostlers went for classes in Tees & Salwars with rubber chappals...In contrast I was overdressed...jeans, tees and shoes n socks...

Sometimes she would be sitting in the room with some friends and I would enter...silence...I would always get this feeling that they were laughing at me...

She once was about to enter the room and heard me cribbing about her to one of my friends...she was hurt...but never showed it...

She would make it a point to get up early to go with me for breakfast...wait for me to attend my last lecture so that we could have lunch together...

Now when I think back...I can’t remember when and how the differences just melted away...when we became inseparable friends…it’s going to be 13 years now…and she remains my best friend till date…

Interesting Vocabulary…

All the women who went with WOW to Istanbul/Greece would know and will definitely smile on reading this….

One of the WOW women had a really interesting vocabulary…she is never one to be at a loss of words … she would just say the first word that comes to her mind to describe any situation / place / thing…And the best part is she always managed to get her idea to us…

What was even more interesting was the confidence with which she said these words… the other person would actually think that she is right and I have the wrong word or pronunciation.

Referring to my blog on Istanbul she writes – “your article was good but i just blazed or glazed or grazed thru it. will read it leisurely some other time.”