Life is good

Last night , Dee and I decided to do a take out order , that is to say , while he lazed on the coach watching NFL updates, I went to pick up the order.It was 7ish, the local desi radio channel had people come on air and sing old hindi film songs. So it basically sounded like this: *Kishore Kumar's voice* "Sagar Kinaare.. dil ye.." "Mann ye bole? pukare?.. lalala kare!!"
Anyway , so despite the intermittent cacophony , it had been a very long time since I had listened to old hindi film songs, and the drive felt good. It felt like old times.I was driving a red car , doing my own thing, listening to good familiar music and basically had nothing pressing to do.
And oh , I had planned a treasure hunt for Dee on his birthday, more on it in the next post!

PS: Hello again. :)

I'm back!

PeOPlees!! My dear PeOPlees!:) .. I am back! Hopefully for good now.*Hug.Hug.Hug*

Well , ok. Now, where do I start? Ok.The wedding. It went off well, both the families were happy and then the purohit forgot the “thaali”. : D.I know!! Maybe I should’ve considered it a divine intervention and fled!

I’m in the United States of USofA and I miss home amongst a myriad other things. I also feel lame. One can do nothing in this country using their feet. You would think it wasn’t too surprising considering this is the third fattest country in the world.

The day I landed in United States of USA, I almost expected Dee to not turn up. Like he did when I visited him in Madras (Yes, I am old world.).The reason? Well he was talking to me on the phone when my flight was boarding, which by the way is one weird journey! Bangalore to Chennai is like 5 minutes of krupiya dhyaan deejeye kursi ki peti etc etc , after which the airhostess will stuff a cold sandwich down your throat while she’s pouring the water into your mouth , and dusting the crumbs off your dress. The pilot will then burp into the mic with a “Good evening, the weather in Chennai is hot, AGAIN”.ALL in a span of 10 minutes. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. So he was talking to me while I boarded, and he kind of figured the drive to the airport can’t exceed the flight to Chennai? Well, what do you know! Firangs, I tell you!

…..

So the other day Dee and I were having our morning cup of coffee, and it was probably a couple of days after I’d landed.

Dee: How’s it?

Seren: Good! Considering I made it.

Dee: errm

Seren: ??

Dee: I have been meaning to tell you for quite some time , now..

Seren:Omg.There is another woman.

Dee:You are drinking out of a cocktail shaker..its not a steel tumbler..

Seren: *Mixture of relief , embarrassment and laughter* Ok.Like I didn’t know that, already!!HAHAHAHA.

And oh, marriage is also about numbing your senses. Like, how I put up with a brown dragon-fly patterned shower curtain everyday.

Edited to add: Oh, someone has tagged my whomsoever.. post "funny".Sarcastic , aren't you?

Meet Dee

Hullo all.

I got news for you. Errm.. I'm getting married in a month's time.
He be from Tamizhland.We constantly have Nanna Bengalooru ;Namma Metro versus Singara Chennai fights.Well,amongst other fights.

Meet Dee -->

The latest addition to the zoo.



PS:I'm scared.

Mera number kab ayega?

Ah.Hello there.Saary Saary for the long absence.It was because I had nothing spectacular to write about.No,I don't mean to say that I normally do.Well, will you just continue reading already!!

Here's what happened.This weekend I was driving to work(Yes , i agree.What a horrendous thing to be doing).There was a Board PreInt issue which needed immediate looking into.Why? Because if we didn't resolve the issue , then my company would lose out on a delivery that its competitors made three years back.Do you get the urgency now?

Ok.Good.So as I was driving to work , I remembered I had to join a conference call.I dialled the toll free number with one hand while the other was trying to steer."Please punch in the pass code" said the disembodied voice.And I punched it in.And waited."Sorry!! Wrong passcode..Bye!!" she said.Wash.Rinse.Repeat.After about 4 iterations , I realised that irritating disembodied voice might actually be right in what she was screeching.I re-scanned the passcode 5-3-6-5-0.

Oh...OHHH..Oh!! This was the SMS number for Radio ONE..India's ONLY music station!!

To whomsoever it may concern ..

that I often wonder who you are :).Lets keep the mystery alive , but why don't you leave a comment, anon if you like ?

Of managers and fatherhood

A mail from SRC's manager to their team went thus :

Hi All

X and his wife have become proud parents of Twins (Boy and Girl) today.

X, Hearty Congratulations on becoming a father of both boy and girl at the same time.(what the???)

Errm.. so this is like saying Congrats , X , with this release , you have managed to deliver Feature A and Feature B?? Did you like work it out? Now.. hmm let me think .. which is the most optimized way of having children?Eureka! What if it were to be a boy and a girl at the same time?? Oru kallula rendu manga!! (One stone , two mangoes!)

Sheesh!

Of thoughtful ex-colleagues

I love Fridays.The day ends with a lovely feel to it especially with the prospect of not having to see one's co-workers for at least 48 more hours.

And in all this , a innocuous little message pops up on the mobile screen.From an ex-colleague.After several odd months.In broken tamil.
"Eppidi Irukku? Naan Inge Bangalore vanthachu.Stomach eppidi?"

And you smile.The radio breaks into "Bhanwara mann".The signal turns green and the little car skips along , you glance at the rear view mirror and see a happy goofy face.Sometimes having a grueling week makes that particular Friday worth it all the more.

The song is from Hazaaron khwahishen Aisi..

hazaron khwahishen aisi ki har khwaish pe dam nikle
bahut nikle mere arman lekin phir bhi kam nikle
-Mirza Ghalib

Current reads

For the longest time , To kill a Mocking Bird had been my favorite read.At the impressionable age of 16 , it left me with a startling visual.The Help by Kathryn Stockett , pretty much does the same.It nudges its way into your mind unobtrusively as it may seem in the beginning, and before you know it the characters are a part of your life.Set in the early sixties , its about Afro American maids working for white households , in Jackson Mississippi.

The writing is powerful , undoubtedly.It requires a great deal of literary prowess to be able to put your point across without seeming too pushy , especially on a difficult subject such as this.A must read.The book is being made into a movie apparently.I have my own doubts if it will be as good.

I'm currently into my fourth volume of Alexander McCall Smith's
The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.Give it a miss if you're into heavy reading.The language is simple.Endearing,even.Reading them is like sipping on hot tomato soup while being tucked into a warm bed.To give you a background , this series is based on "Precious Ramotswe" who has her own detective agency.She, along with her assistant "Grace Makutsi" help solve the problems that the people in their village approach them with.Ramotswe's answer all issues is to follow the suspect :D.Man cheating on his wife? Follow him , get friendly with him in the bar , click pictures with him and voila , the case is resolved.
Client is very sad , but the wife is very happy.Follow the wife and find her having an extra marital affair.Don't tell the client because that'l make him unhappy.Give wife the clean chit.Man happy.Say Fini.
Client comes asking for more details about her estranged family.Follow the lady back to her house and ask around in the neighborhood!Re-unite her with her "brother" only to find out he's not!Turns out in the end they discover that they actually like each other enough to get married.

What you do take home from the book is the fact that sometimes you don't really need to create an aha moment to make people smile.Sometimes happiness lies in the simplest of things.

"I am an African, not because I was born in Africa but because Africa is born in me."

-Nkwame Nkrumah

My cousin A

Today I happened to talk to my cousin A after a very long time.A is JC's son.
I had had a long tiresome day behind me and it was a welcome change to hear that A was getting his visa done to Bangladesh.Get me something from there A , a souvenir of sorts said I.Pat came the reply "I'll find poor hungry people , shall i bring back some?".
Bah.Sarcasm must run in the family.

The standing joke in A's office is that his boss-man throws darts randomly on the world map while deciding A's travel destination , the imperative word being random.A couple of months back , A was asked to make a business trip to Guatemala.A landed , and after the customary garland ritual(??), he found himself being escorted to a plush five star.A found himself thawing.Boss-man wasn't so bad after all , he thought.After a king sized lunch , A wandered into the lobby and asked the hotel manager for a list of places to see and shop at.He must've walked 10 feet out of the hotel and before he knew it , he got mugged.

A confused A ran back into the hotel and related the incident to the hotel manager who nodded calmly and said "Yes, that happens.Next time take only 100 dollars , nothing more."
A , who must also inherit the pig headedness from the family ventured out again.This time , he made it till Curio shop.The owner said he had some rare pieces in the room behind , and asked A to accompany him.And mugged him.

A hurried back to the hotel manager who said , yes calmly "Yes, that happens.Never enter the rooms inside".

A third time , A set out.I don't whose nagging had been worse , mine or his sister's.He had walked about 100 feet , when he heard shooting and gunmen.He was standing amidst a gang war.
.....

"How was the trip A ?" I asked, handing him a cup of coffee."What did you bring back?"

"My life" he said.

igoogle

Yet another SRC post , for the lack of anything better to say.Maybe you guys could tell me what to post about next? What say ? :)

Meanwhile ,here goes yet another post-lunch conversation with SRC ..

Seren:bhams is wearing lemon green(Bhams==Manager)
SRC:yeah bhams wore something interesting yest also
SRC:bhams has a new person in his life i think
Seren:Life begins at 50..
Seren:whenever i type a doubt in google
Seren:like say , "how do i share memory between two cores"
Seren:google gives me a drop down menu with
Seren:"how do i get pregnant"!?
Seren:"How did i GET pregnant" !?
Seren:wth?!
SRC:LOL!
SRC:ppl grep for that!?
Seren:yeah!
Seren:u type how and u get it
SRC:i got options like 'how do i know am pregnant'
Seren:see?
SRC:yes i saw
SRC:apparently they r the most searched for options,so if we search for 'how do i share mem between cores' about a hundred times each day, its priority might rise a bit and a week later it might show up in the list in the 8/9 position
Seren:You think? :D
Seren:Then we could overthrow this person who thinks "how" is synonymous with pregnancy..
Seren:Hey ..do you think we could apply for a patent with this idea..come!lets call that arora woman who does the patent thing!!
SRC :The one whose car u scratched?
Seren :Focus , please
.....

.....
The company's share prices are currently 2.54$ , this might be why you think?