Diverse are we

I believe
Diversity is a part of the natural order of life
As natural as a billion shapes and shades
Of the colors of spring
Or the leaves of autumn

We had "Diversity Day " at work this Friday . A day to acknowledge the fact that we were a French-American organization with one of the branches in Southern India with one of the campuses next to Bangalore's largest drain.Yes , diversity in all shapes and forms there.

"Do your floor" was one of the bullets in the To-Do list.10 heads came together on the first day with cups of coffee and a board marker .

K: "All the floors will do the cliched color paintings and colored lights"
L:"Last year , we did nothing , When the judges came in , we were still cutting color paper, we were the worst decorated floor, we got a pity award"
S1:"Maybe we should shift to the HR's floor , they always win"
S2:"Its full of women , man .Theyve got loads of time to kill"
RM(looks murderous):"Ahem"
S2:"Heheh , didnt mean that.. I just meant HR's have a lot of times on their hands"
RM(looks murderous):"Grr"
S2:"Whats your problem ?"
RM:"BAH"
K(The efficient floor captain instincts surfacing):"Ok shut up everybody and listen to me"
L:"Thats what we did last time , then we decided this time we would be democratic and take a poll"
S1:"I opt for democracy and opt out"

*** General pandemonium where everybody tries to get S1 back into action***

Minutes of the Meeting : We agree to be democratic

Day 2:

S1:" I think we could do stick paintings to depict the software development lifecycle"
T:"Why dont we show diversity in different ages"
S1: "It wont work , our floor always loses"
RM(looks at S1):"I wonder why"
S2:" Ok , lets show diversity in work , starting with the cave era , the jungle age , the medieval and the Space age"

MOM: We have a THEME!


Day 3:

K: "S2 takes Space , RM takes the cave,S3 takes the jungle , and I take the medieval"
RM:" Good lord , the cave age?"

Many ideas , inputs , good ,bad,eccentric flowed in and finally the day before the D day arrived.

I had 6 handy and happy helpers to create my cave :)

S4:"What are you guys doing in this cubicle , I have WORK!"
RM:"Shall I call Mrs K?"
S4:"Whos Mrs K"
RM:"Our Director and someone who mailed saying we had to celebrate Diversity Day"
S4:"Ok , do what you want , just dont upset my desk"
RM:"Haha fat chance"

After spending 10 minutes trying to stick brown paper to the ceiling and having it fall unceremoniously all over us , we rethank our thunk

B: "It looks too straight "
V: "Hmm"
RM(Glares at the unforgiving brown paper):"Double sided tape with a drop of Fevi-kwik"
V:" Chutki mein chipkaye hehhe"
RM"Grr"
B:" lets stack dustbins and cover it with brown paper , it will have that uneven effect"
N:" (sweet smile)"
I personally love N's smile , its so unaffected and sweet :)
After 3 hours of foraging for dustbins , standing on desks , stretching our (by that i mean mine) five feet forms to reach the ceiling , we had some weird sinister looking brown sheet hanging structure that swayed gracefully!

But at the end of the day ,when I was riding home at 9:30PM , I learnt that

1. I had a new found friend in S5 , especially after we set out on his bike at 8:30 to look for more brown paper and adhesive
2.The tissue rolls (:D) play a good roll in making as clubs used by cavemen
3.You get to see the best in your colleagues
4.You never knew you had this big an ego to live up to!

To cut a very long story short , our venture was a success , we actually ended up with the second prize.
yes , yes the first went to the first floor with all its creative HR's :D

These are a few of my favorite pictures ..

"Happiness is a toothless smile"

Taken in a village very close to Muthathi , you'll find a representative from each generation, different people , same smile :)

Kaladi , Shankaracharya's birthplace












Murudeshwara , a few days before lightning struck the idol










Somebody's very pretty house in Mangalore :)

Urrm , any single guys inhabiting this place ?:D

Return to innocence

"Know you what it is to be a child? It is to be something very different from the man of to-day. It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its own soul."

Friend's Mom to Friend's Dad: Wonder what little R will look like five years from now
(Friend's Dad looks amused)
R: Auntie , I will marry a Punjabi
Auntie: Why a Punjabi , little R?
R:Thats as wild as I want to be and as north as I can go

A rose by any other name

I have been tagged by HHG , so here goes!

There are 3 rules.
Rule 1. The rules must be mentioned in the beginning of the tag.
Rule 2 You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
Rule 3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

Ok , since my middle name is quite unmentionable , I (cringe) choose one of the pet names that my sister Altoid has erm bestowed upon me?

And the name is..


is..



*HOWL*

"Anshuman"

Ok , now shut up with the laughing and read on...


Atma
is something we all have? I'm sorry , I thought over this "a" a zillion times , ironically a is the most common alphabet thats used after e!
"A bad start does'nt necessiate a bad ending"

See ?There's your a!


Nautanki
Tell me you don't like something I've done and i will switch on Nautanki mode.
"Yeah , yeah , one fine day , I will not be around and then you will know my true worth"
"Yeah , yeah if you can't give me one square meal a day , tell me that I will live independently , why do you want to marry me off *sniff*"
"If you can't get me those silver with light blue flowered sneakers , its ok , I will find them here , no need to tire your delicate feet by walking across the street to Sketchers"
"Its ok Vi , I know you have zillions of other friends"
PS: Any just as cute ?;)

Serene
is something I'm not , but wish to be.Someday ,I would like to have said of me."There she is RM patti , nothing excites her, nothing disrupts her tranquil state of mind.There she is sitting under the peepal tree with light green jade ear-rings ,jade bangles and light green n white Benares cotton.." errr some more time to rethink the basic concept behind serene? Ok!


Honest

Thats one thing I like about myself and would never like to change .I'm 100% honest to the people I love and I never want to change that.If its on my mind , its out aloud.I believe there are 3 states to any bond -Love , hate , Don't care . And the last is the worst.


U
You ? You mean a lot to me :) , you're someone who took time off a busy schedule to see whats on this space.So , my dear reader you are jesht too damn yemmy

PS: 3 layers of this enough? Or shall i lay it on thicker?


M
moody
If there are 60 seconds in a minute , there are 60 different things that can influence me to think about the same thing 60 different ways.

A
another a??
Addict
addicted to TV , caffeine and Google


Narcissistic
A new pair of jeans/top/tee/kurta would be treated with different poses/angles/pouts/hair dos/expressions in front of the mirror.Then with a final flourish , I will sail away to face the traffic ,heat,rain and muck
Paint a pretty picture , don't I?



Ok now , I would like

Pillpopper(PPP , please wake up and post asap , we're fast forgetting what you look like)

BitHawk

Temporary insanity

to take up this tag..

Sights while on a "Pleasure" trip

Blame the bad resolution on my 2 Meg camera phone , but this happened to be an evening when the sun was peeping coyly from out of a cloud on one side and the rain man decided it was going to be shower time on another side , but what did the weary traveler see ?

A beautiful rainbow!






God forbid , but if this Cab was involved in a hit and run case , what would a genius of a witness see ?

W:"Poleeceman , the car's number was a Chinnu cab owner who said a Hi to Chethan!"
P:"Sounds a simple case , we will get cracking!"

Seriously , is this allowed??




I feel guilty as hell for taking a picture of this man without his knowledge , but what to do :( , these are dire circumstances , aren't they??

Ok people , any idea where such cute wind cheaters are available?

Cute-bunny-man , if you are reading this space , where did you find it?

Game

“Hello?...Nalin?”
“Akki , meet me at 8 for dinner?”
“Ok..Khej”
“Done!”

At 7:30 Pm , Akanksha shut down her computer , signed out and started towards the parking lot . It would take a good twenty minutes to drive down to Indiranagar , with just about 10 minutes buffer time for the Airport road signal .

RADIO CITY! blared the FM.
“Welcome back to Route 91 and this is Darius” blared he.The next request is from Varsha who says “Hey Darius ,I’m madly in love with my ex-boyfriend and I would like to dedicate a song to him and he is currently going out with my best friend.So, I’d like to request a song from Bewafa….”.

Akanksha slammed down the accelerator and cruised down the inner ring road.

8:15 Pm :
“Aks!Sorry am late..left office a little late”
“Lemme guess..you left at 8?”
“Hehe!...U know me so well and yet you always come on time , Aks?”
“Habit..So tell me , what’s eating you”
“Hold your horses , Aks , lets order first.Waiter!”

“Boliye, bhai saab”
“Ek Tandaai , Do Ajwain ke parathein , ek dal , Ek Kulfi, Do Lassi”
“Aks, anything else??Aks?”

Nalin turned around to find Akki gazing at some paintings. This place was an old haunt of theirs. Very strategically located, in between both their work places .It was owned by a renowned painter , and sometimes the painter would sit in the porch near the entrance and paint .His paintings usually depicted women , mostly with the emphasis laid on the eyes ,sometimes on the nose-ring , or even the anklets, almost always with a shayaree attached. One of them was Akki’s favorite.

It was that of a woman staring at the sea and it read

“Kya naam dein ab is zindgi ko hum
ek dard hai, ek aah hai, ek nasoor hai aur kuchh bhi nahi.

jab bhi kho jate hain teri yadon ke manjar mein,
koi pukare to akser kahte hain yahi,
na jagao awaz de kar kuchh lamho ke liye
dard soya hai abhi ”

“Akki , come on over . Stop staring at it with your big eyes, the glass might crack!”
“Tell me Nalin, what’s up?”
“Its about Keerthi.”
“Keerthi from office?”
“Which other!Yeah , her .I’m planning to ask her out tomorrow . What do you say?”
“Hmm .. not a bad idea. You could get to know her better .Just ask it in a nice manner .Don’t sound too needy ”

Nalin cleared his throat.
“Ahem , fair Keerthi , will you come with me to dinner tomorrow?”
“No!”
“Pleaaaaase!Pretty Please!”
“Nalin!”

“Akki!”

************************************************************************

“How went the date , Romeo?”
“Better than expected..She actually turned up!”
“So , do you like her?”
“Don’t know yet Aks , lets see tomorrow, another date..Hehe”
“Same girl?”
“But , of course!What do you think of me!”
“Where did you go by the way?”
“Rice bowl”
“Thought you hated Chinese….Her idea?”
“I don’t hate Chinese per se…yep her idea”
“Yep , you don’t hate it per se..just that you would have stopped at the starter and finished up with dinner..”
“Doesn’t matter Aks , will take her elsewhere tomorrow”

************************************************************************

“Ms Akanksha?”
”Yep , tell me, Hussain”
“Nalin sir is at the reception”
“Tell him I’m coming”

“Akki! C’mon lets go for a cup of coffee!I’ve got important things to discuss”

************************************************************************

“So , do you think I should do it?”
”Don’t you think it’s a little too early , Nalin?”
“Its been 4 months , Aks. And I think I’m pretty sure . And I cant keep dating her and not say anything at all.”
“Its still just 4 months , Nalin , how many dates is that ?24 dates? 2 hours each? 48 hours?Thats like knowing someone for 2 days”
Nalin looked away as he bit his lip whilst swirling his cup of coffee.
“You know what our problem is , Akanksha?”
Akanksha looked steadfastly at Nalin’s eyes…Habit.
“You think you know everything. You think you can sit up on a pedestal and call all the shots. You are never supportive about anything I do!”
“So what do you like most about her , Nalin?”
“From the top of my head , well, she’s very understanding.Sometimes this irritates me you know , Akki!Its like she’s absolutely spineless!”
“And oh!She also likes Chinese …”
“I ABHOR Chinese!I have half a mind to kill all the Chinese in the world.I’ve had so much Chinese that I can actually speak the bloody language with all those dorky door-men!”
“One more thing , Akki. Frankly tell me what did you think of her when you met that once?”
Akanksha smiled.Her slow smile with her eyes transfixed on Nalin’s eager face.
“Well…”
“I promise you that it will get better .. now that you are going to see more of her”
“Yes”

Only time will tell.

Nalin signed the bill and got up.
“Thanks , Aks , you’ve been such a brick!”
“Nalin ,you got some change for the parking?”

************************************************************************

“So here we are!”
Akanksha looked up.Nalin was trying to break the ice.Time to do something about it.

“So , Keerti , Nalin tells me so much about you that I simply had to meet you to believe it”
Keerti looked straight into a pair of large steel grey eyes and smiled.
“So then , we’re even stevens”
Nalin looked on.The two most important women in his life.
“Waiter!”

************************************************************************
The painting looked exquisite .Especially against the setting sun .It was a year since she last saw Nalin.Had she really loved him?Yes , in parts .He had a wonderful sense of humour and he could drag you up from the doldrums in no time at all. A big heart that was child like and innocent . She missed those eyes .

Nalin … was he really worth going through all that ?Nalin , who could be so easily swayed by anything anyone said . Nalin ,with whom it would be so easy to seed a doubt in . Yes , I did the right thing..I couldn’t have fought her all my life .

Some women are like that . Mysterious. Enigmatic.The more Nalin tried to know her , the more she didn’t let him.Dear God , I hope he never does…

~~~ ~~~~~~~

“4 letters , down, for an amusement or past time ,hunted for food or sport”
Nalin looked down from his lap top. His darling wife was propped down leaning against his feet and trying to solve a crossword puzzle.
“Akki , how about a candle lit diner tonight?”
“Game”

Yes , Ma'am

In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.

~Jacques Barzun

Here’s wishing a Happy Teacher’s Day to all my dear readers!

Why the wishes even though you aren’t really a Teacher? It does happen to be a vocation all by itself, but tell me, aren’t you also one if you happen to be a Father/Mother/Sister/Brother/Friend? Aren’t you one everyday? Aren’t you imparting wisdom to someone each day like I am to you now? :D

The mention of a Teacher brings Amma to my mind, or rather Amma forces herself into my mind .Amma kept insisting that I had to be logical and methodical like the pesky sis , now could I help it if I was born minus the left brain? It also worked as a great disadvantage to me that my Mother taught Geometry/Algebra/Arithmetic/English/Science. So I had to excel in ALL these subjects in school. The fact that her school was perennially short of teachers and she had to fit into all their shoes calls out for a new post altogether.

Did I forget to mention that my Mom is also never short of TLC and encouragement?
Some scenes snatched from her tuition classes (Yeah she does that too)

A: Pranav , your English is Abominable

P: What does that mean , ma’am?

A:It means you have muck in your head

P’s Mom: Yes ma’am, please yell at him more often, it's the only way he’ll learn! What was that word again? I shall try it on him too.

Ok , now shall we move on to the Teachers that I actually adored? :D

Mrs. Shiela Kamat

Now, if ever you could envision a goddess in chiffon, it would be her. Beautiful chiffons, some in powder pink, some lilac, some pearl white with little flowers, neatly pinned, with a pinch of grace and a whiff of eucalyptus. She stole my 12 year old heart and I loved her with all I could.
Wren and Martin was her bible for grammar. And she said that she trusted us not to use the key to find the answers. Any idea what that could have meant then? RUN when u catch sight of the Wren Key!

Mrs. Poornima
My Kannada teacher to whom I owe my fat-curvy Kannada writing to. I used to shamelessly copy her writing style so that she could carve a “Jaane” (Good) in my notebook. She was always full of praise for the great Kuvempu (his sister lived next door to my best friend in school, S , yep, love name-dropping)

BN Guru Mrs.N
I used to love dancing to the “Ashtapadi” by Jayadeva.It will remain my all-time favorite dance. A composition that would move me to tears with its sheer beauty.And what better than to have my dear Mrs.N explain each verse with kohled eyes shining , long black hair swishing gracefully! Mrs .N, you are the reason why my eyes always have two layers of kohl under them.
Someday , Mrs.N,I will be back!

Mr Prakash
In the first year of engineering , we had to learn all the subjects under the sun , which included Civil Engineering –Engineering Mechanics and Strength of Materials. These would have meant 40-scoring subjects had it not been for PP.PP came , with his bright eyes shining , a 100 watt smile plastered on his face , he called us his “friends”.When you are all of 18 and you know not where you fit in ,and a grown man sails up to you and calls you his 100 percent scoring friend , you bet your last penny you wanna be that!Mr.PP you just simply rock!

Mr Ganesh
Ok , 6^th semester (that's a year away from a B.E to be) and you don't know a resistor from a capacitor (google it up pliss , and send me the link as well), what do you do? You enroll for Mr.Ganesh’s Lab classes.And you suddenly realize that you and your best friend Vi are his favorites , and , wait , it gets better , he also happens to have a err a dislike to Viv , who is your sworn enemy in the Lab! Full circle eh? Heehaw!

And there ends my list , so tell me ,who rocked your life? Who inspired you to pull out all your hair? Who was the reason you let the dog chew on your homework?

A special wish also going out to Hip Hop Grandma! HHG , I hope you had a nice time teaching your grandkids!

The K factor

Met K online today after almost 2 months. He’s scored 99% in his USMLE and is already in the land of a million opportunities. And guess what , he’s studying in a place that's very close to the Altoids’.K , in the very remote possibility that you landed up at my blog , congratulations !:)(for landing here , of course)

Ok ,whos K , you ask? And you look indignant too? That I haven’t ever mentioned a K in my blog ? He’s my old old friend , probably known him for 8 years. I met him online on Yahoo , he was a mad medico and I was a budding-semester-exam-fearing Engineer.Like Anton Chekov aptly said “Love, friendship, respect, do not unite people as much as a common
hatred for something.” And our pet grievance? Exams, Telephone bills , Exam results!

God! Sometimes I’m amazed as to how stupid I could have been! Imagining chatting till the middle of the night with strange people and running huge telephone bills! Come exam time and I would make 3 minute appearances in the chat room- it served as a stress buster , where people didn't know me , people wouldn't care if I scored badly , people who were normal compared to myself- I had a huge exam looming in front of me.

You don't really blame me , do you? Come on , I was all of 19 with not a shred of responsibility in me!

It was then that K and I decided to exchange phone numbers and break the barrier of anonymity. Calling each other once a day became a regular feature. He would regale me with rather merry instances of how he got to see someone’s rather green spleen, an extremely infected appendicitis (referred to as a very rare specimen),he would with great gusto offer to bottle up the specimen so that his dear chat friend wouldn't miss out on the good things in life.
I would ramble on :
“ K , I have a DSP exam tomorrow , 5 hours of sleep enough?”
And K would go , “4 hours is a-plenty for the human body”
“K , you ass , I almost slept through the entire exam!”
“The human body is unique , what works for one doesn't work for another”
“Yes , you’re an exceptional ass!”

And the day K received his medical degree , all hell broke loose! He wrote in font size 32 , bold and in red in the chat room about how from now on he should be referred to as “Dr.K” .K had such cheap thrills! I remember once when I called him and he’d forced his Mom to pick up the phone .i said “Hey auntie , is K there?” And poor Auntie had to say “No , but Dr.K is around!”

K then told me he was going to leave for the UK to pursue his studies. I gifted him a laughing Buddha (symbolizes good luck) and we had a huge chat in Casa Picola , it was then that he told me he planned to come back to India after he was 40 to open a centre for the Diabetics! God save them!

And know what the best part of this friendship is? That I don't need to be constantly in touch with him or update him on what’s happening in my life .On the rare occasion that I catch him online , or on the rarer occasion that he calls up , we talk , freely , without any discomfiture , about what happened , what we think will happen , and about who earns more(its always him :() , who should treat who the next time we meet and so on..

So K , I hope you do atrociously as a Doctor and you return to India with your tail between your legs. I will guarantee you a merry jig and a free Pizza when you do !

Found at the entrance to Transit.


If a stray packet of chips is found , ULP! it will be incarcerated!

A burger found? It will punished to solitary confinement and where its internal parts will rot slowly and painfully...

A hot dog found? Oops! It will be hung upside down and whipped mercilessly!

Really? What with the helmet check , the check-for-the-parking-ticket, the check-if-you-have-outside-food, check if-you-are-armed ..they expect you to smile?Waitamin they forgot something vital! yes , yes! The sanity check ! For having visited the Forum on a weekend!It was all I could do to stop myself from running pell-mell shouting "Get out of my waaaaay!"

Ok , now we're done with ranting.

Watched Chak De India. Shahrukh Khan.No histrionics , very well made , powerful , has a feel to it , makes you want to learn hockey , in the end I wanted to stand up and salute. Good.

"For once , he has acted sensibly and he isn't laughing around vacuously and singing with knitted brows!" said Amma. Methinks Amma should take up criticism as a full-time job. I do not for the life of me know how she is proclaimed to be a "darn good teacher" by her students.Incidentally , a battery of students mobbed her at the Forum.She grinned around good naturedly while Vi and I patiently waited near the exit for Mrs Congeniality to join us.

Weekday musing

For all those of who spent sleepless nights over how my first day at a new work place would go(*Beams around*) , we have done you proud! It went really well , people .Nice place , Warm people , wonderful coffee , God's in his heaven , all's right with the world!

I decided to decorate my cubicle with all kinds of stuff that my friends gifted me .


Item # 1 : Confused Ganeshu
Gifted to me by Vi.This little Ganeshu can make the hardest of hearts melt.It looks at you with such sorrowful eyes(Rather likes its blaming you for its twisted trunk)
Note to self : Item to be thrust into the manager's face whenever aforementioned self in trouble






Item # 2 :Enchanted Cup
Also gifted to me by Vi.
It reads
"Take a sip from this enchanted cup
And make a wish for yourself,
If all else fails ,
There is a wish
Just a messenger click away!"

Which summarizes all our pre-coffee , pre/post lunch , pre-dinner chats et all.Beautifully penned and even more wonderful to have :).

Some other wonderful things adorning my cubicle- A pink pen stand from Akki , A Sai Baba table piece gifted by Altoid , and then , what do you know , My Mom's greatest gift to mankind -ME!

Although , the ride to here is probably the beetle in the icing(now I'm inventing idioms yoohoo!).I simply HAVE to leave home at 8:30 AM , which would mean I would have to get up by 6 , hit the gym ,return by 730 and set off at the aforementioned time(You will find this word a lot in my posts , I simply adore it , sounds intellectual and Victorian at the same time!)