Of walks and bungalows

Yesterday was the kind of rainy day that reminded you of a rather annoying relative.The one that would crib in your ear constantly while you watched the proceedings of your cousin's wedding.Anyway , the point being yesterday morning was irritatingly rainy.Although the rest of the day made up for it.

SRC and I set off on our post-lunch walk at 1:30.We scoffed at everybody who was piling into the office when they could've set off on a lovely walk like we were.SRC said something to the effect of age and marriage doing that to people.In my hurry to catch the cab(owing to the irritating morning) , I had forgotten to wear a belt.So I hurried behind SRC while holding on to my jeans.

The walk was strangely peaceful.Without random voices talking about releases , builds, bugs , defects and everything else that is akin to an IT conversation.Just then,the cloud above us jiggled its belly and sent a huge shower our way.We ran towards a construction site ,and this is what we found.





Men at work ...















Toiling hard at what kids their age do best ...

Play!








**************************************************************************
SRC , Gee and I make up stories while we are on these walks.There are a couple of lovely bungalows next to our campus (It being a special economy zone or some such).Apparently the sites cost the Raja's turban , his crown and even probably him.There is one beautiful bungalow that we spotted on one of our walks.I cannot stop raving about this house , remind me to when we meet , if ever we do that is.While we are on that , why didnt ANY of you comment on my Dostana post? Tell? Considering it was my best friend forever's wedding eve and also considering that I was so depressed.BAH.Hmph.
Anyway , coming back to the house , what is it you say? You didnt know what to say?Well of course you didnt.Which is why you didnt.Hmph.
Okkk now , the house.Its this heavenly looking house , and guess what!The designer has incorporated a boulder ,yes you read right.There's a little boulder thats been included along with the compound walls ... almost as if the compound is hugging it and saying come come , we be bhai-bhai.There is an open space on the first floor thats covered all over with bamboo blinds , and a huge portico that has wooden pillars ,stained glass windows, chimes.. oh so sigh, I could go on.We came up with random theories for the owner of the house.That it belonged to a successful,single,independant woman in her late 40's .. the Dimple Kapadia slash Rekha kind.I offered that it could belong to a Rekha kinda woman , who probably taught Kathak on the portico.It could also belong to a thirty something man , successful , cool , sauve , with elements of Farhan Akhtar in him , the kind who went horse riding early in the morning(heavily inspired by Agatha Christie , Daphne Du Maurier and the likes).I wondered if he would also have a philandering brother who tried smuggling diamonds from Kimberley which was the reason why the boulder was where it was?Gee thinks I should marry the horse rider and invite her home and give her some diamonds.SRC meanwhile keeps looking out for a pair of mynas and she invariably spots a lone myna and curses out loud that her release is going to be doomed because of the silly myna that forgot its pair.

Its lovely to be 13 again.

Dostana

Vi gets married tomorrow morning and strangely, I feel calm. Maybe a little hollow as well. All this while, I figured it would happen to us someday. But even nowI feel its not the right time, I do not want to let go. Just yet.
(Hey Vi! I know I know my exact words were “Shut Up and get married” but it was the right thing to do and all that blah). I cant believe I’m spouting all this gyan when ahem my exact words 5 years back were :-

18/12/2003 12:18
To:
cc :
Subject : me jittery

Hello Vi!,
I still have lots to do.But am gonna chuck most.I have to accept I CANT do it.There is just so much that I can mug:(.Im getting nauseous.I have this familiar sense of having to mug,reminds me of coll.U silly thing,why the hell are u in 2loos(errr … she went onsite to a place called Toulouse in France) when yr supposed to be here to cheer me up(glares at you).To this ur gonna reply
"U will manage fine "No I shant manage fine, stamps feet.and yr marriage plan ----------BAD IDEA
And oh I dreamt of u yesterday.U were getting married to that guy u said ud meet after u come back.I think I hate him already:(

Ahem.Post 5 years , my punctuations have improved and I sound a lot less like a fresh out of college kid. :) .Every other emotion still remains.
I had so many things that I wanted to pen down in this post. But strangely , I feel I’m on mute.Like the wise man said , “Do not speak unless you can improve the silence”.But who listens to wise men , anyway!So here goes!

Lalbagh , early morning walks , sandwich sessions at South Hall , Bike rides to places that were termed “ Shopaholic’s heaven’ only to discover newspaper advertisements can be bought , saree picking for ethnic day , classmate’s wedding , neighbor’s dog’s 54th day anniversary , parceling Vidyarthi bhavan’s masala dosas because the seating queue was longer , shampoo (curly - bouncy -damage control) /serum hunting , I-want-to –find-a-hairdresser-who-maintains-length-gives-fab-cut-that-is-maintianable hunting,I-have-to-have-this-dress/top/material/kurta-coz-its-the-best-thing-that-happened-to-me-after-chocolate/coffee only to have it turned into ‘casual chilling wear I wear to Lalbagh’ the very next month, Urgent phone calls to each other asking for drops to Koramangala ‘coz the feet (the bike) had gone servicing,Tongue in cheek exchange of glances when either meets the other’s project manager while on a visit to the workplace, “Do you think grey goes better with pink/peach or does maroon go with bottle green” conversations, reliving exam nights , project nightmares , talking non-stop about Viv’s crushes , talking about Viv,Shopping for Viv and sending him approving glances coz he bought whatever we ordered him to , wiping off a tiny tear when Viv sailed off on his shiny-grey-bike on the last day he was in India,Chattering with the PPP and never ever wondering if she/us made any sense and whether we were chattering about the same thing,… worrying, worrying some more :), never ever talking about ‘life’ and ‘what’ it had in store for us , we surely had better things to do and oh heck , it wasn't for us to decide.. all this and so many many more. They will all be missed. For some time … till you’re back , Vi.:)

Here’s wishing you a very happy married life and here’s wishing you everything that's lovely , great and out of the world!

Signing off with lines from one of the recent songs I love listening to

Tu hai to
Ulti pulti baatein
Seedhi lagti hain
Tu hai to jhoote moote waade
Dushman ke iraade
Sachhe lagte hain
Jo dil mein taare waare de jaga
Wo tu hi hai tu hi hai
Jo rote rote de hansa
Tu hi hai wohi

Jaane kyun dil jaanta hai
Tu hai to I ll be all right
I ll be all right
I ll be all right

Sunday funday

Yesterday , Appa had gone out of town to visit his cousin.That meant Amma and I were going to have an MTR breakfast -probably the only time Amma doesn't drag herself on a walk , she zips across Lalbagh to reach MTR at lightning speed before the rava idlies and dosas get sold out.
I , on the other hand achieved a new milestone.I took the car to the gym.At 8:30 AM.Then , I circled the area around the gym 351 times before I found what I thought would be the ideal place for me to park.In front of a temple.It was already 9:13 AM.I walked 2 Kms to reach the gym. I had just started jogging on the treadmill when I wondered if
1) I had locked the car
2) If I had left the window open and/or locked the car
3) If some random pervert had scratched my car/broken the mirror/hit my bumper/had gained access into the car and was waiting to jump at me.
4) If I had parked under a coconut tree.

I ran back to find the lil fella standing innocently, with his hind part tending towards the foot path and the front gaping at the middle of the road.Hmm.. next milestone would be to learn parking proportionately.Not as if I had had a random urge to switch off ignition and run away.Hmmm..


Towards noon , the mithaiwaala instincts in Amma and me were aroused.We decided to make 'Shahi Tukda'. Off I trotted to get full cream milk and bread.I placed my order and while I was waiting , a woman holding a baby came in accompanied by another lady.The baby started wailing and pointing towards an ice-cream cart when suddenly the other lady made a sweeping gesture and hid her purse while saying to the baby
'Oh look , that pigeon took away my purse , how can I buy you your ice cream now?'
The baby looked at her very suspiciously and then at the poor pigeon.Then , it looked at me to make sure.I didn't want to lie to the baby , so I grinned and touched its cheeks.
So now , the poor baby thinks all pigeons are thieves.Such a sad lesson for the baby to learn ,no?
BANG , 3 years later truth will suddenly dawn on the baby and I just hope sweeping-purse-lady will not be around to face the music.Hmmmm...

The Matrimony Chronicles -II

Well , hello .Can you tell me who is the point of contact God who is in charge of matrimony? Well that some one has a SERIOUS problem with me.

So as of now,in my kitty I have 4 prospective grooms , the imperative word being prospective.We are not all that nonchalant about it as we make it out to be.Sometimes , we get interested in the said grooms.Like the other day , a conversation with PPP went as follows.

Seren: "Amma , some TamSoundingName has mailed regarding his son , says he has already talked to you"
PPP:*Looking up from her crossword* "Really ? Who is he?"
Seren:"You dont know?"
PPP:"Ohh .. yes ... is the great grandad from Gopichetti?"
Seren:"Do you think Yahoo could trace back his mail to that place? His mail doesn't really go "I am tamsounding name , great grandson of tammersoundingname from Gopichetti whose great great grandson we are searching an alliance for .."
PPP:*Looks observantly*" You are getting older and more and more bitter.."

Another went ...
PPP: "The boy wants to meet you"
Seren:"Sure, just let me know his name , I cant really go "Hi boy , me girl" "
PPP:*Looks a little concerned*"The boy said he leaves for office at 12 PM everyday"
Seren:"Ok"
PPP:"Do you think he really has a job?"
Seren:"You didnt ask him where he worked??? and I need to meet boy??

The cherry on the icing so far has been a mail that I received today.Now, my profile mentions the name of mera company shtrongesht and this is why the mail went thus ...

"You seem to be deeply embedded with the DSP's and looks like signals from me are too weak to breach the SNR levels ..."

For the uninitiated SNR stands for Signal to Noise Ratio and it basically determines the strength of a signal ...

If I have to keep polling once in a while I may have to raise interrupt again [though not indefinitely, once battery drains, signals transmissions will cease].

Dearest God-of-Matrimony,

I had asked you for a man with a sense of humor .. now did you really have to insert the word warped there? Tell me??? Tell me?

Phat

:) We never tire of this topic , no? Hug Hug! .. oh by the way i aveabadgold... pliss to move farther.

So what happened now on the matri front? So , PPP went and got 3 horoscopes matched and came.And she was referring to her little diary called Alliances for Seren to call them up.Strictly in descending order of the horo match.

PPP: "Hello ... is this Mrs.TamilSoundingName"
TSN: "Yes , indeed" (Post British Raj upbringing)
PPP: "How do you" (Not to be outdone)
TSN: "I am doing very well , how about you"
PPP: "Me too"
*Stony Silence*
PPP: "The horoscopes of Seren and your son have matched"
TSN: " Oh thats great , there's a minor clarification, though"
I looked on amusedly while "Potential post feed" flashed in my head.
TSN: " Errm .. Seren doesn't really look thin in her matri profile"
PPP: " Yes , we never said she was thin .. but she isn't fat either ..."
TSN: " Yes.. but my son is very particular that his future wife should be thin atleast before marriage , so that even if she puts on +5/10 Kgs after marriage , she will still look right.And he really does'nt want to reject a girl after meeting them"
PPP: " Alright , Mrs.TSN , I see no point in proceeding further ...good day"
TSN: " If you could give me her weight , maybe I could talk to him about it"
PPP: " Just a moment , I shall hang up ever so gently so that I could go look up on my daughter's BMI"

And who says this woman is the mother of a "daughter"??

Yes , I'm terribly glad for God's small mercies.

And we just trotted right into Seren's heart...

We just lost our heart to this lil blushing red guy .. :).YES! We bought a car! A hyundai i10 Magna ... which we can't drive too well .. but oh hell , we be soo appy!
Don't worry little car of mine , I shall protect you as much as I can , and I shall try to be as painless as possible.I feel like I'm your Ma for some odd reason ..Oh goodness , having your own child is gonna be a million times worse eh?? 3rd August will be earmarked as well

See what I got ..

First and foremost .. all the bangaloreans safe? Did you all reach home safely ?... I'm hoping I heard a loud YES.. :)

I finished embroidering this top FINALLY .. took some 3 odd months and very many spurts of enthusiasm :)

Of grooming and circuitry

Today was fun.In a 'oh its so much fun to be a girl' kinda way.I was slumbering away in the living room(The maternal Paati has come down to visit us).It was 5 something unearthly hour when my Dad decided to yank arrange chairs in the living room , a habit that he gives into whenever he has nothing better to do. In my dream parallelly , my CA at work was moving around my Form 16’s which were making similar sounds whilst saying there was no way I’d get my money refunded from the Government , what with Shahid Kapoor heading it and all.It was a dream , no? Seems to me it should’nt make sense , no?.Anyway , I shall cut the crap.

So , I resigned myself to my Father’s music and dragged myself to the washstand. Half hour later , I rushed to the gym.Saturdays are meant for circuit training.I was already 15 minutes late , by which the instructor had already briefed(soo IT softwarey) everybody about the circuit.Eighteen something people were standing around in a circle in pairs , and then I was directed to my pair ,Mr.YellowTeeShirt(YT).
YT: *Heloooo pardner smile*
Seren: *Thinks.. what do I need to do after gym … haircut , go to the auditor(better hurry since I dreamt about him and all , might be urgent)…. …… …… oh heelllooo my pair smile*
YT:*Picks up 2 mammoth dumbbells and starts working on his biceps*
Seren * Ditto*
“Next Change” shouted the instructor.
A woman in zebra pants and her friend in leopard pants are charging towards me. I look panic stricken and duck out of the way.Turns out , they’re a part of the jog-from-one-end-to-the-other team.I look around for YT.Oh there he is .. eh.. standing up and sitting down on an exercise mat.. supposedly an exercise for the posterior.This went on for sometime till we got to the 4th variation.Lunges to the side.So YT and I worked on our lunges together-together , right left right left we went in tandem.The instructor yelled out to us that we were supposed to do them in opposite directions to which YT; my man said “Oh , but we started off together and we’d like to continue this way” .The next variation involved carrying 4 exercise mats tied together from one end to another.So whilst I huffed-puffed-walked-ran my way , I’d find a friendly YT waiting patiently at the other end!It reminded me of a scene in the railway station when I’d be hurrying along with baggage to catch a moving train and YT my man would be waiting patiently for me to come!Yes , I am this girly.Anyway , I could swear to the circuit training god that we had a moment there :P
In other news , Vi and I decided to do away with the locks.And post “hair-grooming” as they call it , we didn’t look too groomed.We looked the same worse.Like a dog chewed away the ends.
There’s always coconut oil to go back to.

:P

ramble ramble

Ok , random post alert ...

<-- This was the only saving grace at 'Unwind Island' which my team mate described as a 'getaway' from the usual grind on a cloudy Friday afternoon.Coming to think of it , I wasn't in the need of a getaway especially since I'd bunked my Friday morning workout at the gym and I had sworn 2 sooka chapathis was all I'd eat for lunch.But then , Seren proposes and good reproposes and all that crap. Come 12:30 and the 20 of the team mates spill all over UN oohing and aahing at its wooden swings , bay-watch like beachball courts , 'island gazebo' , ' summer benches' .. yetcetera.. Seren(the sensible team senior and all that jazz) approaches scantilly clad waiter(SCW)

Seren :" Hi "
SCW: Blahhety Blahetty
Seren: *Switches off and wonders if there are any matri men lined up for the weekend .. face crumples a little*
SCW: *Beam*
Seren: *Glare (result of matri men thinking)* " We had reservations for 20 under the name of A"
SCW: *Looks into notebook and beams* "I'm sorry , I dont think you made any"
Seren: "I'm sure we did , please re-check , and is there any other person who takes reservations?"
SCW: "No .. you didnt are you sure you made it for today and not tomorrow"
Seren:"Tomorrow is Saturday" *QED*
A comes along and says she can prove she called him , he just needs to check his received calls on his mobile.But obviously SCW is too busy to be doing all that.
So we land up in the disco place.Dont laugh.
So now we're entering a tunnel which I think was supposed to make some dim-wit on her date with another 18 something dim-wit boyfriend go 'Oooh honey, hold me , I'm sooo scared'... ok now theres a weird spotted yellow fake cobra gaping at me from the roof ....hmm ... yellow lights...blue lights...ooh here we are!
I look around me .. theres ying yang painted on the roof with disco lights glaring at them ...karmic disco maybe? .. then theres silver foil wrapped all over the AC ducts.. now thats just poor maintainence.. and theres a fake tree with yyyes disco lights and cobras... hmmm maybe discos come with jungle themes and all .. who knew!I finally seat myself with whatever dignity I could muster and who do I see next to me? My super senior tech manager who gave me the 'Oh the kids of this generation' look.
BAH wonly.
My rating
Food --> 3.5 /10
Ambience--> -infinity
---> The displaced red thing is the 'in case of emergency' button on the treadmill at the gym .. sheesh wonly!










Thats the pool that belongs to the company behind ours ..but just imagine jumping into a pool fully knowing that people from 7 floors of 3 companies might be watching you :O
The pic on the right is the view SRC and I have while we sip our evening coffee , its a view of our 'football ground'.I know.It sucks ..but the new campus promises better things!SRC and I feel like God as we look at people from the chrome windows.. ah you cant see that I see and you all that kinda kick.We frame stories , espy cows near the green clump ,at one time we to see flights take off the from the old airport as well.

And oh , watched Jaane Tu.. whats it about this movie thats got everyone raving :O.And whats with Genelia kid? Why does her voice sound so heavy and misplaced :O,Imran is fine , I thotted.What say?

Deep down ..

SnS has tagged me and has also called me 'funny' , so thats one more thing in life and blogdom to live up to.

Here we go
... round the mulberry bush mulberry bush ... ahaha ..
*Ok*
*Shuts up*

My ten dark secrets

1.I was the one who threw chalk at the Uncle downstairs when my Mom took me to visit an old play school friend.:(.I know! I was terrible as a child!
2.I was also the one who conspired with Sapatraman to empty the petrol tank from my Sanskrit teacher's Luna.:(.I was also incorrigible.This is a terrible tag...
3.I dislike fish in any form
4.I have a thing for princesses.And royalty.Really , who doesn't?I love watching shows , especially the ones that air on NDTV Good times which show the myriad halls in the somefabsounding restaurant 'Oberoi Rajvilas' ,'Oberoi Amarvilas' , the palace in Mysore , in Agra etc , which have moats surrounding the fort, 'Jacaranda' flowers in full bloom , ancient jewellery(the ones you get to see in Ganjam).Oh so sigh :).I love reading about them as well , one of the reason why I love the Feast of roses.
5.I like hugging people.I do this a lot.I think a hug can speak more than words can ever.
6.I am petrified of flights.Being suspended in thin air under the mercy of 2 human beings who are strangers to me is a scary thought.And this reaffirms my faith.
7.I hate dark chocolate.'Tis my dark secret,no?Although quite lame , no?
8.When I was around 8 or so I got into the confession box in the Church when the pastor was out.And I remember being petrified when I heard someone entering on the other side to confess..I peeped out of the curtain separating the two sides.The woman sitting there looked HORRIFIED.
9.When Viv Vi and I used to work together during Electronics Lab , Viv had this irritating habbit of sending me off to get some transistor/thyristor soldered , I'd make sure I'd dawdle , speak to the lab attender,talk shop with all my classmates and then saunter in.Just to see the look on his face. And it was so worth it.
10.When I was in school I once filled my shoes with stones coz I desperately wanted to be a junior in the sports team!I was perennially sub-junior 'coz of my height.Or the lack of it?

There! Done! This was truly therapeutic! Now , who else wants to take it up ??