"if age is the only thing catching up with you, then you are going way too fast; slow down and you might enjoy something"

Merry Christmas!

:-)

..."Anybody who believes that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach flunked geography."... ~ Robert Byrne

well... it's that time of the year again... and it's been quite a while i've put down anything here... so why not club some of the random thought that come fast and wild in the mind and then intertwine to make that seamless dream... which then blends with the life, as we know it... as i said ... it's been quite while... and it's been an eventful year... not only on a personal note but also for the masses... in fact, Time's person of the year is the Protester... yep!! u read it right!! The Protester!

... and while Santa is doing a final inventory check with all the gifts he has to deliver on this part of the planet, i am busy trying to figure out some of the lesser questions... now i have my own reason to believe that Santa is not very much interested in dropping by my place this Christmas, partly because i've got no fireplace and thus no chimney for him to slide down or drop the goodies... and then this property is not in my name either... and then he don't speak no local language... and since he can very well be classified as a 'migrant', he runs the risk of being shoo-ed away by some burly stinky effing goon who might be lurking around this corner of this great nation of this planet! phew!

... which by itself is not a bad thing... i mean, shooing away people... we all do that... all the time... those kids and their ilk on the traffic lights... and maybe those autowallas... those overtly friendly bus passenger... and whom not... and if i really try real-hard i may come up with some more examples... but then this space is precious... so i will try to beat around the bush some more... which reminds me of those innocent days when bush meant the bush and not The Bush ... when i waited under those giant twin peepal trees in that sunny morning for my school bus and when i returned in the afternoon they were gone! chopped-off and cleared for the 'flyover' that was now to be built over that road...

... may be, it was the good thing to do... may be it was not... over the time we tend to 'develop' views that take care of those of our fellow sapiens... and we think this is probably a good thing... may be it is... may be it is not... but then, who's the judge?

... "... humans are made to tell the stories..."...

"humans are made to tell the stories" said the wise Professor Masa Inakage... and i can't put it more simply than that... what i feel is that humans and stories are more-or-less two faces of the same coin ... i guess it was understood eons ago by 'early human prototypes' and that explains the paintings on the walls that our archaeologists found and which they keep on finding... the other day i spotted a post from one of the blogger i follow ... it was about DU revoking some article by Ramanujan on Ramayana... now the only reason i decided to do some research on that story was that i had watched 'Good Will Hunting' the previous night and the famous Indian Mathematician Ramanujan was mentioned in that movie... so in my naivety i thought this Ramayana article was actually written by the mathematician Ramanujan... i thought it will definitely make an interesting read... i mean... here is this guy who can deduce an entire series of formulated numbers by simply seeing a taxi cab number AND he has written an article on Ramayana as well!! ... now that would be cool!!...

... but alas! Google spoiled my blissful state of mind... ignorance wala bliss!... this was some other Ramanujan ... the article however was captivating... and went down quite well with me... and of course i can understand why the rabble rousers behaved the way they did! ... but then... all i feel is pity on their ignorance and stupidity... and yes, i am a hypocrite (sometimes!) ;-)

[edit: this was in the drafts for about a month or so!... setting this article free now! :-) ]

"A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life." ~ J Allen

... while i was mulling over the idea of packing my Sunday with the 'submission' process, i was advised by the youngest member of my present family to take one day leave and finish it off on a weekday... "u can visit the banks as well!" she reminded me... with zillion emotions entangled in my mind at any given nanosecond, i find solace in the fact that my younger sister can come-up with some real-world advice and ideas and suggestions and what not! ... so i decided to take the Saturday off and headed to my bank's nearest branch... with the document submission and all...

... that was one fruitful saturday i spent yesterday and this is the last sunday before the grueling starts!

[edit: setting this article free ... before this gets lost in the drafts backlog ~written sometime in october!]

..."Asking a pessimist his opinion is like asking a fire hydrant how it feels about dogs."...

it is not easy to make a habit... of anything... and once u have made some considerable effort and develop a knack of something it is not easy to lose that momentum... this is what they say... but then... once in a while... we develop a habit and then just can't keep up with the momentum... if u haven't got the whiff of it i am talking about the blogging... i mean my blogging... the thing is that this blog was the result of a silly whim ... but overtime it became a sort of repository of my daily routine... a diary where i can simply dump my thoughts... but then this is can be more than simply a dumping place of the thoughts...

... as i learned (rather realized) the retrospection is important... there is no point in putting everything here and then make it available to the strangers who wander in this world wide web ... mostly powered by Google... and some of them (poor souls) who were looking for something else and end up reading some thing totally unrelated... my point is that has to be a take away ... for me or anybody, who ended up on my blog thanks to some slick coding of the search engine programmers...

... the million dollar question is what take-away?

..."Animals are Trained, Humans are Developed"... ~ via Prof. Nathan

... it was one of those evenings... and i realised that i was taken for a ride... not by the local auto wallas or the glib talking insurance policy salesman... but by my own thoughts... somehow the Pandora's box was opened and they were flooding my 'vision' faster than monsoon can make that whirl-pool on the roads...

... sometimes i feel good that i have the luxury of spending some quality time with myself... :-) anyways... i found this excerpt from Jobs speech ... i know, i know... it is getting a little overwhelming but still...

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,"

"Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

... "When a man does exactly what a woman expects him to do she doesn't think much of him. "... ~Oscar Wilde

... i need to be more disciplined about "The Four Quadrants" ... may the Lord give me strength... amen!

..."Never fall in love with an idea. They’re whores. If the one you’re with isn’t doing the job, there’s always, always, always another."...

... i've been contemplating on so many 'topics' to 'write' lately that when it comes to actually 'writing' on my blog my head spins out of control... not literally of course!... so, my take on the Online Privacy or on Human Resources or on Mutinies Across the World or on Anna's Aandolan or on myself... all vent in vain... because it just got lost in the myriad of my zillions of neurons trying to interconnect with each other to keep up with my continuous flow of thoughts...

... but as i realized everything is not all lost... these thoughts and more importantly the thought process that goes behind the scenes makes you what you are... it helps in rebuilding your character and reshaping your personality... and thus affects your attitude towards fellow animals who inhabit this planet jostling for every resource available be it food, land, water, air or mating partner... (i wanted to write 'humans' but then humans are animals as well! right?) ... so IMHO when it comes to social interaction, this thought process is very important... but there is a catch! (there always is!)...

... we humans (i don't want to confuse PETA by equating Us with Animals!) interact with others in many a ways, which leads us in expressing how we feel... or in other words our emotions... this expression of emotions is far more complex process than it sounds... not only for the person expressing it but also for all those who are in the near vicinity and thus in a position of observing it... and since it is far more complex process than it sounds we end up making far more errors in judgement than we should or can afford to...

... i wish i could put my thoughts and thought process here more elaborately but then i have some numerical problems to practice for the oncoming Statistical Analysis Test... and have an HR assignment to prepare and understand Microeconomics as well... life is what we make of our living... and if u like what u read here don't be shy to drop a comment or two... and if u don't like what u read here don't be afraid to drop a comment or two... besides, ur credit card won't be charged for it! ;-)

"We should judge a man much more surely from what he dreams than from what he thinks."

... as the cliche goes... better late than never! ... my aching body was (i guess) a direct result of the over-stretched grey matter and under-stretched body...

... every that person who was aware of my intentions to pursue higher education and cared enough for me indicated (or should i say warned?) that this is going to be tough... very tough!... and then they reminded me (in teasing way!) that handling job and studies after the change of my marital status will be the icing on the cake...

... as for now i am trying to keep the temptations in check (the cake and change of my marital status both!) ...

... "If I'd asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." ~ Henry Ford

... No. i have not abandoned this blog. but read this while i am still contemplating my 'return'! :-)

..."How you present yourself is how others will value you."...

... the 'schedule' is taking its toll! ... late nights, hectic day and weekends in trance! ...

... Peace be upon all who read this! :-)

..."We can forget the life we lived before, but it's very painful to forget the life we were dreaming to live"...

... my blog is becoming an 'open and shut case' ... i open the blog and shut it back! ... some posts are in drafts and some other are in my neurons... i guess the world is not yet ready for them... so meanwhile... read this email forward...


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Headhunters Reveal 11 Ways To Ruin Your Chances Of Getting A Job
===============================================

1) Holding back information can make you look sneaky.

It’s important to be as honest as possible with your recruiter about your career, preferences and anything else that could affect your job search.
“Job seekers sometimes fail to tell their recruiter when their company, position, or compensation preferences change. Second, job seekers hurt themselves by not telling recruiters about personal obligations and other things that might interfere with their job searches,” says Katy Keogh, of the staffing firm Winter, Wyman.
“Bring these things up at the last minute, and they can be a deal-breaker. Why? Changing the game at the last second with a hiring company makes you look sneaky or complicated for no reason at all.”
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2) Providing a vague description of your accomplishments makes it harder for a headhunter to place you.

“Leave out the jargon,” says Caroline Ceniza-Levine, a career coach and co-founder of SixFigureStart. “Show specific and measurable results."
"Don't make me as the listener/recruiter/prospective employer have to translate what you're saying into how it will benefit me or fill my needs. Talk to me in terms of my needs and what you will do for me.”
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3) Don’t assume that a headhunter will do all the work for you.

Jennifer Lenkowsky, a managing partner of The Corporate Ladder, sees it all the time. “The biggest misconception a job seeker makes is that they assume because a headhunter agrees to meet them, that headhunter will find them a job," she says.
"And then, they (job seekers) tend to put all of their eggs in a headhunter’s basket. Unfortunately if the companies that we work with don’t pick up on your resume, it’s out of our hands.”

"A headhunter's job is to find the right candidate for the client (company) who hired the recruitment services - not to find a job to every single job seeker who contacts the recruiting firm," adds Laurent Guerrier, CEO of the staffing firm, Luxe Avenue.
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4) Not tailoring your resume to a specific job tells a recruiter that you are either lazy or the wrong candidate for the position.

“Whether you’re using a headhunter or applying directly through a company’s website, gear your resume towards the position," says Lenkowsky.
"There is nothing wrong with having different versions of your resume as long as everything you list is truthful. If you are applying for a position that requires event planning experience, then be sure to include all information that’s relatable.”
"A job summary should consist of 4-5 sentences on what you can bring to the table,” adds Terri Lee Ryan, a career coach.
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5) Don’t waste time by applying for jobs that you are not qualified for.

Be realistic about the jobs that you apply for, say recruiters.
"Don’t apply for jobs that you want or think you can get (when you know you can’t) … rather apply for jobs that you are qualified for," says Lenkowsky.

“For example, I was recently recruiting for a position as the Executive Assistant to the CEO of a multi-billion dollar hedge fund. The salary was listed at $150-200K and asked for candidates will similar experience to apply. Many of the responses were from people who just graduated, had never been an assistant, or were overqualified but unemployed. This is just wasting the job seekers time as well as the headhunter/hiring manager’s time,” she says.
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6) A poor online reputation will torpedo your chances of getting a phone call from a headhunter.

“Recruiters don’t work for you, we work for the employer. When we submit a candidate we are putting our reputations on the line. We are risk adverse, so make our lives as easy as possible so that we don’t consider you to be a risk in any way, shape or form,” says Bruce Hurwitz, president and CEO of Hurwitz Strategic Staffing.
Remember to monitor your online presence on networking sites such as Facebook and by simply Googling your name. Another way to keep track of what shows up about you online is to create a Google Alert for your first and last name.
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7) The best time to contact a headhunter is when you are employed.

"Headhunters don’t typically work with job candidates that are unemployed," says Terri Lee Ryan, a career coach and author.
"Companies don’t pay them big money to present workers that aren’t gainfully employed. In this market there are many good workers on the sidelines, yet companies still want to see candidates that are gainfully employed and on the 'top of their game.' This is why I tell workers to never quit their job until they have a new one."
"These days, you never know if your job could disappear tomorrow," says Erik M. Tomasi, Chief Operating Officer of DTG Consulting Solutions Inc. "Anticipate the problem before it happens by networking and responding to headhunters, even when you're happy with your current job."
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8) It is not a headhunter's responsibility to tell you what you're good at.

"The biggest mistake most job hunters make when they approach a headhunter is not knowing what job they want," says David Perry, an executive recruiter and co-founder of Perry-Martel International.
"It's not a headhunter's responsibility to tell you what they think you might be good at -- that's the job of a career counselor. The headhunter's job is to find that opportunity. When the job hunter says that they are 'open to new opportunities' a headhunter hears, 'I'm clueless.'"
"They'll ask you to 'send us a résumé and you'll never hear back from them."
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9) Not revealing your compensation requirements or being inflexible is a huge turn-off.

"I typically ask for this [a job seeker's required compensation] in the first or second phone call and it is usually to make sure that the candidate and the position in question are in the same ballpark," says Patricia H. Lenkov of Agility Executive Search LLC.
"If not, there is no sense in wasting anyone's time so it is best to make this as clear as possible early on. It is usually the least-experienced candidates who resist this."
“More companies now prefer to try an employee out as a contractor, with the possibility of hiring them full-time.” Job seekers should be open to various forms of compensation.
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10) Not personalizing your cover letter practically guarantees your letter will be recycled.

“I get hundreds of cover letters every day and I’m more likely to respond to a personalized cover letter addressed to me,” says Greg Ambrose, president of Catalyst Search Group.
Also, make sure you have the correct spelling and gender of the person to whom you are writing.
"If you can’t do some research to market yourself as a candidate, why would I think you would take the initiative for my client?" he says.
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11) Don't harass the recruiter.

Following up with a thank you note or email to remind the recruiter of your skills is appreciated.
What is not appreciated are numerous phone calls or emails requesting an update on your status.
Being assertive is a good thing, but be careful of coming across as desperate, warns Ambrose. "Being desperate or overly insistent can make a candidate seem insecure about their abilities," he says.
"Even if you're unemployed, the secret to getting a job is acting as if you don't need one."

===============================================
read the original article here

... the title is courtesy of sharry (via sms) ...

‎"All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse." ~ John Quincy Adams

... i've been put into the regular 'G' shifts now... so no more 'A'-'B'-'G' rotation... apparently, my boss recommended for the permanent 'G' shifts! ... and eyes have started rolling again... but then... boys will be boys!... sharry is pretty upset about this and i am waiting for June the Thirteenth! ... until then... i am keeping my desk cleaned and fingers crossed...

... in another (unrelated) development, i will be submitting my 'documents' to this Uni for the Masters program i've been invited for... going back-to-college was not exactly i was looking forward to after i completed my engineering graduation, but as Chitz observed here you cannot ignore the worrying aspects of not making into the list declared by the competitive exam conducting authority! ... big words i am using today... my point is: there is a rat race... a mindless and numb follow-the-crowd movement... or the so called 'herd-mentality'...

... you can run away but you can't hide... nor ignore... you cannot remain insulated... and if you are on the run, you will be looked down upon... as someone who is not coming to terms with reality ... and i've heard this before and more importantly realised even earlier than when i was first told about my actual potential ... so now that my name is on the list... i must prepare myself for the mental gruelling and physical endurance... and while my 'partner-for-life' is 'out-of-coverage-area' i must 'keep-walking' ... amen

"It is a very rare thing for a man of talent to succeed by his talent." ~ Joseph Roux

... this is going to be one tight schedule!! ... wish me luck! :-)

aYeS-sEe-uM-aYeTch-AaAr-dEee

..."When the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something." ~ Robert Browning...

(Part 4)

... as they say 'the Universe conspires...' well... u know the rest of the thing, i guess the idea is that YOU take the decision and YOU owns it and the consequences and rest is merely the 'support' that you get from the forces unseen and unconquered...

... so there i was... a mere mortal... on the highway heading to Mumbai in my car with music blazing loud on a bright Sunday afternoon... the exam and the interview was over and after dropping off my probable future batchmate i decided that it was time for some relaxation... why not go for a lazy lunch and probably a movie with good ol' friend AMS... so i called him and asked for his opinion and he was game!

... so after F1 style slick driving on the highway towards the wrong side of my direction i took a laung U turn and head back to AMS's place... and just then i spotted this beautiful face sitting at the back of the Chevy Tavera... (self censoring the next 20 minutes) ... i picked up AMS and then headed to the nearest Big Cinema... we decided to go for the Hangover-II and there was sufficient time for the lunch at the nearest restaurant... after the tickets we went to this restaurant nearby and had a long lunch... long because we were not in any hurry and neither was the chef or any other staff... and since the crowd was nice we were not in the complaining mood...

... so we had our lunch and realized that we still had sufficient time for the kill... and then i was struck by the lightening ... not in the literal sense of course! ... my bunch of keys was missing... which meant possible unauthorized access to my car and home and office drawer... we headed back to the restaurant and hit dead end... so we went back to the ticket counter... and we were visiting there after about two hours of booking ticket... fingers crossed and sweating all along we asked if there was any key bunch found there... and the guy nodded yes! phew!... we were escorted to the 'lost'n'found' section and after preliminary investigations we got our key bunch...

... this was simply too much for my senses and i needed some tea badly... so we walked back to this tapri for some tasty roadside real tea! ... the dal fry and steam rice was all gone! ... so the only thing to look forward was the Movie!

... and what a movie it was! ... since i had seen the first (or shld i say the original one!) i was able to relate some of the gags... but then it was not a handicap for AMS... the director tried to recreate the magic and slightly pushing the envelop as well... and i guess from the larger perspective they are successful...

... in short it was a good Sunday ... and hoping for some better results!

(concludes)

..."A wise man gets more from his enemies than a fool from his friends." ~ Baltasar Gracian...

(Part 3)

... i remembered none of the fabled tricks to shrug off the nervousness and keep your calm ... i heard my name called, twice and both were feminine voices... i wiped my face my palms and wished the air-conditioning was a lot more cooler then it was right now! as i entered the cabin i was stumped by the sight in front of me... my heartbeat was on top gear... 'Panel C' consisted of two women... they offered me the seat and i had to consciously contain my grin...

... i had played and replayed the entire interview in my mind close to dozen times earlier!... i pictured myself in the hot seat and the furry of the questions and the answers i will be dishing out... subtle jokes or funny lines... their grueling and my rehearsed answers and their facial expressions and my composure and their rolling eyes and my smug and ... well... u got the idea...

... but i was not prepared for two women interviewing me! who said that there is pro-male gender bias in the industry? ... maybe it's there maybe it's not... but i was sitting in front of two ladies who were still reading my application form... i could see their gaze piercing through the paper... i was trying to calm my nerves counting numbers... and i was trying to breathe... and then it began

... lady 'one' remarked about my company being at just round the corner... and i immediately corrected that i am on the client's location so i'll be travelling from fifteen kilometers on the far side... and then the usual stuff "what do u do in the current profile?"..."how do u see MBA fitting into this?"..."is it for the learning purpose or a career enhancing option?"..."you said blogging and reading. what do u read?"..."what do u blog?"...some more stuff about the family and all...and then "whoz gonna fund ur education?" ...

... in all, it was good... "do u have any questions?" one of them asked... of course i had questions!! ..."do u have any tie-ups with banks for education loans?"..."you mentioned that the weekend classes and weekday classes may be merged... how come?"..."what about the timings? fixed or flexible?"..."attendance mandatory?" ... honestly i had no serious questions to ask! :-) ... these were trivial ones but still it is better to ask than to mull over them... and then i was asked to meet the co-ordinate if i still had any queries... and now i only had one issue... they never cross verified my documents!... i mean with the fake pilots and all ... they should be more vigilant na? ... so when i told them my thought i was asked to report back to the 'hall' and get them verified... the lady over there opened the file and shut it close and said it's fine! :-| ... i wanted to return the IDs we were wearing... however the lady at the counter smiled and said "oh! it's okay and u can keep 'em!" ... as a souvenir or wat?...

... and then while leaving the 'hall' i picked up a casual chat with another candidate and as we were leaving he told me that one of his friend is interested in the marketing dept of my client... and that he had to leave for Mumbai ... i offered him a ride to the nearest shuttle point... and when i reached there i realised that i can drop him further on the way towards Mumbai... and then once i dropped him at the next bus-stop i realised that it was only noon ... Sunday abhi baaki tha mere dost! ... so first i called mom and told her about the morning interview and all... and then called another friend and we planned for spending the Sunday like we like spending the Sunday... with a movie and lunch...

... but even before that the gleaming tarmac was right there in front of me and the music was loud and air conditioning was chilling... so i smiled and opened the throttle...

(to be continued)

... "Beware the fury of a patient man." ~ John Dryden...

(Part 2)
... the Sunday morning started early... 0600 hrs to be precise... it was the big day... the day that was marked on my calendar for quite some time and the day my family was constantly reminding me of...

...so there i was... in front of the mirror... gliding away my Gillette... the clothes were laid out the night before and the shoes were awl shining... everything was all set for the exam-cum-interview ... also, thanks to the 'meena aunty' my breakfast was in the refrigerator... all i needed to do was fire my oven... and i could feel the throbbing heart of my Vista waiting outside!...

... and while i was getting all dressed up, i couldn't stop thinking of this 'bad vibe' my mind was picking up... what if the tire blew during driving? what if it went flat?... i reminded myself that these are just the same Devil's thoughts that kept me from revising some important topics... and then i realised this consolation was not helping either!... so i reminded me to just shut up and move on...

... so i hit the road to the IT park i was supposed to report @ 0830 hrs... loud music... air-conditioning... and a little rash driving... it was adding to the confidence and so i continued... i reached the venue half-an-hour early... some of the candidates were already there and after a brief hi-there-how-ya-doing thing we decided to sit in the reporting hall... pretty soon i realised that the eight thirty reporting time was a myth and with fifteen minutes over there was still no sign of any official... and then it began... basically we were asked to cross check the form that we have filled online and sign the hard copy of same... we were given IDs that we were supposed to wear during the entire process...

... and then we the large tray with the sandwiches arrived and the automated tea and coffee machine was already in place... after the registration we were asked to take our breakfast and wait... it was about 0915... the exam was soon to follow and now a mild, albeit very mild, nervousness started to creep-in... we were told that we have to take an online exam however once seated in a conference hall i was we were pretty sure that it will be the old fashioned way... and it was old fashioned way...

... the difficulty level was okay and i was feeling bad giving in to the temptation of skipping some of the sections that i cud have very well covered... i could hear the Devil laughing away... but as they say... the confidence abhi baaki tha mere dost! ... we gathered again... this time to face the interview panel... i was up for the Panel C and guess what? :-)

... the coordinator (he's a nice guy!) called my name and i was all game... he walked me up to the cabin and asked me to wait... while he gave my documents etc to the panel... i could hear their voices... i was expecting a panel of three... and could identify at least two distinct female voices... wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing... women make my heartbeat northwards... what if the third member is a 'baddie' guy?... the one who is meant to destroy the confidence of the candidates ... i could hear them discussing my academics... i knew it was not a very strong point to talk... and now the nervousness had taken complete control over me... the slow breathing was not calming me and the sweat was oozing out like fountain outside Bellagio! ... the coordinator told them that i was waiting outside and then he left... my name was called and i heard two female voices (again!)... one final deep breath and i entered the cabin... WTeF!!

(to be continued!)

..."There is nothing so inspiring to man as a beautiful woman." ~ John Eldredge...

(Part 1)
... it was one of the most anticipated day on my personal calendar ... and i was being reminded AWL the way from the Lutyens' city to 'prepare' for this day... and as if the phone calls were not enough, i got a 'packet' from my li'l sister... and all this was adding to the 'performance anxiety' ... i am talking about the same performance anxiety that we suffer in the adolescent stage of our long life... nope! not THAT one... i am talking about the anxiety before the 'entrance exam' ... if u r born in this part of the world then u know what i am talking about...

... i almost made my mind that i'll be talking leave on saturday to 'prepare' for the exam... and i was aware that this will eat-up the precious leave quota... i am suppose to 'save for the rainy day'... but then my monsoon is not in sight or maybe not responding to my malhaar ... but then that is a different story... so the saturday was all for me... the day started early @ about 6 and most of the topics were easy to refresh... with occasional distractions, thanks to FB and emails i was pretty much on the right track...

... and then Devil's advocate visited me or i shld say whispered to me... ten questions from each section and thirty questions to be solved in sixty minutes... hmmm... why kill urself for that? ... and could feel a sly smile cracking... so with some more distractions and some more Bappi Da pumping the speakers i finished my day... with the ten nightly rituals AskMen suggested...

... but then... Sunday abhi baaki tha mere dost! ;-D

(to be continued)

"I don't understand you. You don't understand me. What else do we have in common?"

... there's a rumor spreading on the internet in the form of Status Messages and posts and notes and what not ... "The speed with which the female population is decreasing we would soon have marriage cards like these.... "Anjali weds Raj and Rahul"..." ... now, i was tempted to answer in my bone-dry sarcastic remark however what i have learned from the 'Outbound' trip is there is a limit to everything and the pure fun of breaking that limit is just an iota short of the brazen stares that follow thru... so... u got the point! ;-)

... in an unrelated story ... i got a call from this lady called Swats ... of course this is not her real name, anyway... she called and told me that i can collect my free passes for some place and blah blah blah... i was walking towards my canteen as it was my lunch time and whenever i am walking towards my canteen during my lunch time i conquer my senses and somehow manage to capture the sensory signals before they can distract my brain from anything other than food and women...

... so i forgot the whole thing and then this Swats called me again in the evening and 'reminded' me that the passes are for a water park and valid for the entire Sunday and four people allowed... now THAT is good thing... a water park on a sunny, though not the good wala sunny, sunday... so i called A-MG and they readily agreed...

... only after we reached there we felt that strange "eew" feeling... there were more people in the pool than the water molecules! ... not literally of-course! ...

... i will cut down the story here... but it was a drab sunday... inshallah agla hafta roshini ki kiran laaayega! :-)

..."Captain, I wish to report a mutiny. I can name fingers and point names."...

... do u remember Julia Roberts in the movie "The Runaway Bride" confessing in the Church? ... and i feel like i need to confess as well ... and going to a church and confessing there wud be walking a little strange path... so i thought why not do it here? on the blog... it is personal and yet public enough... and maybe (just maybe) i can hail-marry my way out of this... the thing is that even though i spent two decades of my life on the road side of a windshield, i am losing my patience and respect for the humble pedestrians...

... okay, so i was raised in the capital territory and the civic senses there are on the sensible side of the insanity scale, so what? ... the traffic laws are the same and so is the man-machine combination... but boy-oh-boy! the maanooos (as they like to call themselves) are so boorish when it comes to human-machine-human interface that it will make even Aussies look gentlemen... and no, i am not being hurling racist sarcasm here...

... congratulations AC! ...

... A of A-MG called and told me he got promoted! ... now THAT is some news! :-D .. life is good and may it continue that way! ... amen!

..."The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going"...

... it was almost a regular second shift today... got off from a lazy start though... had to dash for the fresh poha and medu-vada sambar ... it was a wholesome late brunch... and almost made me doze off again... but then therez a pile books that i am supposed to finish off... so i had to keep my tea mug within my arm's distance to help me stay away from the forty winks...

... sharry messaged me earlier today that he won't be coming to the office and then the regular off-beat meetings and stuff... the mortals in my vicinity have been lying in this pool of incompetent filthy mindset for so long that i feel pity for them!!... and then add the clichéd 'dumbBlondie' into the mayhem and u get a purrfect 'flop show' episode!

... but then... i finished-up what i was supposed to and decided to do some virtual soul stirring... stumbled across a video on youtube about posted by the Alex Jones of Infowars.com ... the video documents some historic news items about the CIA and the Osama binLaden and the purported 'relationship' between them, indicating that the US government needed Osama for fueling the 'fear factor' and blah blah blah...

... and then i ended up with a screen full of Princess Diana related stories... and then one thing led to another and i was hooked to the videos...allegations that her death was a conspiracy and then the counter allegations that it was not... and then i was on Google for some more 'trivia'...

... i got carried away in some fantasy-land afterwards... i have no idea how the time went by... the honorary titles and decorative robes and the artificial wigs and the oil paintings and and the seductive charming gaze and the battles and the mighty wars and deceit and love and conspiracy and i can go on and on and on... phew! and we think it's a crazy world NOW!!

“Work like you don’t need money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody is watching.”

... how difficult it is to make a habit? or rather to break it? ... day after day after day i remind myself that there are certain things that need to be done... be it following a stricter diet regimen, going for that solo walk, restarting that book on the shelf and of course this blog... that started with a whim... or was it?

... a lot has happened over the past couple of months... the stay of my family here for close to one month and the subsequent trips to nearby holy towns are perhaps more noteworthy... and of course the latest being the official 'camping' in the woods near a popular 'hill station'...

... there are many aspects of my daily routine that i want to 'document' here... and i shall... not right now... but over the time... amen!

"... It's all about having a reason to get up in the morning"...

... the title of the page is courtesy borrowed from Ms. GarryZ ...

... i wasn't sure Lady Gaga was good in meaningful songs! :-P

so here it is ... Born This Way ... i guess some of the ladies of 'younger' generation need to listen this!!...

and just in case u need to understand it better here are the lyrics:

It doesn't matter if you love him or capital H-I-M
Just put your paws up
'Cause you were born this way, baby
My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir

There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are
She said, 'cause He made you perfect, babe
So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far
Listen to me when I say

I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, born this way

Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way

Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be

Give yourself prudence and love your friends
Subway kid, rejoice of truth
In the religion of the insecure
I must be myself, respect my youth

A different lover is not a sin
Believe capital H-I-M
I love my life, I love this record and
Mi amore vole fe yah

I'm beautiful in my way,
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way

Don't be drag, just be a queen
Whether you're broke or evergreen
You're black, white, beige, chola descent
You're Lebanese, you're orient

Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'Cause baby, you were born this way

No matter gay, straight or bi
Lesbian, transgendered life
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to survive

No matter black, white or beige
Chola or orient made
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to be brave

I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, yeah

Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way
I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, hey

I was born this way, hey
I was born this way, hey
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, hey

... ‎"if you havent lived my life, dont criticize my choices."...

" Religion has convinced ppl that there’s an invisible man…living in the sky. Who watches everything u do every min of every day. he has a list of 10 things he doesn’t want u to do. And if u do any of these, he will send u to a special place, of burning and fire and torture and anguish for u to live forever, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves u.He loves u and he needs money!!!"...

... saw this on a friend's FB profile... i guess this is pretty much valid! :-D

..."if you can't be there, do the next best thing - send flowers"...

... well... i was able to reach there AND brought flowers... it was 5th April and it was MG's birthday... after dropping-off dad and sis at the railway station i went off to office... and during the mildly relaxed hour of lunch time decided to checkout the FB... and was reminded about the birthday... called her... wished her... and the mind wandered off to work again...

... and then AC called me in the evening and 'invited' me to join-in for the... well... watever... so we landed in the same hotel NikkiZ stayed over however this time i got to visit the BBQ-nation at the terrace or watever it is called... the food was okay the cake was yummy and the service was admirable... (they had to make it 'a-table-for-three' from 'a-table-for-two'... apparently AC 'forgot' to inform them for the added guest ... (note to self: check the reservation before u jump!)...

... last month was a lot about travelling... some of them familiar places... others were first time experience and rest were were 'rejig' for memory... just for the record we traveled to Kopargaon, Shirdi, Shani-Shingnapur and Mumbai... max speed achieved was 140kmph... had three close encounters with accident including one very very close! ... had to stop afterwards to gather my breath... (note to self: if u r accompanied by family pay more attention to road AND drive slow!)...

... "keeping the fingers crossed"...

--> the good thing is: i still want to keep writing my blog

--> the better thing is: i have couple of 'topics' to ponder over and 'pen down'

--> (however) the bad thing is: i am STILL feeling lazy after the month long 'home treatment'

..."I believed in myself. I never imagined myself as just an ordinary player." ... ~ Imran Khan

... i am way too engrossed with so many things that are happening around me to sit tight and write... so here's an email forward to ponder::

By - HARSHA BHOGLE

Remember when you failed an examination. How many people recall that, your class, friends, relatives? You failed to make it to the IITs or IIMs. Who remembers. How many times have you had the feeling of being the best in your class, school , university, state….., you failed to get a visa stamped this quarter…, you missed a promotion this year…, how did it feel when you dad told you in your early twenties that you are good for nothing…..and now your boss tell you the same...

You keep introspecting and go into a shell when people most of whom don’t matter a dime in your life criticize you, back bite you, make fun of you. You are left sad and shattered and you cry when your own kin scoffs at you. You say I am feeling low today. It takes a lot from us to come out of these everyday situations and move on. A lot??? really?

Now here’s a man standing on the third man boundary in the last over of a world cup match. The bowler just has to bowl sensibly to win this game. What the man at the boundary sees is 4 rank bad bowls bowled without any sense of focus, planning or regret. India loses, yet again in those circumstances when he has done just about everything right.
He does not cry. Does not show any emotion. Just keeps his head down and leaves the field. He has seen these failures for 22 years now. And not just his class, relatives, friends but the whole world has seen these failures. We are too immature to even imagine what goes on in that mind and heart of his. That’s why I would never want to be Sachin.

True, he has single handedly lifted to moods of this entire nation umpteen number of times. He has been an inspiration to rise above our mediocrity. Nobody who has ever lifted the willow even comes close to this man’s genius. His dedication and mental strength is unparallel. This is specially for those people who would have made fun of him again last night when India lost. saying that "JAB SACHIN KHELTA HAIN INDIA MATCH HAARTA HAIN". They are people who are mediocre in their own lives. Who just scoff at others to create cheap fun. Who have lived in a small hole throughout their lives and thought they have seen the oceans.

Think about the man himself. He is 37 years of age. He has been playing almost non stop for 22 years. The way he was running and diving around the field last night would have put 22 year olds to shame. The way he played the best opening quickies in the world was breathtaking. He just keeps getting better which is by the way humanly impossible. Its not for nothing that people call him GOD.
But still I don’t want to be in those shoes. We struggle in keeping our monotonous lives straight, lives which affect a limited number of people. Imagine what would be the magnitude of the inner struggle for him, pain both mental and physical, tears that have frozen with time, knees and ankles and every other joint in the body that is either bandaged or needs to be attended to every night, eyes that don’t sleep before a big game, bats that have scored 99 international tons and still see expectations from a billion people.

And he just converts those expectations into reality. We watch in awe, feel privileged.
Well I think its time that his team realizes that enough is enough. They have an obligation, not towards their country alone but towards sachin. They need to win this one for him. Stay assured that he himself will still deliver and leave no stone unturned to make sure India wins this cup.
This is not just a game, and he is not just a sportsman. Its much more than this. Words fail here.....

“The art of patience is not about how long one wait but its about how one behaves while waiting…”

... “Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is” ...

returned from SPP's place... had a delicious dinner of scrambled eggs with Paav-Bhaaji... was spending the day watching the Indo-Irish face-off... and after defeating the English team the Irish men looked serious to upset the Injians as well ... however our 'boys' won the 'important' match and i am all impressed with the Irish team...

... it was quite hectic last week... three-fourth of my family was in Poona and apart from the mild set back of not making in the first cut of the admissions, the overall trend was upping... for the first time 'after' i made a 'resolution' for the flight path correction, i came face to face with a counselor!! and i feel good! ...

... and since i woke up wayyy too early (and though got a chance to catchup on the sleep!) and watched the entire Indo-Irish face-off i am feeling li'l sleepy rite now! ... not to mention i drove very dangerously on the Mum-Pun highway... near the Nashik phata to be precise! :-(

... shall be keeping this in mind for time to come! ...

..." i know you are bootylicious!, but why show off?" ...

... "just because i am not making sense doesn't mean i am all nonsense!" ...

... ‎"A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age "...

..."Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it."...

One good thing about my grey matter is that it is holding up pretty neatly awl together… now that is not something I should brag about on my blog… especially when I have followers who have somehow mastered the art of keeping the billion neuron strong network together and electrified… and why only blog followers? I’ve been fortunate enough to have rubbed my online identity with zillion other people… and ironic it may sound these very grey cells have left me wondering and exasperated as well and on more than one occasion… but then… that is different story…

… I was pretty excited about the ninth day of this month … and you can read the trailing posts to know more about it… however the fire event @ Bombay House threatened to turn the mood towards the gloomier side but then the subsequent chit-chat left me in better sense of general well-being… which meant I was in a better position to concentrate on the travel bookings for my mom…

… February fourteenth usually puts me in a confused state … and my experience is that this topic is more philosophical than most people think, so I would stay away from it… and while a sizeable population was wandering here and there for some opportunistic moments, some of my family members were on their way to meet me in Poona… and this is a good thing… nothing beats the pampering by mom… and since my sis was also joining-in I knew I will be having some honest exchange of ideas on some mortal aspects I’ve been left wondering lately upon…

… so while I am spending time arguing debating defending fighting laughing and (sometimes) doing nothing … you enjoy the blog and don’t forget to leave your trail in the comment section… J

... "If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ...

... there was a fire that broke out in the "Bombay House" in Mumbai yesterday ... till the last news came 3 people (out of 4 who were trapped) had died inside and one person was hospitalised... the fire strated in the basement canteen due to a short circuit in the airconditioner while the complete picture may emerge after the investigations, the prima-facie it appears to be the outcome of another careless attitude of the humans towards the work/living environment...

... usually at such moments it is easier to take the 'i am holier than thou' approach ... but then, it wud be better & better for all of us to take cognizance of our behavior and attitude towards ourselves and humans surrounding us and then work upon it to make this world a safer place to inhabit...

... it was a usual work day... and i had returned from the lunch, opened the web browser to catchup on the day and with Google news in fornt of me i saw "Fire in a Mumbai Building" ... and just when this news was on my screen i saw few colleagues whispering around "...Bombay House mein?..." ... and my fear was bang-on... the fire was in our corporate office...

... and in next few seconds i could think of at least one colleague who probably works there... and apart from the Knome and couple of emails we haven't interacted much... "...the building was evacuated by 11:30..." said the news and i knew she should be all right and still i couldn't just let go... i found her contact information in our corporate email... dropped her a message immediately... and positive reply came in after few moments...

... i guess there are nasty surprises all around the corners of this long winding road of life, wouldn't it be a better thing to continue with the positive outcomes?...

..."Success in marriage isn't in marrying the right person, it's being the right person"...

best thing today: my parents' wedding aniv AND so is A-MG's as well!! |-D

good thing today: i reached the office forty minutes before the scheduled time |-)

bad thing today: it was 5:50 AM then! |-(

..."It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."...

... it was not the usual monday morning today... as per our, recently introduced, shift schedule i was in the first shift... which translates to 0630 hrs swipe-in time... it sounds way too early, but trust me... in winters AND in monsoon it IS way too early! :-) ... but as i said saat farvari was not the usual morning... and then i forgot wat was so special ...

..."You've gone a million miles ; How far d'you get ; To that place where you can't remember ; And you can't forget"...

We Need To Talk:

… if you are hearing this particular sentence in a rom-com/sitcom it will often be followed by giggles or burst of laughter (sometimes as a voice-over as well… for the un-initiated ones!) and if you are hearing this face-to-face there is a good chance that your face will develop reddish hues and difficulty in listening and general loss of concentration…

… communication is not easy… and that is in spite of the spectacular growth in the field of ‘transmission’ be it data or voice or pictures or even humans! … it really doesn’t matter how fast you are able to send your ‘thoughts’ or ‘views’ unless the intended (or even unintended!) recipient is able to ‘get-it’ from your perspective… be it Orkut or FB or ICQ or AIM or Wikipedia or Knome … last of which is an interesting place to be… the riot of colors on the pages was welcome and inviting … an exhaustive FAQ page was another surprising aspect … they don’t bother to ‘create’ it anymore these days…

… Knome what?? … “ a Knowledge Management and a social networking website. It blends cutting edge consumer web collaboration patterns with enterprise KM to provide a platform that is easy, intuitive and adaptable. It is an interactive portal having modules like Q&A, Bytes, Blogs, Wikis, Ideas, Debates, Community and Media which provide a one stop shop to look for and contribute to the generation of knowledge in your organization.” …

… there was a reason why the ‘coffee house’ became so popular… there was an entire generation which turned to these places; not only to drink good coffee and munch the mouth watering and delicious and crunchy hot snacks… be it vada-paav or masala dosa or bread pakoda or medu-vada sambar… but also to sit across and talk and share and debate and laugh and crib and most importantly communicate… ideas, perspectives, feelings, passions… everything was put on the table and dissected among the peers …this helped anyone and everyone who was willing enough to sit for the entire length of the chit-chat … the beauty of such ‘verbal battlefields’ was that they were slugged in the most casual way possible…

… and THAT is what is needed… an informal, casual and light-hearted chit-chat … you can post an open ended query in ‘Q&A’… you can ‘blog’ your doubts and seek answers… and you can definitely ‘byte’ your crib… but if you want to get the answers first-hand… get ready to walk the longer way round … the shortest path between two points is not always a ‘straight’ line… so go ahead and buy a decent pair of spare footwear… tap gently on the shoulder… wear a friendly smile… tell them that you want to help and let them sing… and they will…

(originally posted in the intranet portal: Knome)

‎... "You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends' friends. :-)" ...

... i guess i need more masala in this post, just to makeup for the previous 'short' ones! ... but then this ain't no masala blog! ... somewhere down the line i went slightly, only slightly, off-track ... but then it is easier to pen down your thoughts wen u have accumulated something! ...

... it was very silly of me to stay awake late in nite that Sunday, more so because i was in early shift the following day! ... and to make the matter worse i started browsing Knome from home! ... now usually that wud not have made any difference but wat took my forty winks away was this 'sarcastic' (as said by the author himself!) article on me AND another female colleague, though she sits about more than one hundred miles away from me!! ... now being the ever forgiving and ever forgetting... i thought to sleep over it... but wat made me angry was the fact this article was totally uncalled for! and the damage was done! ... with some toss & turns i was able to spend rest of the night on the bed! ...

... however this dumb fellow needed to face the wrath of the caustic Piscean!! ... just because i am long on warm tolerances doesn't mean i will count till ten and leave it! ... 'duffer' has faced that! ... and many of my colleagues know this!... and so this guy was going to get some of it from me... by the time i was asleep i already had the thought process flowing in my mind... and i executed it in the ever amazing ever evolving word play the following day! ... first thing in the morning!! ...

... the good thing is that i prevented the slug-fest ... the bad thing is no one noticed! ;-) ... and while all this was happening in the week me in the first shift... what came as another surprise next week was our departmental meeting ... it was a follow through of the G12 survey result meeting ... and certain very welcome things came out! ... first of all we get to know about this new project... although the background was already known, the presentation was a welcome change! ...

... and my project has been decided to be the next on the projector! ... already received the 'bare-bone' presentation to start my work ... i guess this is going to be one good exercise! ...

... "i may be bad, but i am perfectly good at it..."...

... i guess we humans are more attuned to being plainly opportunistic ...

... and if u looking for the song... then (sigh!) it is here ...

"If you don't understand my silence, you will never understand my words!"

... he was not in his usual mood anyway... the Gallup's result was out and the rumors were rife that a meeting for the results' review will be held anytime... there was an undercurrent of excitement with the poker face plastered over the subtle smile...

... and then the D-day came ... we were asked to gather in the conference room... and with the chuckles and suppressed laughter the mood was quite ... umm... upbeat? ... the thing is... almost awl our team members (rather group mates) gave the lowermost scores in the G12 survey ... and or HOD's Gallup score was @ rock bottom ...

... the meeting started with a simple objective to identify why our group scored low ... and after the 'warm-up' it was getting better and better with more and more people opening up and at least for the duration of the meeting He appeared to be on the back-foot ... defending and sometimes with childish energy countering all the 'attack' by the younger team members...

... the immediate fallout of the meeting was introduction of '3 shifts' ... A, B and G ... in rotation ... now shifts are pain in arse... specially when u r NOT working dedicatedly on CAD ... but then... shifts are good... for once u get to wake-up 5 in the morning and then drive awl the way to the office... and then when the entire company is lazying around after the lunch, your official day is already over ...

... also for once u get to wake-up at your convenience ... do awl the lazy stuff u always wanted to do in the day ... i mean the dishes the laundry the FB updates the emails the chat the phone calls and etc etc... and then u reach the office when everyone is in the pack-up mood... u get some time to catch-up with the rest of the colleagues and just when u r all geared-up for the 'day' the evening takes over the senses... and then... well... the 'day' starts ...

... productivity gayi tel lene! as long as u r coming in shifts u r 'working' ... now whoz going to argue with the balding heads with grey hair?? ... so 'we' decided to follow the shift schedule strictly and it's been fun! ...

... one interesting fall-out was i 'missed' the weekly project review meeting... however... the good thing is, some of those who attended the meeting were very excited about it ... the smile grin on their faces was so... ummm... sheepish? ... now... i am tempted to write in detail but then i will be compromising on the TCoC ... so keeping the excitement with me ... u enjoy some splice of the Imagineering 10-11

... "We are but older children, dear, Who fret to find our bedtime near"...

... it is getting drab ... and for some reasons the new editor i am using in this blog is NOT letting me keep the posts in the order i want them to be in!... sheh! ... this is going to add to the frustration ... and i am not in that magnanimous mood of mine to let it go just like that! ...

... anyway ... who can stop the post whose time has come! ;-) ... it is forty minutes past midnight and i returned from office about an hour ago... and just when i was about to park my vista i noticed a rangoli at the front gate ... and then another interesting figure on my ODO ... now since i still don't own a camera phone (yet!) ... so i have missed some earlier milestones ... but this one was easy to capture ... so all i had to do was click! :-)

..."If u wait for happy moments u will wait forever, but if u start believing that u r happy, u will be happy forever"...

... the excitement was palpable and the air was charged with anticipation... me and sharry decided to leave @ three from the office and decided to book the Candy White Skoda Fabia (Ambiente) with petrol engine...

... his parent were supposed to arrive from their native along with some monetary help... and they did arrive in the afternoon... so i went o this place... took  some tea and then we headed to the showroom... the whole process was more or less... ummm... quiet and .... ummm.... sober (?) :-p

... the money quickly changed hands and left Sharry one lac poorer! ... and then we lingered on in the showroom... going thru the accessories' list and el... and then decided to leave ... and wait for our expected delivery date of January 25 ...

..."... Baby You're A Firework..."...

... first things first ... birthday wishes to AC bhai!! ... never ever i thought u will land in Poona and we will meet and then to top it all i'll be meeting ur better half as well! ... so cheers to the surprises of life and this post dedicated to you and MG... may the Lord bless u both a happy healthy married life together! amen! :-)

... and here's Katy Perry Firework song ...

... and SRW bought an Acer Aspire laptop ...

... and i bought a 500 GB Seagate external HDD ...

... "... Invisible Mood, Network 18 and Chit-Chat..."...

... it is not everyday that u end up talking with good old friends... with the kind of lifestyle we have become habitual to... it is the technology that seems to be keeping us together... so it was no surprise that while i was taking my time to scan thru the photo album a friend shared with me... and while i was going thru this album i spotted this lean girl with colgate smile and my grey cells started turning and churning! ... i knew her and still was not sure where to place her in my long life... and so i asked this friend of mine and before this friend of mine cud respond this lean girl answered my question... and to top the failure of my 'human intelligence' she reminded me that we knew each other before we even started the formal schooling!!! ...

... and i was feeling homesickingly-nostalgic!!! ... and then we chatted around and things went 'normal' ... and then it was sunday and i decided to call her... it was early by the Sunday morning standards and she answered in sleepish voice ... it was good chit-chat ....

... and then she pinged me today ... and we chatted away... and i summarized my past decade in less than about six lines! ... no wonder i always liked the 'saaransh likhiye' part of languages! ;-) ... anyways... while chatting around i realized that i am no longer the same me i used to be... i have changed alot... and that self-realization also highlighted the 'fact' that i may no longer view the world (people actually!) with the same viewpoint i used to seem them from in the past... and while this may appear to be shrouded in a notion of negativity i guess this is pretty much normal... we all experience something or the other and we all adapt in response to surprisingly large number of stimuli ...

... but then this is me! ...

..."To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring."...

... so there she was... in the foyer... all red... 'flash red' actually... with dual tone dashboard... black and beige... and we couldn't keep ourselves from touching her! ... the all new skoda fabia is one fab car... (i STILL like the aggression of the Volkswagen Polo though!!)... Fabia is oh-so-coy looking... we wanted to know about the car... but the Fabia pamphlet was 'out-of-stock' ... really?? ... is it so much popular?? ... we realized that the two Fabias that were ogling at us were actually ready to be delivered to their patrons ... but we still managed to get the a test drive... and to be honest our enthusiasm was dampened! ... the ride was German ... in simple words hard... we were getting nervous ... with Polo already strike out of the shopping list option... we feared that we might end up with the cars of the lesser god...

... and then came the Knight with the shining armor... with his calm smile came seedhay saadhay Akshay ... we were pouring our heart out ... what unnerved him was our statement that Ritz is better when it comes to acceleration with its high revving engine... so he asked us to buckle-up and offered us a test ride ... yep! you heard it right it was a test ride and not a test drive... Akshay was in the driver's seat and Sharry in co-driver's ... i was trying to buckle in the rear but then the seat belt stalk was no where to be seen... i decided to hang-on to something...

... and then we were awestruck!! ... Skoda Fabia can pull three adults with AC on with such an ease that i felt slight disappointment on my Vista ... and i am comparing petrol versions of both the cars... and as if the ride and handling and NVH were not up-to-the-mark... we became involved in the live braking test... the Fabia was brought to a halt from decent high speed... and no squeaking no squealing no screeching and no skidding and that too in a straight line... alright this one had ABS but wat i am trying to say is that we were left super impressed with the Test-Ride ... and then more or less the winner was chosen ...

... "If the room is dark for 25 yrs, it does not take 25 yrs to light it up..."...

... i was excited, and even though it was a bit tiring january one twenty eleven... the fact that it was Sunday on second AND we were supposed to visit the Skoda for our next test drive made me wide-eyed ... and i was all ready to visit SPP's place by Nine... as agreed earlier ...

... and there we were... at the Skoda showroom... and guess what?... it was closed... and then we were informed that it will open at noon... still two and a half hours at our disposal... so we thought of visiting Maruti's showroom across the road... the only hitch? the next available U turn was 2.5 kms ahead... but then who was complaining?? :-p

... and there we decided to seriously evaluate the options from the Maruti's stable ... and zeroed on Ritz... we had the option to burn some gas in the test vehicle or simply say bye and head back to Skoda... we decided to burn some gas! ;-)

... now to be honest... Suzuki Ritz with the K series engine is a worthy competitor in the ever heating hatch segment... infact it far better value for money when compared with the firangi models... and maybe (just maybe!) better VFM than a Tata!...

... but as they say, there is no control over heart... we were getting more and more attracted towards the Skoda Fabia... and there she was...in the foyer... seductively looking at us... (to be continued...)


and for the inquisitive readers here is the original status message on a friends' FB profile::
"If the room is dark for 25 yrs it doesnot take 25 yrs to light it up, it all takes one connection, one switch on and the whole darkness goes away..."

... "If you cannot see the bright side of the life, polish the dark side of it"...

... 00:40 ... read my car's digital clock... i had carried my full sleeve pullover... although i was not feeling to pull-it-over myself yet... as we drove out of One-Lounge, A-MG reiterated that i stay back... but then it was our 'working' day on One One Eleven although the production plant was closed... so i dropped them off and drove back ... i remember waking up quite fresh even though this was after (about) two hours of mindless shaking of entire body and five hours of sleep...


... first i got a call from my car service centre... my Vista was due for the service and i told the that they can pick-up the car from the company... and then nothing extraordinary in the office... but as the day was turning into evening i received an offer... nope! not the job offer... nor to 'attend' any party... the offer was simply to visit the car dealers to finalize on one hot hatchback... and i happily obliged! :-)

... after few calls we decided to visit the Volkswagen dealer in Poona... apparently there is only ONE in poona!!! ... we decided to visit first the Skoda dealer... but then i got a call from the Service Station... the Vista was ready for delivery after six... i looked at my watch... it was five... no time to waste we decided to go ahead to visit the dealers... first stop to my service station, asked the engineer to keep the car with the security ... next stop Skoda showroom... and we found it closed... and then we rushed to the VW ...

... thanks to the accuracy of the Google Maps and collective effort of my grey cells... we reached the dealer with fairly no wrong turns... good thing about the location of the dealer is that it is in the middle of the city... the bad thing about the location of the dealer is that it is in the middle of the city!! ...


... we decided to get the look and feel of the Volkswagen Polo without any delay... and boy-oh-boy! these Germans know how to build an automobile!! ... the thuddish clunk sound of the door is oh-so-impressive!! the steering wheel is so grippingly rich in feel... i was already feeling comfy in the driver's seat... and the seat! yep! they 'hold' u in right places ... and with the proper adjustment for height (only in the top end variant!) u can have a reasonably good 'view' ahead ...

... the switch gear feels premium and the dashboard is driver oriented... some clever, or i should say very cleaver, design cues... like the parcel tray parking slot!... i loved every part of the car... except for the fact that the base version is NOT suitable for the (somewhat) vertically challenged people ... and then comes the worse part... even if i pay 50K i still don't get that height adjustment!!! WTeF!! ...

....now... we were already feeling not-so-good about the car but decided to go for that test drive anyway... and now the interesting part... to engage the car in reverse gear u have to push the gear lever down and then put it in the 'traditional' first gear position... yep! i know that sounds weird... but it was very very interesting... given the 'push' feel of the lever was... ummm... exquisite!! :-) ... and then the next surprise... VW Polo has the switch gear straight from the LHD type cars... which means the stalk for the turn indicators is on the left and if u want to use the wipers use the stalk on the right... so on my first test drive of the Polo ... i switched on the wipers when i actually wanted to turn on the left indicator!!

... we winded up the trip with goody goody feeling about the car but with a heavy sigh that it will cost us a bomb if we were to actually enjoy the features! ... so now the hopes were hinging on the Skoda Fabia... that was to be tested on January 02... and that ride was Fab! ... keep reading ... keep motivating... and keep commenting! :-D

..."Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose"...

... the end of year twenty ten and beginning of year twenty eleven was marked with several activities that were never thought of... at-least not by me! ... while i am tempted to do a write-up on the twenty ten... i am not going to do that; not now...

... my visit to A-MG was pending from some time... so i sms'd if they were in town and AG called back... they were. so i decided to join 'em for this exhibition of consumer goods in the City... somewhat in-line with the trade fairs that have become another face of Dilli... and i realized that it was SRW Jr's birthday as well... so i decided to buy some gifts from there ... while we returned back to A-MG's place, they opened a White Wine bottle (i am pretty sure it was already 'opened'!) ... and poured in two glasses... for themselves... and then started the mischief ... i was asked to join them... and i 'reminded' 'em that i don't drink... AG insisted and i relented though asking him to pour enough to 'taste' it... i recalled my earlier dinner out with some colleagues and i 'smelled' the wine... horrible! eew! :-p ... ne-ways... i was given a spoonful to taste and somehow i finished it! ... and then rushed to SRW's place to wish the birthday boy... and while driving back i got a call from AKA... but then this will veer off to some other topic...

... and this was one day after Santa left my sock wet!! damn!... meanwhile i was daydreaming about my New Year Trip ... it was still on very stages of preparation (and by this time it was only mental preparation!) ... and then AMG asked if i can join for the New Year bash... i said yes AND for some reason (better known to Lord!) i asked them to hold on for that 'stag' pass... there was palpable anxious excitement ... and then i asked her if she wud like to come along for the new year party... she said she will let me know... i said tell me by evening so that i can arrange for the passes and then she said she will go with her college friends and i can go ahead by myself... so... ummm... u get the picture...

... and there i was, with AMG in One Lounge and then came the big surprise... No! she was not there... the big surprise was that i decided to take Red wine... for the first time in my life i wanted to order 'alcohol' ... No! i was not feel sad or bad... i just wanted to taste it! for the heck of it! for once... that's it! ... i was awl in my senses and i decided to be served with one glass of Red wine...

... and then we danced for the rest of the year!... and of course came the next set of events ... another surprise... and i was still awl in my senses... keep visiting this space...



(the title is courtesy of RocKvaRuN from his latest and another powerful inspiring post)