Vizag Trip – Part One October 26, 2006

Diwali brings with it colour, festivity, flowers, sweets, packed roads, discount sales, fireworks and of course vacation. This year we got 5 days at a stretch which also included the Eid leave. I have 5 day leaves. I do! Its too short for me to go home and too long for me to just sit and home and laze and watch TV. I mean, I know no time is too long to do these things but yet, this time I wanted to do something, simply because almost everyone in office were taking time off and going home or abroad. Sigh.. So there I was trying to figure out what to do with myself (I think even my parents are giving this a lot of thought these days). Anyway, my roomy suggested Vizag. Hmmmm.. Vizag, it even has a beach and everything and it just might work out as a cheap holiday. Then things happened quick. Tickets booked, clothes (mostly unncessary) bought, house cleaned and packed up for our 5-day absence, maid instructed not to show up (I love breaking happy news to people) and before we knew it we were on the train on our way back. Err.. did I rush through the last part there? Ok, so Vizag is a beautiful place, with amazing beaches, great seafood and the roads are so nice. Things come much cheaper than Hyderabad and there is no traffic! Imagine that!! The one day trip we took to Araku Valley was invaluable ‘cuz of all the lessons we learnt.

Lesson 1: Don’t have kids.
Lesson 2: Even if you do, leave them at home with your parents before taking a trip.
Lesson 3: Even if you do have to bring them along, make sure it doesn’t involve a drive along winding mountain roads.
Lesson 4: Even if the roads tend to wind a little, make sure your kid(s) is immune to road sickness.
Lesson 5: If you are still left with a puking child(ren), make sure you are careful not to dirty the people sitting in neighbouring seats.

Now, that wasn’t so difficult was it? In the entire bus, there were more kids than grown-ups and they were all puking! One lady was in tears cuz her son won’t stop and her daughter wanted to sit on her lap. The poor (?) father was trying to pacify her in vain. Seriously, thinking of the consequences, I would rather stay single. Ok, maybe not. Married without kids. That could even become a fad some day. And think about the positive effect I’d have on the population curve.

That trip was worth it, I tell you!

DON – Reviews October 20, 2006

This review might seem a little funny coming from me, especially to my friends who know how little Hindi I can understand and speak. Anyway, we were taken to an exclusive premiere show of the movie to Prasads IMax and the entire office got to see it before the movie was released to all. To begin with, I hadn’t seen the old version of the movie starring Amitabh Bachan, but was equipped with the story so that I am prepared for all the tricks and twists in the movie.

The movie opened with Shah Rukh smoking a cigarette and looking all ‘Don’ly. He does a not-so impressive action sequence hitting some bad guys and eventually manages to escape. The first impressive part in the movie is when the cops chase SRK’s benz. Now, it was heartbreaking to see the benz getting totally ruined but the play with the camera angles is commendable. Boman Irani’s performance was also good and his versatility is mindblowing. Priyanka Chopra was just put there to look pretty and don’t even get me started on Isha Kopikar. Another strength of the movie is the sudden unexpected twist in the end.

Definitely not a must-watch but something you wouldn’t want to miss if you are an SRK fan. Oh, ok ok, Priyanka Chopra fans too. Sheesh!

*I take this opportunity to apologise to all those people who were expecting a full fledged critical evaluation of the movie. I am no good at that stuff and there are a zillion sites out there who would gladly give you the same*

Orkutting- Is that a verb yet? October 17, 2006

**WARNING**

Orkut specific language in the following post. Please do not read if you don’t know what Orkut is or haven’t used it more than thrice.

Ok guys, I give up, I confess, I am an Orkut addict!! It started out an obligation initially. Its a Google product, I work with Google, Blah blah .. Then I started comparing my profile with my friends’ and I realised I am short of a couple of 100 friends in my list!! I madly accepted all the friend requests till I reached a not-so-bad 225 friends. Then I realised that all ‘cool’ people have a line in their ‘about me’ column that said ’strangers don’t add me’ or different words messaging the same thing. Now, that got me thinking.. Hmm… I want that too.. makes me sound a little haughty and professional, if not, hard-to-befriend. So there I was, deleting all those people who I didn’t know. At the end of the hour and a half process, I was left with 78 friends and my ‘fans’ list of 23 had decreased to 6 (I was NOT happy with that). But hey, I wanted to be haughty and serious and all the rest of it so I sat down for some serious ‘friend hunt’. To my surprise, I found around 20 people I had completely lost touch with and furiously scrapped them all. Next day.. Voila!! 23 new scraps, 8 new fans and 3 testimonials!! Wow!! This thing is great, to say the least.. Not only does it boost my ego with all those fans, but I also get the pleasure of saying no to all those guys (and rarely girls) who send me friend requests. Hahaha.. poor souls.. But I have to say that sometimes I feel I am turning down some great looking guys (if their profile pic is to be trusted) with interesting communities listen in their profiles. But then I have to be fair to all of them, however cute they are, right? Sigh..

Life’s Like That..(you alternate between fat and thin) October 12, 2006

Update: My jeans which was 2 inches loose is fitting snugly now I have put on weight. I hate sounding like those girls who are stick thin and yet don’t eat. Somehow it was nice to lose some weight without doing anything much about it. Guess those days are over, sigh.. I can’t diet for nuts. The longest I have gone is a week where I just had salads for lunch (don’t even ask about breakfast and dinner, I hogged)

Today, to my utter shock, I realised that the distance between my tummy and my jeans has decreased considerably when I stick my finger between them. For the past few weeks, I had prided myself in the fact that all three jeans I own have become really loose and looked terribly ill fitting. It was a moment of pride when I bought my first belt and though I hate wearing belts, it was a time for exulting. For the first time in my life, I fit into a pair of jeans 2″ less than my normal size. Well, thats the past dahlings! Welcome back to today. The ‘gap’ has reduced considerably. In a valiant effort to restore it, I had a whole bowl of the most healthy food on the planet. Why is healthy food so tasteless anyway? Ok, so there I was with a bowl of salad which had carrots, lettuce, beet, cucumber, tomatoes, sprouts (I hate ‘em) and olives. I think the mistake was not healthy food, but the salad dressing. In an attempt to add some taste, I put too much of it, no doubt. Anyway, this left me feeling all queazy an hour after lunch and I had to rush to the first aid box for a Pudin Hara (Kudos to Dabur for coming up with that green thing!). Hardly an hour after the tablet, I felt remarkably better and hmmm.. slightly hungry. Again a trip to the snack table with the most innocent expression on my face. Now, after 4 oreos, 3 brownies, 1500 pistachios (93 to be precise, I think..) and a coffee later, I feel much better. Now all I need is to stop thinking about the ever decreasing ‘gap’. Hey.. maybe another Oreo would help..

The tenses October 11, 2006

They say we should not regret the past or worry about the future. Live in the present! Well, I love the past. That’s what made me. It says so much about me. Though I feel like diving back there and reshaping things a little, its really ok. Everything that happened. Including you.. Now the past means from the day I met you..

The day I saw you looking all serious and stiff, trying to explain something to that guy.

The day I saw you in the parking lot with that bag over your shoulder trying to find a way to get home. I thought you were with her that day.

The day I came to see you and the place.

The day I thought she was right about everything she told me about you. You were proving it with each and every thing you did.

The day I realised maybe there was more to you than what she comprehended.

The day I spent over an hour looking for it because I knew it was important to you.

The day I knew you wanted to get to know me better and the way it brought a smile to my face.

The day you first got angry with me cuz I was too busy to reply to that message.

The day you smiled and said I will make a great wife.

The day you waited for me to message you first and the way you admitted you were waiting for it.

The day you came to me and said ‘wanna eat together?’

The day you came to me to show your new haircut and how funny it looked.

The day you opened your door with that smile on your face that said ‘hmm its her’.

The day you said ‘can we hug now?’

The day you said ‘I think there is chemistry between us’.

The day you said ‘I think we can work out something between us’.

The day you said ‘I need more time to get over the past’.

The day you made me cry for the first time.

The day you forgot my birthday and made me call you to remind you to wish me.

The day you said you need more time.

The day you held me silently while I sobbed in your arms.

The day we cooked together.

The day we sat on the balcony and watched the moon.

The day you told me you might need to move.

The day I realised maybe things may not work out after all…

Heroes of Yesterday October 6, 2006

As I switched through the channels aimlessly, (channel surfing, I believe its called) I saw that HBO was playing Mission Impossible II. Though I had seen it more than once before I decided to stop my ’surfing’ there. As I sat there looking at Tom Cruise I felt something was wrong. I just knew it but couldn’t place my finger on what it is. Thought it must be just a weird feeling and ignored it. But trust me, it kept coming back. Then I knew what it was!! Yes! My heart no longer skipped a beat when I saw Tom Cruise in action!!! Now you might ask whats the big deal in that. Well the deal is, less than a year back I would have felt a lot different when I am watching a Tom Cruise movie. How come its different now? Whats changed? Age? Experiences? Maturity? (No way!). Then what is it?

I sat down to think. Not something I do much but yet I decided to do it that day. I started thinking and I realised. There is no particular answer. Its just time. Time changes us all. Its different from age because these changes do no happen at a particular age. It happens at a particular time. Sadly that time is here in my life. I no longer swoon over Tom Cruise. Sigh..

I had to stop with that last Friday when I was originally typing this post and my thought process was clearer then. Though I am all set to write now, can’t continue on this topic, sadly..

I Hate You! October 6, 2006

I hate the way you talk to me,
And the way you cut your hair.
I hate the way you drive my car.
I hate it when you stare.
I hate your big dumb combat boots,
And the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me sick.
It even makes me rhyme.

I hate it…
I hate the way you’re always right.
I hate it when you lie.
I hate it when you make me laugh;
Even worse when you make me cry.

I hate it when you’re not around;
And the fact that you didn’t call,
But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you;
Not even close;
Not even a little bit;
Not even at all.

*From the movie-10 things I hate about you*