The in-between post July 28, 2007

For all of you who asked, I am fine now. Can’t sit for long, but fine, nevertheless.

Have extended my leave for another week following doc’s advice. I now know enough not to take their advice lightly. I also have the bills ready (thanks to my sis) for the mediclaim procedures. Apparently, the money will take anther 3 months to get reimbursed. Sigh.

Vacation has been good in spite of all this. I can’t even begin to list out all the stuff I ate. Mom has been going crazy, cuz my sis, bro and I visit home together only once a year.

Things I missed back in Hyd over the last week:
- Harry Potter movie I knew we would be taken from office. Missed it by a week. (Can I sigh again?)

- Die Hard IV : Have been getting messages and emails from friends recommending this one. It ran for 3 days in Kottayam so missed it too. Will a VCD do justice to the movie or is it a you-can-only-enjoy-this-on-a-big-screen movie? Anyway, plan to get the CD as soon as I am back.

- Prat’s parents’ visit: My roomy’s parents are here. They leave the day I reach. Actually they are there cuz I am away Still.. I missed their visit.

- Countless meetings and stuff which I am sure would have been nice to go to. When I am in office I keep wishing for a vacation and the moment I go someplace, I obsess about work and what must be going on there. I hope things would freeze when I am home on vacation. Like school. Now that would have been fun. I am not looking forward to the 500+ emails waiting in my inbox. (OMG!)

- All the awesome blog updates. Its no fun to read them all in one go so I would most probably read just the last post. Thats a shame, cuz there are some blogs I have been following very regularly.

Anyway, gotta go now. Please don’t forget me. I promise to get back in another week Stay beautiful till then.

The First Vacation Post July 18, 2007

July 17, 5:50pm

I guess I am now officially part of the ‘I hate hospitals’ group. Its especially bad when the much-talked about and asked-about ‘patient’ is you. Anyway, surgery is day after and with that my vacation is over. From then it becomes dettol-scented and green-gown donned.

Today my sis, uncle I had to wait in the hospital for around 3-4 hours before we could complete all the formalities. The nurses were surprisingly and refreshingly pleasant, the doctor is an old family friend and a retired med college prof, and the tests and medicines were startlingly cheap. I got a blood test done for 60 rupees, and Hyderabad has never cost me less than 750 rupees! Even the a/c double rooms were just 375 bucks per day and though my mediclaim does not support more than an a/c single room, I booked one.

Anyway, the 4-hour wait gave me some time to observe others around. Since there was a gynec (I can’t spell the whole word) right next to my doc’s OP room, there were a lot of pregnant ladies at different stages of pregnancies around. Some of them were had more jewellery on them than I would wear to my own wedding. I wonder how they look when they actually go for a wedding. The same I suppose? What’s the fun in that? When do they feel dressed up then? Ahh every day!! Hmmm.. that makes me think whether its such a bad thing after all. But jewellery.. its just plain uncomfortable. I would rather stick to my eternally bangle-less arms and thinnest-of-them-all gold string around my neck. I think its even ‘in’ in some cities, so it all works for the best for me.

I am also in the middle of a very important phase personally, so good luck to me

Truth? Anyone? July 13, 2007

You know how you sometimes feel that you would want to hear just the truth from people? Like, I wish she had just told me she was busy instead of making me wait, or I wish he had told me he didn’t want to spend the evening with me, or I wish ma’am had just told me that I flunked the test instead of mincing words and making me feel worse.. ? That sorta thing? We all think this all the time, right? I wish I just had the truth. Well, what makes us so sure that the truth is better? I mean, I understand that its the truth and what could be better than the truth blah blah, but what makes us not want the cushioning that human beings normally put for the sake of others?

I too fall under the category of people who has said many times – why didn’t I just know the truth or why wasn’t I told that on my face? Would have made things simpler. But maybe, just maybe, I was wrong. Maybe that doesn’t make things simpler. Maybe I need that protection from the harsh truth. Because I too ‘cushion’ the truth. Especially from people I care.

I guess the average human being (why do I sound like I am answering a science question in an examination?) does certain things to protect the fellow species (species?? what am I doing?) And this is just one of the many things that we do subconsciously. Maybe its not as bad as we think. So next time someone doesn’t tell you right on your face that they are too busy for you or would rather spend time with someone else than you, appreciate their thoughtfulness. Cuz, take it from me, truth is not always that great. It sometimes hurts.

as random as it gets July 12, 2007

I am all out of ideas for a thursday 13 and I am quite tired of cooking up stuff. So here is a random post. A just-like-that one.

Prats has gone on a much-planned-and-awaited-for trip to Hampi and Jog Falls. She is a photography freak. Which leaves me alone at home. Watched ‘the holiday’ before I fell asleep with the laptop on. Jude Law is so yummy. I am not so crazy about Cameron Diaz but in this movie she actually looks cute. Her character is the best defined and has the most potential. I am yet to finish watching it. I was so ready for a romantic comedy yesterday.

The house is almost set-up. We just have piles of dirty clothes waiting to be washed and another heap that needs to be sent out for ironing. Maid has been coming in for two days and I have divided the entire work so that its easy on her. Sigh. The DVD player and speakers are set up, so yay!

Work is a little laidback this week cuz its a non-training week for me. Since Prats is also OOO, I am eating at my desk and reading blogs. Quite a few that I read recently all seem to be talking about relationships, especially long-distance. (Like here and here). So many thoughts and opinions form in my head too when I read them but somehow, it reaches nowhere when I try to put them in words and document them.

There are few movies that I really want to watch – Fantastic Four, Diehard, Harry Potter. If I go to Kottayam, don’t know how it will work out. Not to mention that I will be stuck in the hospital for the major part of my vacation. Sheesh. What a dampener.

I really like the book I am reading now. Thought it will be like one of those art movies that everyone seems to appreciate and applaud but I normally just pretend to understand. Turns out I am wrong. Its interesting, simple and definitely different. Looking forward to reading more of Paulo Coelho’s work.

Those who have read him, which one is your favourite?

Domestic Woes III aka a somewhat boring post July 10, 2007

Though my back is about to break and I am ready for a cold shower, I am feeling quite proud of myself. With moving into another house comes packing, shifting and all that jazz. What we always take for granted is unpacking! Mine has been pending since last week cuz I took for Bangalore over the weekend and only got back Monday morning, in time to go to office. So there were all the bags and boxes waiting for me to dive in.

Just finished stuffing all my clothes (and the misc items) into the wardrobe provided by the landlord. Our old house did not have cupboards. We just had concrete shelves on the walls with no doors. So though our stuff was pretty much all over the place and was visible, we had a fairly good amount of space to put it in. This is just a wardrobe and not such a big one after all. Lack of space makes one generous and following that tradition, I have another bagful of clothes I am ready to give away to my maid. Which reminds me that she hasn’t come in since we moved. Sigh.

On a different note, I am going home this Saturday. Have mixed feelings about it cuz I am meeting my sis after a long time and this yearly vacation where all the three of us are home with parents is looked forward to. On the other hand, I am not too excited about the surgery. Hope its minor and painless. (Please don’t ask me for more details)

Since you guys ask, Bangalore was awesome I had a really really good time and didn’t want to come back. Now that I am back, I am glad I am back. Yes I am weird. No I am not ashamed of saying it. Yes I am grinning now

Bangalore again :D July 6, 2007

Yours truly is travelling yet again. This time to Bangalore. My favourite city in India! Yea yea, I can hear all of you out there who crib and complain about the traffic and the smoke and the costs. But I.Don’t.Care. Its wonderful to me and I am going there. Yaaay!!

On a different note, a trainee in class lost his mob today. He was pretty upset and quite distracted. Yesterday in the cab, I found a colleague’s office id and emailed her today saying I have it. Now it brings me to a question (oh my god, isn’t this line completely non-connected? anyway..)

Q: Have you ever found something you are sure is valuable to someone else? Have you lost it yourself before handing it over to that person? (No, I didn’t lose her id!)

Just wondering..

Life today July 5, 2007

After going through most of the blogs in my blogroll, I realised that very few have updated their sites. This was irritating. But hey! I haven’t written in some time too. Or did I? Anyway, I was sick yesterday. Don’t know what the heck my body is trying to tell me. S says its cuz I am worrying about something. I asked him what. He says ‘you tell me’. Whaaa..? Men!

Things on the to-do list as of now (and when things get done, or not, edit the post) July 3, 2007

1. Train a batch of new hires – running behind schedule – giving myself some more time before hitting the panic button – which incidentally is so worn out right now by constant hitting.

Update: Training still going on – still behind schedule – think I can make it up with my rich experience and considering the company has been paying me for this for the past one year, I damn well better do it!

2. Pack the stuff at home in an evening cuz we are shifting – tenants in destination house moved out on a Monday – landlady of current house wants us to move immediately – the entire house has been dismantled and has to be shoved into boxes – in 2 evenings! Where the heck is that button again?

Update: Shifted. Tired. Nauseous (courtesy: late night Biryani from Surabhi Restaurant). Dry hands. Numb back. Cribby Mood.

3. Attend the get-together organized for my MBA friends – the catch, its in Bangalore! – tickets are booked – issue, no time to unpack this weekend.

Update: I am so going for this thing. I wanna I wanna. God, give me the strength and the health (ok, throw in some wealth also.). I had to. It rhymes!!

4. Remember to take all the things I bought for S from Dublin and Dubai. Not much, but nothing I want to forget. I have no clue where I packed what.

Update: Have to search today and pack tomorrow.

5. Find packers and movers who will help us move the things without robbing us (literally and otherwise) of a lot of money.

Update: chuck all packers and movers. Get a trolley and shift your things for 500 bucks! For side effects, refer point number 2.

6. Pay the new owner a helluva lotta money as advance and blah blah.

Update: Paid. He reduced the rent 500 rupees on the spot. Just like that. And did I tell you he was amazingly awesome and helped us move all the things? Like stayed with us throughout and helped us pack, move and settle in.

7. Call Citibank and close off the personal loan taken some time back.

Update: Called. Annoying ‘machine voice’ asked for my debit card expiry date. Hung up. Interest for this month already gone from account. Damn!

8. Notify of address change to gas agency.

Update: Yet to do. Have time since we have two cylinders and the first one has lasted 10 months and still has some gas left. Second one full and waiting.

Ok, I am too tense now to write or think anymore. Let me get back to class.

Update: Just tired and nauseous now. Guess I am beyond tense. Still have to get back to class though.