Here it is! August 29, 2007

You know what? It really doesn’t work if you think “hmmm, I haven’t updated my personal blog in some time, let me put something in there before people think I have another one of those blogs which are never really updated (shudder!)”. Actually, its okay to think this but what doesn’t work is opening up the draft box and trying to say something nice and humorous in here. Go on, try it. You may stare, you may go to some of your regular blogs and look for inspiration, but you will just find yourself typing, backspacing, typing, deleting that… and this could go on forever.

Unless of course you are smart like me and talk about the problem itself. Okay, I think I just might have confused most you beyond reason by now.

Anyway, nothing exciting happening in my life right now. No love letters, no trips abroad, not even local trips for work and definitely no vacations any time now. Sigh. That’s right. I am in this city where it doesn’t even feel safe to go out during weekends.

But I do feel great about two things.

1. Suhel’s email that read “I have become so addicted to your blog that I get irritated when I open it and don’t find a new post.”

2. Sobila passing on this award to me.

I am still worried that I have lost something on the way.. I mean, I read back to some of my older posts and I wonder if I can ever write like that again! Its scary..

August 21, 2007

Read in someone’s ‘about me’ section in Orkut : ‘I never complain about something that I have a choice of not subjecting myself to”.

Found it quite.. hmm.. nice. And appropriate to some of the things I am subjecting myself to right now and not doing anything about, except complain.

Work has been busy last couple of days, so I am blogging in my head right now. I type atleast 5-6 posts every day in my head but when it comes to actually typing it in here, I find excuses. Actually, I really don’t have enough time lately. Yesterday, I logged in from home but was soooo sleepy by 10:30 that I had to log off and hit the bed.

Really want to see transformers. Has anyone seen it? How is it? I hear its a total theatre movie and you just cannot enjoy it on small screen. So all those people who have the VCD or theatre print DVDs, think twice before watching it

Gotta go now. (Maybe I should just publish one of those posts which have been lying dormant in here)

August 21, 2007

Read in someone’s ‘about me’ section in Orkut : ‘I never complain about something that I have a choice of not subjecting myself to”.

Found it quite.. hmm.. nice. And appropriate to some of the things I am subjecting myself to right now and not doing anything about, except complain.

Work has been busy last couple of days, so I am blogging in my head right now. I type atleast 5-6 posts every day in my head but when it comes to actually typing it in here, I find excuses. Actually, I really don’t have enough time lately. Yesterday, I logged in from home but was soooo sleepy by 10:30 that I had to log off and hit the bed.

Really want to see transformers. Has anyone seen it? How is it? I hear its a total theatre movie and you just cannot enjoy it on small screen. So all those people who have the VCD or theatre print DVDs, think twice before watching it

Gotta go now. (Maybe I should just publish one of those posts which have been lying dormant in here)

Girl Talk August 9, 2007

You know something I realized as I was coming down the stairs with my mirchi bajji from deli 9 counter in office? Oh, by the way, I am not a mirchi bajji lover in particular but since I had to choose from that and the delightfully sinful chocolate cake available there, I had to go for the less-evil option (and the fact that all of this is available free, does not help matters!). Anyway, coming back to my original realisation. I realised that I no longer feel pretty. Now, feeling pretty is different from being pretty. And you may have read my previous cribbings about some related issues (read: the time I freaked out when my hair started curling back after straightening), but this is a more serious issue. I no longer feel pretty.

I was thinking back to those days (not that long ago) when I used to feel that people are giving me appreciative looks, or am getting complements when I wear something new, or nice. These days, this never happens. I mean, I still wear new stuff on and off, I still do my eyes, wear lip gloss on a special feel-good day, but its been really long since I felt anything.

Am I growing old or is it just a phase?

Here is to Rosh June 7, 2007

One of the very few pieces of text that made me cry.. movies, yes, incidents, yes. But text, hardly ever.

Read it here.

Food without thought May 30, 2007

Two gobi parathas with onion gravy
One fried egg
One glass of tea
Two britannia chocolate chip cookies
Two rotis, chilly fish, mutton stew, a spoon of curd rice, paneer butter masala, watermelon, mangoes, one chocolate burfee.
10 pringles chips (jalapeno flavour), 12 salted nuts
One coffee

And its only 3:07pm. To add to it, we have team dinner tonight at a place called Tandoors. More hogging. Sigh.

They say cabs are expensive in Dublin. Maybe I can walk across the country and lose weight that way.

I am leaving this Friday, by the way. So wish me luck and all that

I Love You Bangalore May 22, 2007

As I sat in the special train running between Hyderabad and Mysore, I sat thinking about my previous stays in Bangalore. The first city that I was exposed to. The people and the malls and the overpriced movie tickets left me feeling awestruck. My first stay in Bangalore was for my internship for a month at Pathi Prints Silk Saree Export company in Mysore Road. An uncle knew the director of the company and got me the opportunity. With the 3ooo rupees that mom gave I boarded the bus and started my first journey towards independence, towards a career, towards life.

Used to take three buses a day. One to the factory and two back home. I had a knapsack with all the data that I collected for the day. I stayed with two friends who were doing MCA. They were on a strict budget from home too. We would work out how much we can spend on vegetables, milk and groceries and do the purchase together. Once a week we would ‘treat’ ourselves to kababs at the corner dhaba. 10 bucks for 8 pieces. That was our feast and that was our Sunday dinner.

The feeling when I see the wide sidewalks, the trees, the buses, Forum mall, buy any chappal for 100 rupees stalls, juice corner, Kairali restaurant.. Its really unexplainable. I feel at home in Bangalore. The city has seen me at my worst moments. The tears, the pain, being broke, going hungry because I was too tired to cook, waiting for an auto in the rain, the shoe bites because of walking close to 2km a day.. I could go on and on.

Now when I go back, things are different. I can buy whatever I want to from Forum, I can afford the movie tickets, I can treat my friends at KFC, I can buy the top book from the current bestsellers in Landmark without a second thought. I wouldn’t even think of waiting for a bus anymore when I can just take an auto and not look at the meter with a racing heart, hoping I have enough to pay.

But that also means a 10 rupee kabab will not be a treat anymore. I can’t feel as happy and carefree as I did when I washed my clothes and hung them on the windy terrace, I can’t jump from one terrace to another to meet the girls staying next door. Even the tension of having to finish off all the food is something I miss these days. Why should that worry me? I have a fridge now. And even worse is the fact that I can afford to throw it off..

I don’t know if I like it this way or the other. Guess I should just be practical and ‘move on’. Sigh.

Myths I Recently Cracked (Mostly Realisations For Self) January 17, 2007

• Branded jeans fit better –> I have a pair of jeans I got from a shop called Raju Tailors in Commercial Street, Bangalore. It was a tad too long but he altered it for me. Its 3 years old and still fits me better than my Levi’s I hardly wear.

• Weekends are always fun –> I know weekends are great and you can sleep late and blah blah. But they are not always fun. I’ve had a couple of them where I was dying for Monday to come and a miss call from my cab driver. Errr, to get to office, of course (In case any of you thought I am having an affair with him or something).

• Its always best to give an honest opinion when asked for one –> Some of you may have alerady realised this is not true. Well, I took some time. But now I know. When people ask “so what do you think?” they want you to anticipate what they want to hear and then say that. Sure, I can do that.

• Gymming makes one lose weight –> I don’t care what you say. I went to the gym regularly for a month and I put on weight. Period.

• You miss a person only for a few days and then get used to not having them around –> Well, this is self-explanatory. Lets just say I take longer for this to happen. Like, forever.

I dont want to use the words ‘New Year’ in the title – Oops! January 2, 2007

I don’t really want to write anything about the new year, new year’s eve or the past year. But inevitably, the words forming in my head right now are all about the past year and what this year is going to be about, hopefully.

New year’s eve was spent at a friend’s place. Actually a friend’s friend’s place. You know, one of those really huge houses in Jubilee Hills whose inside I always wanted to see. That’s one wish I have less for 2007.

You know what? I am a little too low right now and I don’t want the first post of the year to be melancholic. Will be back..

Himesh Reshammiya December 27, 2006

Yes, you read it right. I am writing about him. Yea, the guy who sings wearing a cap with the nasal tone and mike in hand. Yup this one.

Sick of him? Sick of his nasal drone and his cap and his songs? Ok. You want to hear what I am sick of? I am sick of people telling me they are sick of him. That’s right! One more person tells me they don’t like him and thats it!! GIVE HIM A BREAK!

Ok, now that I have relaxed and counted to ten while breathing deeply, let me tell you the reason behind this post. Even before that let me tell you what I think about Himesh. I think he makes decent songs, some good ones and really good ones along with others. Just like any other music director. Ok, I agree he can be unpleasantly nasal and its hilarious in some songs. But I think he has come up with some great songs too. My personal fave is aashiq banaya aapne, especially the part where Shreya Ghoshal sings. I hadn’t given him much thought, even when all the tv channels were flooded with his videos and songs. I started sitting up and taking notice when people around me (read EVERYONE) started criticising and verbally abusing him. I mean, come onnn. I know we are all entitled to our opinions and stuff but this has gone way too far, really. I was with a colleague the other day and she was talking about a trip she made to an orphanage the other day. Two kids there were apparently imitating him (with cap and an imaginary mike, closed eyes, and oh! the nasal tone, obviously) and she goes “I was so shocked, they were barely 6 or 7 and they were imitating that useless guy. Somebody help them!!”. I hate myself for just smiling at this comment of hers. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even think about it much. Then it slowly sunk in and I thought, so what? so what if two 6 year olds imitate him. 6 year olds imitate a lot of people. And its not like they are all Mahatmas and perfect role models.

Ok so the bottom line is, I think Himesh Reshammiya makes good music, atleast some of it. I think he deserves credit for it. I refuse to nod along just to fit in, when people fuss about his voice. Yes, it can be irritating at times but I always have the option of changing the channel or switching the radio off. Next time someone fusses about his music, I will not be ashamed to say that I don’t mind the song (if I actually don’t) and I will listen to his songs if I want to!

Phew, this feels good. I don’t care if I don’t fit in with the rest by liking this guy’s music a little. I don’t care if I am classified as a person who has tastes that match autowallahs (who by the way are not lesser in any way). Try asking yourself if you like it yourself. Don’t be coloured by what others feel. I know it can happen. It did to me.

I put in the song in the background ‘cuz I like it. The playback is not so good so I am sorry if its irritating in that respect. Will take it off in a couple of days. I took some time to learn how to do embed music so wanted to show off

***Update: Removed the music ‘cuz it was taking too long to buffer and kept breaking in between***

But the song is available on an opt in basis. You could use the player below to listen to my favourite Himesh Reshammiya song.