Tagadadada September 4, 2007

What’s a better to make a comeback to one’s blog after a lazy phase than through a tag? And this one has been pending for some time now. I was tagged by Sirisha

Here are the rules:
* Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
* When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
* At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
* Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged.

Ok, so I don’t have a middle name. In fact, my first name kinda makes up for that since its already long enough. So that leaves with the option oif cooking up one for myself. Here is the first name that came to my mind. (Regina) Phalange. If you are a F*R*I*E*N*D*S fan, you would know that this is a fake alias used by Phoebe (played by Lisa Kudrow) in a couple of episodes.

Anyway, here goes!

P – Punctuality : I think the only thing I hate more than waiting for someone is making someone wait for me. I totally judge people who don’t follow time and think its okay to take your time with things and make others stick around, no matter how close or free they are. I am one of those people who used to get to college 30-45 mins before it started. Anywhere later than that used to make me shudder and panic.

H – Home : A part of me will always be there no matter what or where I am.

A – Appearance : One thing I constantly try to work on in me. Ok ok, before you get me wrong, let me elaborate. I don’t give my appearance as much time or importance as I should. I walk out in my pajamas to buy stuff, I don’t care if my shirt is not ironed stiff before I wear it, I don’t mind wearing my rubber slippers to the mall (Its comfy!!).

L – Love : Never thought I would know what it is. Never imagined I would be so totally in love one day. All of us deserve some of this at some point in life. Makes things exciting.

A – A mood to cook : Cooking is a passion but only happens when I am in a particular mood. It drives me nuts sometimes when I really need to participate in events in the food blog community but don’t feel it.

N – Nothing lasts forever : I know it sounds sad, but think of it this way. Even tough times can’t last forever

G – Goodbyes : Hate hate hate them!

E – Eggs : I don’t know why I thought of eggs for E but anyway, I love eggs and this they are the most versative of ingredients. Think how those pastries and souffles would taste without it. Not to mention the absence of omelettes and scrambled eggs in our lives

I would like to tag: (Normally don’t choose people, but thought I should, this time

P – Priyanka
H – Hmm.. Vidya
A – Arundati
L – Lemonade
A – Akanksha
N – nanana.. Oops Mommy
G – God Years, Rosh
E – Err.. Rajeev?

The honest self-potrayal tag August 22, 2007

Picked up a tag from CM-Chap’s blog.

1. Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it?

On the top right corner of my lips. My bro and sis were bullying me when I was around 4, they threatened to put me in the pond in our garden, I was wearing a long skirt, I ran from them, they chased me, I fell.. rest is history! (I still take them on a guilt trip with this thing. Hehe)

2. What does your phone look like?

Nokia 6230. A gift from bro just before I joined Google. Many more models have come and left the market but I haven’t felt an urge that’s strong enough to get another one. I still think its very very elegant and pretty too. I am sometimes disloyal though, cuz I dream of flip phones

3. What is on the walls of your bedroom?

Rented house. 10 years old. So nothing from my side. There are some torn posters left behind by previous tenants and flakes of peeled off paint, though. Gives it a very ‘vintage’ look, if I may say so myself.

4. What is your current desktop picture?

Argh! I wish I had changed it before starting on this tag. Its just plain blue. But I have a justification for being boring. While training, I use a program that extends my desktop onto the projector screen and each time I do that, my desktop becomes blue again. The back and forth is too much to handle so I just leave it blue.

5. Do you believe in gay marriage?

Yes, I believe in any marriage between two people who think its a good idea and who are positive they can stand each other for the rest of their lives.

6. What do you want more than anything right now?

For Google to have an office in Bangalore so that I can relocate there

7. What time were you born?

This is a highly debatable question back home. Honestly, I don’t think my mom remembers. She says 13:10 but I don’t believe that. Who is she trying to kid!

8. Are your parents still together?

Yes and no

9. Last person who made you cry?

Hmmm.. I don’t think an honest answer would be appreciated by the instigator. Let’s just say I can cry for very silly reasons and feel sheepish later on

10. What is your favorite perfume/cologne?

I have four at the moment. All are gifts. Davidoff’s echo, Elizabeth Arden’s Fifth Avenue, and Ulric De Varens’ Chic Issime and one more whose name I can’t remember. I like all, I use all on a rotation basis. But there was pefume called Halloween by Jesus Del Pozo that I had in college. Almost every day, I have had people asking me what I am wearing. My bro refuses to get that for me anymore cuz he says its too old and there are so many newer fragrances that I should try. Hmpff. Brothers!!

11. What kind of hair/eye color do you like in the opposite sex?

Hmmm.. Black or dark brown. And of course the eternal favourite in all female fantasies – pepper gray hair

12. What are you listening to?

Have been hooked to Athiradee from Sivaji. Also checking out songs in Bheema. I am a tamil music freak. Rarely listen to anything else.

13. Do you get scared of the dark?

Used to be really scared but after coming to Hyderabad, I am more used to it. But yea, I try to avoid the dark as much as possible.

14. Do you like pain killers?

I don’t think anybody would like painkillers. I think its more a question of how bad the pain is, so that one can decide whether to use a ‘killer’ or not.

15. Are you too shy to ask someone out?

Nope. I haven’t really asked anyone out though. I live in a society that judges a girl on such things. So I’d rather stay safe. I have told people when I have crushes on them, though.

16. If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?

Chilly chicken with toasted cafe at Odyssey Cafe in Somajiguda. Have been craving that for a couple of weeks now.

17. Who was the last person you made mad?

Always Shanky

18. Is anyone in love with you?

Quite ironic, but sadly, the answer is, yes.

Whatever, eh? August 16, 2007

* I feel bloated most of the time. As in, like I have put on a lot of weight. Maybe I have, but never used to get this feeling so much. Think its cuz of absolute lack of exercise and too much junk in office. I think I have cribbed about my hair and my weight a taaaaad too much in here, sorry my ever-forgiving readers. If I have crossed the line this time, please feel free to abuse me through a comment.

Immediately after typing the above paragraph, I went for a walk around the office building. Feel slightly better now.

* I realised over the past week that I have too many clothes. This situation, strangely, gives me a very low feeling. Why? Cuz that means I can’t buy more clothes guilt-free. I think I accumulated too many recently when I had to get some formal shirts, trip to Dublin, then all the Google tees that we got, the salwars I got from back home.. Sheesh. So its no clothes for the rest of the year. To add to my agony, all the malls are on a sale in Hyderabad at this time!

* I am spending a little too much time on my cooking blog these days. The reason: feeling of guilt for neglecting it for over two months cuz of travelling for work, mostly. This is freaking me out. If this is the way I choose to get over neglect-guilt, then it might go dangerous. Why? What if I feel I have been negecting house-work for too long and quit my job or something. Ok, that was a little too much even for me. You are right, I should just chill. (That reminds me, I need some good plates and stuff to photograph the food. I only have steel plates now. Probably those colorful yet cheap stuff we find in Shilparamam)

* Really really looking forward to the weekend. Have some random stuff to do and then planning a movie. Rush Hour 3. Ok ok I know. But we didn’t get tickets to Transformers or Chak De. And we really need a break, Prat and I. We sat at home entire 2 days last weekend and Aug 15th holiday too.

Am I losing my blogger touch? (shudder). Or is it just me who finds this post utterly dull, boring and lacking in any humour what-so-ever?

Tagged again by my sis :) August 3, 2007

Hmmmm.. 7 interesting facts about me.. arghh. Only 7? This blog is all about interesting lil ‘ol me. Hehe.. anyway, right to the tag.

7 Interesting Facts (Wonders, if you must) About Yours Truly

One: I am the one person I know who is so full of contradictions. To mention a few: I hated math and did a major in it for my BSc. I hated coding and did a three-year course in NIIT which I attended most sincerely. I never wanted to be more than an overnight journey away from home and I stay in Hyderabad (the bloody place is far from everywhere, I tell you!!). I never wanted to marry but never stopped putting together qualities that would make a perfect man for me. And the list goes on. I even contradict myself in conversations and arguments. Thank God I am a graceful loser.

Two: I never cheat in games. Like card games, board games, you name it. I feel that we play for fun, to pass the time, to enjoy the company of some people you like. Cheating takes the fun out and makes it all about winning and losing. I cannot bear that. I get extremely angry if I find someone cheating in a game and if they are playing with me, then God help them. Now, exams are a different story altogether. Grin!

Three: Each time I read a book and finish it (especially if its an Indian author and has characters I can relate to), I think and sometimes talk like the characters in it. This is something I have never shared with anyone before and I can’t believe I just wrote this here.

Four: Once the thinking-and-talking-like-the-character phase is over, I get a strong feeling that I can write a book. Somewhere between planning the plot and thinking of an opening line, I give up. Happens invariably. All the time. Every time.

Five: I am extremely good with secrets. I gossip, I share stories, I can even tell tales. But there are some things which I never talk about. Especially if I know that the person(s) involved rather that nobody know about that incident. I also always forget the source of information. Which makes me a frustrating gossip partner. But hey! I can tell the story without forgetting it. So there!

Six: I can be emotional and hard-hearted at the same time. Don’t ask me how or what that means. (Maybe this falls under the same as point one. The contradictory-me point.)

Seven: Dammit! The last one is always the toughest. If the meme was to write a hundred things about me, then I would have breezed through the first 99 and then got stuck at 100. So maybe I should say this here. I hate good-byes. I hate missing someone. It frustrates me, makes me all mushy and emotional and I hate that.

Now I need to find 7 people to tag. Hmm.. I think this is quite a common tag which a lot of people have done before. So let me just name a few – Rosh, Lemon, Karthik, Oooops Mommy, Mydh, and whoever else feels that they have 7 things they want some others to know. Take it away.

Thursday Thirteen #6 June 7, 2007

13 reasons why its best to be single

a) You don’t need to worry about smelling minty fresh or your floral best all the time.
b) You can use your emotions and put them to better use – like yelling at your boss for not promoting you, watching a romantic comedy and crying your eyes out after the happy ending, bloah blah.
c) Practial lingerie is cheaper than the lacy sexy (and uncomfortable!) ones.
d) You won’t feel a pang when your friends get married, you just feel happy for them, the clothes shopping you can do for yourself and looking your best for all the cute single who are going to come for the wedding.
e) You can eat all you want and have only yourself to answer to in case you put on some weight.
f) You can wear whatever you want and not feel bad when someone says ‘you look fat in this tee’, ‘this colour doesn’t suit you’, ‘why did you buy such a dull shirt’, cuz you don’t care about any of these people or their crappy comments anyway.
g) You can really concentrate, obsess, worry, work on your career with absolutely no distractions.
h) You can feel good about getting a year older and not think ‘am I getting too old to even look good in my marriage pics with him? He still looks so young!’. You are single, you don’t compare yourself to your boyfriend. Simple.
i) You can spend all the money you earn on yourself and not on impulsive gifts that don’t go well appreciated and sometimes even end up freaking him out cuz he thinks now he owes you expensive gifts too.
j) You can talk, flirt, go out, make out, with any of your guy friends without feeling guilty (if you are morally driven) or out in the open (in case you were doing it in the sly without him knowing)
k) You can tell all your friends you are single and be proud of it instead of lying to all of them cuz he is not ready to tell the world yet.
l) You don’t have to put up with dirty feet, stinking socks, sweaty tees and junk food dinners for a guy who doesn’t care about any of these things.
m) You can write a Thursday 13 about being single and yet wish you had all these problems (note: I am not talking about myself here. Sigh, its a long story guys. It deserves a blog of its own, not even a post)

Thursday Thirteen #5 May 25, 2007

13 special places in Bangalore (Yes, I am still not over my weekend, sigh..)

1. Forum mall, Koramangala – Its a great landmark to meet people. We just have to say ‘I will stand at the entrance’ and specify whether its the KFC side or the McDonalds side.

2. Landmark in Forum – Have spent hours here, reading, reading and more reading. They never throw you out, you know. Its awesome.

3. The transit food court in Forum – Have shared many a chaat platters and dosas and roast chicken here. Almost always cuz we couldn’t afford to buy one for each of us. Yeah, coming to think of it I was really poor once. Google made me rich. And an avid blogger.

4. Kairali Restaurant – Made me miss mom less. Puttu and kadala, appam and mutta curry, meen porichathu, aviyal.. oooh awesome!

5. Adugodi – The place where I stayed for 3+ months with my friends. The streets of that place have more dogs than rest of Bangalore combined. I was shit scared, yet I love the place.

6. Juice Corner – They have juice cheaper than bottled water! How cool is that. Have had countless musambi and mango juices from there.

7. Domlur – beautiful wide roads flanked by those trees that look brilliant with orange and red flowers. This is where Mafoi is located. The place I went to everyday for almost 4 months. 6 buses each day. My dreams originated from here. And I realised I never wanted to get into recruitment after spending 3 weeks here. Met some beautiful people meanwhile – Mini, Damayanthi, Vignesh, Gazala, Rudresh, et al.

8. Jyoti Nivas College – My friends’ college. Have spent a lot of time on the campus waiting for them, taking pics, reading, day dreaming. Its almost like I studied there. PS: a lot of cute guys used to come there to play basketball. Just added to the aesthetic value of the place

9. Monday to Sunday – the vegetable mart that allowed us to pick out one tomato, one carrot, 5 beans, two potatoes and two onions. It was a blessing for people who didn’t have a fridge and who wanted atleast these basic veggies in not great amounts. Thank you M to S.

10. Commercial Street – Kept making me think ‘one day.. one day I will come back here and buy everything I want. Everything!!’ I know the obvious question. Did I do that? Well, turns out I didn’t really want much from there. But yes, the first time I visted Blore after coming to Hyd, I went there and bought a lot of stuff. I still use some of them.

11. I am kicking myself cuz I can’t remember the natural ice cream place that gave two scoops for 25 rupees. Ouch!

12. Cubbon Park – walks on weekend evenings (as if I didn’t walk enough on weekdays!), 5rs sev puri on the streets (my first taste of chaat and I fell in love instantly). Heaven.

13. The countless buses, the numerous friendly people on the roads that helped me find my way around, the rude autowallahs, the merciless cars, the glamorous billboards, the dogs, the scent, the climate, Jayanagar, and much much more.

I miss Bangalore. I miss home.

Some random things and a tag May 17, 2007

Random things first:

There is something refreshing in listening to those songs that don’t fall into your ‘favourites’ list. Rosh is right, there is peace in the unknown and the unfamiliar. (I had to say this, as much as I hate the words ‘Rosh is right!’).

Today I realised that I do choose a book by its cover if I can’t find the one I am looking for. I wanted to borrow ‘The Twentieth Wife’ by Indu Sundaresan from the office library. Somebody had already borrowed it so went through the available books and found this book with a pretty cover. And here I am, shamelessly blogging about it. (To see what book it is, check out the side bar on the right of this page).

Someone sent out an email in office that talks about blogs worth million dollars! Whoahh! Do you think I will get there? (Only people who want to answer YES need comment on this question). Check out the article here.

I have been tagged by shammu and I need to do that now so here goes..

Rules for this tag!

1. The person who was tagged will just have to make an introduction and link back to who tagged you.
2. List your five reasons as to why you blog.
3. Choose five people and tag them.
4. Drop a comment on their blog to let them know they were tagged. And it’s done!

Ah, five reason eh?

Ok let me think.

* How it began (think I have mentioned this before but its ok to say nice things again and again and again..) This happened beginning of last year.

D: “Hey N, I am looking for the lyrics of Sudum Nilavu from Thambi. Do you have it?

N: Who was totally crazy about that song quickly types it in notepad and sends it across to D.

D: “Wow, thanks. Which site did you find it?”

N: “Typed it myself yaar. Enjoy”

D: “Oh awesome. You should put it up on your blog”

N: “Oh yeah I should” (in her mind she is thinking all cool people seem to have a blog and she should also start one and be cool herself)

That’s how it all began. Check out the first post here.

* After some more song lyrics, I realised this was getting boring and there were a zillion sites out there who had lyrics in them so what’s the point? That’s when I realised I need to do some serious documentation of my life. Out came the briliant idea that I should put up pics on my blog so that it becomes easy for family and friends to view. Its all in one place! That’s why most of my initial posts are just pics. Like here, here and here.

* Then came a phase of self-pity and heartbroken lover kinda posts. No comments on why or what. It was just was a bad phase. I found a release in my blog, a solace which nothing or nobody else could give me.

* Then, my friends, then, I put up a song that I came across somewhere and liked a lot. And I got comments from people I didn’t know. It was such a heady feeling. Absolutely awesome. Here is the post that earned me fame (yeah I exaggerate, but so do you ). So that’s the phase when my blog used to fan my ego.

* Now, blogging has become more of a passion. I frame sentences in my head while experiencing something. I put captions and titles to moments. I obsess about the template and use an unhealthy amount of time looking for others. I am never satisfied. I refuse to compromise. My blog takes up a good amount of my time every day. And I couldn’t be happier about the small circle of friends I have found because of this tiny page in the corner of the Internet. This is me, this is my life and these are my thoughts (edited sometimes keeping your interests in mind).

Shammu, thanks for this tag. Really got me thinking.

I really don’t want to tag anyone specific this time. Please do take it up if you want to ask yourself why you do this, why do you blog? Do leave a comment if you intend to write. I want to read why too

Thursday Thirteen #4 May 10, 2007

13 things that I use every day

1. My toothbrush

2. My phone (wake up looking at it, go to sleep looking at it, use it for alarm, music, time, messages, calls, reminders..) wow!

3. My watch – I feel incomplete stepping out of the house without it

4. My music player – I know this sounds all ‘ohh where is my ipod” haughty stuff but I use it every day in the cab and even on weekends just before I go to sleep

5. Laptop – Property of Google. Used extensively by me. The day I need to return this, I will get one of my own.

6. This is a boring post.

7. I can’t find more stuff cuz most of the things I use over the weekend I don’t use during weekdays. And vice versa. Like the Internet.

8. Ok guys, you have to forgive me for a stupid Thursday 13.

9. And sorry lemon, for messing up this idea of yours.

10. Does this mean you guys are not gonna read my blog anymore…?

11. Do I see people leaving without reading the next two points…??

12. Oh my god! What am I doing?

13. Ok, the damage is done and I am a boring dumbass hehe..

Sorry guys!!

The ‘Ten’ Tag May 9, 2007

3inone of Orange Fling has tagged me. I am supposed to write ten interesting facts about me. The problem is how do I limit myself to 10 things (yeah, modesty and me, sigh..)

Since I write about myself so much, I think this should be a list of 10 things that may be relatively unknown about me. Yeah, the juicy secrets.

1. I was always one of the tallest in my class in school. For assemblies and other meetings, we used to sit in ‘height order’ which invariably put me in the last row with the boys. The funny part is, I enjoyed it immensely

2. My mom and I used to have ’special’ dinners once in a while. This is prepared with: all possible fruits we can get our hands on, one litre packet of vanilla ice-cream (we almost always bought Amul cuz they invariably gave 20% extra free so we had 120 litres!), honey, two huge bowls, two spoons, TV on in either of our fave programs and happy eating. I never realised how much I enjoyed this till I came off to Hyderabad.

3. I think faster than I speak. I get impatient when people don’t answer as soon as they are asked a question or when they dont say ‘hmm’ or ‘ah huh’ or ‘oh’ or ‘ok’ when I am narrating a story to them.

4. Talking about narration, I used to be the narrator for 8 straight years in school for every play my class did. This is because we didn’t use mics in school and I was the loudest in class. In the 8th std, I got so bored with this that I went to my teacher and said I want to act this time. I was made the background dancer who comes in each time the hero and heroine have a special moment (the play was a British one called HMS Pinafore and was not as cheesy as it sounds). I hated it and couldn’t wait to get back in the limelight in the 9th std where I became the narrator and life was good again.

5. I have a scar on the top right corner (left to you if you are looking at it) of my lips that was a gift from my bro and sis when I was around three. They were bullying me and I was running scared. Was wearing a long skirt, slipped and fell on cement floor, huge cut above lip, mom was not home, when she did get back.. rest is history.

6. I am a very impatient person. I get pissed if people take too long to understand what I am saying, I hate slow thinkers, sometimes I jump to decisions and conclusions. Hasn’t always worked well but I still continue to do it anyway. (Err.. this seems similar to point number 3, I know..)

7. I check my Orkut account every day. I love it for keeping me in touch with all those long lost friends who would otherwise have just remained lost. I love going thru their albums to see how their lives are going, and then their friends who have nice albums and then another person from that friend’s list… and the list goes on. Yeah so basically what I am saying is I check out random strangers’ Orkut albums and feel happy for them. So that makes me a loser? Big deal!

8. I don’t understand poetry, I don’t know more than two poets’ names, I will never be able to make out if a poem is good or not and I can’t rhyme for nuts.

9. I hate flying. It makes me sick, I feel dizzy for an hour after I have landed and I hate the artificiality of the air stewards with their made up faces and ill-fitting clothes. I wish things could be more natural and professional. I think we confuse artificial and professional to an unhealthy level these days (and I can’t believe I just thought about this while I was typing. It’s true though)

10. I am full of contradictory opinions when it comes to certain things. Like love. And marriage. And having kids. And choices in life. I know this doesn’t make much sense but you need to get inside my head to know what I mean. Trust me, you don’t wanna do that.

I tag mydh, toothlesswink, ug, alok, lemon, shammu, vj, beks, and anybody else who wants to take this up.

Thursday Thirteen #3 May 3, 2007

13 things about Dublin

1. Dublin is the capital and largest city in Ireland, near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast, at the mouth of River Liffey.

2. The city is one of the most youthful in the world – an estimated 50% of inhabitants are younger than 25.

3. Dublin was once voted the friendliest city in Europe.

4. Ronan Keating of Boyzone fame grew up in Dublin.

5. There are no snakes in Ireland (Thank God for that!! Or maybe, thank St. Patrick!)

6. Dublin’s O’Connell Bridge is the only bridge in Europe as wide as it is long.

7. Ireland’s national flag uses the same three colours as the Indian flag but contains vertical bands instead of horizontal and does not have the chakra in the centre.

8. Dublin is world-famous for producing a unique kind of beer called Guinness.

9. Dublin has a club-area called Temple Bar that is known for its mayhem and drunken people having fun literally on the streets.

10. Why oh why am I talking about Dublin and giving you these ho hum! facts?

11. Hmmmm.. why I wonder!

12. Google has an office in Dublin

13. And I am going there!! (Time for the inevitable drum rolls). Me and another trainer from office are going for two weeks and the trip is planned for first week of June. So look out for posts on ‘My Second Trip Abroad’. Wheeeeee!