Diary of twenty somethings

F.R.I.E.N.D.S desi style

2011-10-24T00:44:00.009+05:30

In this hectic life of ours, there are a few things we love devotedly. Things that the humdrum of routine cannot take us away from. Infact, things that would make us happy people if we could bring them into our routines forever. Watching sitcoms would feature somewhere on top of that wishlist and F.R.I.E.N.D.S could just take the crown and be done with it.

But one very late night, Nandini and Mrinalini were discussing how they had been termed certain things because of their ‘race’, sometimes by neighbours, sometimes by acquaintances (read: people who don’t feature anywhere in the list of important people but who talk and judge as if they do) and suddenly they realized how Chandler did some things very characteristic of a Punjabi. One thing lead to another and before we knew it, we had realised each and every member of Friends was THAT endearing to us only because they were also similar to certain fellow Indians. True story. Read the very racist version below:

Rachel ‘Rachhi’ Chawla: What else could the quintessential, picture perfect Rachel be but a Punjabi? The fetish for fashion, the expensive clothes and style, that slight element of superficiality and appearance oriented outlook, all covering a very genuinely generous heart?

The pieces fit, right? She’s the hawt, slightly spoilt girl. Maybe lets qualify her as a modern Punjabi chick :D You know the one we’re talking about. Well turned out, nails done, not a hair out of place and an ensemble right out of the pages of a fashion magazine. In Dilli, we sometimes also call them GK types but let's not forget that Rachel also has a soft heart, very Punjabi-people like loyalty to friends and despite everything, an incurable sense of romance, very conventional at that!

She also has that typical dysfunctional family where siblings quibble, her father expects her to 'do well', her mother expects her to marry well (read marry a wealthy dentist) and also often criticizes everything, from the cut of her hair to her profession as a waitress. Wait, it can't GET any more Punjabi than this!

Ross 'Robindra' Chattopadhyay: The oily haired, very academic Mama’s boy who philosophically believes in true love. He loves flaunting his degrees, literally calls himself a doctor and thinks he knows more than collectively all his friends, purely on the basis of his education. His mother dotes on him, keeps the best things of the family reserved for him, (typical of a Calcuttan Ma with a kid called Bapi). What he has with Rachel, is what we call Rabindric form of love, that pure eternal love that stands the test of time, even several marriages in the case of Ross. You can expect a typical Titli and Shekhar to love each other since school, meet each other at various points in life, be with different people and still be destined to be together. Ask any benagli guy, he will nod. So yes, Ross thakche sir!

Monica 'Mala' Raman: now, Monica could have been many things, but a South Indian fitted her best. From the several south Indian friends we have, there is one thing that comes out starkly; that they are very particular. Ever watched Monica clean her kitchen slab or cut her vegetables? Infact, ever seen her without her frown lines or that sense of hurry? Yes, welcome to the land of Monica, the Southie. She has OCD, loves to compete everywhere (have some Southie colleagues if you want to experience this) and is very particular about the tiniest to the biggest thing in her life. Ofcourse, she thinks she is the best in no matter what you tell her to do, be it cooking up a Thanksgiving meal or playing foosball or winning the lottery, even at the cost of pushing and shoving her friends. Oh and yes, watch her over think and over analyze all of her relationships in life and you will know what we are talking about.

Phoebe Gonsalves: There are no two ways of describing Phoebe. She is just very Boho. And very Goan, if you ask us. She loves to dress up in carefree and Bohemian clothes like long flowy dresses, necklaces, flowers and her usual hairstyles are as if she is on a vacation with beads, bands etc. She has many lovers, sometimes two at a time, reeking of the typical Goa animal. The best part about her, is that she can’t be bothered. Nothing in the realm of regular, mundane life can affect her. She has a fun, weird way of living, which doesn’t necessarily include sanity or sensibility at all times. To add to the very Goan avatar, she loves crystal balls, tarot and after life. Tell a Goan about your problems and they will ask you to loosen up. So will Phoebe.

Chandler ‘Chandu’ Chadha: Yes, we do believe that Chandler would be a Punjabi too. An elitist, foot-always-in-the mouth witty Punjabi. For who else can be as casually sarcastic but always tactless like Chandler than sadda pados da Chandu Chaddha who will have a – "Hey! What’d I say moment", after he’s said some silly but very very 'mooh phat' thing. Take for example his ability to constantly ask awkward questions, crack jokes that only he finds funny and a terrible sense of timing that makes for many comic moments. Punjabis are very aware of their quality of spurting out the first thing that comes to their minds and it probably makes them who they are, slightly rude, very funny and entertaining people.

Joey 'Jaggi' Hooda: C'mon! You cannot miss the signs! If there was ever a translation of friends into typical Indian sects with racist connotations, Joey would definitely be a Jaat boy :D We mean, he's good looking, good physique, and low IQ :P Is this too racist? We wouldn't know since one of our best friends is Jatni herself but we're good at typifying people so here it is! Drinking galleons of milk because he likes to (remember the milk and spoilt juice cartons?), constantly hungry (you could say that's common to all boys but everybody knows Jaat boys have great gastronomic potential) and his belief that he definitely has a way with women, and what do you know, he does too! He's adoringly dim and while everyone loves to hate jaat boys, one cannot but admit they have a local charm, much like the Italian Joey in New York! If you take away all the strippings, Joey is a dumb jock and well, you know the rest!

And we know we know! It is borderline racist but these twenty somethings are Bengali, Punjabi, Jaat and are friends with Punjabi, Bengali, Jaat, South Indians, North Indians, Sindhis, Gujaratis, Baniyas, Muslims, Goans, Bohemians, and all other forms of Indians. (Yes we admit it! Slight bias towards Punjabis and Bengalis but we cant help it ok?) And no, we're not discriminating, we're probably stereotyping and so long as its in fun, its ok right? RIGHT?? :P Ok. Glad we're clear. Wouldn't want this to be like the famous 'Open Letter to Delhi Boy' :P Or maybe we would want that. Fame. Sigh!

P.S: Image Courtesy: Google Images

Google search words on the lines of

Haryana Jat, Punjabi, Modern Bengali man, South Delhi Punjabi, South Indian typical, Bohemian Goan Indian Woman Boho. Amongst others!

Life’s strange lessons

2011-10-21T13:55:00.002+05:30

Few days back I got to learn about a colleague’s father’s illness. She had called up another colleague of ours to ask for a blood donor. When I enquired I got to know that he was suffering from a rare cancer. As she is in a different team and we have had limited interaction, I had no clue about her father's illness till then, which many of my other colleagues were well aware of.

After some contemplation, today I mustered up the courage to speak to her about him. Like any other person, I am really awkward about such conversation and usually clueless as to what to say. I mean, I want to say something comforting but I fear that it may sound superficial.

So today, while chatting with another colleague I spotted her roaming around by the bay. The colleague I was chatting with inquired as to who was staying at the hospital and why she wasn't taking leaves. She smiled and said, 'The company won't pay me to take so many leaves na. Besides my uncle is there with dad today so its fine.'

Out of politeness I asked her how he is doing, knowing very well what the answer would be. She said he was in the ICU and more or less the same. On an impulse I told her that if she needs someone to stay in the hospital I could do that. She stared at me for few seconds. I don't blame her because this was probably the first time I was having a proper conversation with her. Before this we had only exchanged a few polite 'Hi's' and discussed work. Never had a personal conversation.

As she stared at me for few seconds (out of amusement or surprise I don't know) I quickly added 'You know, there are times when in between shifts you need people...like one person has gone home and the other is yet to reach and one or two hours in between...like that.’ She thankfully got my point and said 'Yeah'.

I got to know that he had a rare cancer which had spread from his back to a part of his stomach. I cringed thinking about the pain he was going through. Think about it, when one is ill, the first thing one does is lie down on his back to rest and if you have a cancerous cyst growing there how difficult it would be to rest.

She also told me how it was initially a cyst which was operated on few years back and how it kept coming back. He had, after a while, opted for ayurvedic treatment and that probably lead to the delay in detection, she said. I knew that she and her younger brother lived in Delhi and worked, while her parents stayed in Bhopal. So, for them to shift to a different city just for the treatment would not have been easy. Being the elder one, my colleague would obviously be taking charge of things...and it surely wasn't easy for her.

I suggested her to take a second opinion if possible at this hospital I know which is considered the best for cancer treatment. She just said, ' It was detected in the fourth stage. And it’s rare so there is no cure as such. It can't be operated.' The chemo that he has been going through has effected his brain and has left part of his face paralyzed.

What shook me the most that when she was talking about something this serious, she remained calm throughout. There was no remorse or sadness or any kind of expression on her face for that matter. Maybe she knows how it’s going to end, maybe she was used to talking to people about her father's illness but it takes strength to talk about it without breaking into tears.

I have been going through a bit of crisis personally but after I spoke to her my problems seemed so trivial and so vain that I was almost embarrassed that I had been crying about such stupid issues all this while. I know that for each one of us our own problems are always the biggest but when one looks around, and notices what all people are going through, one should just be thankful that god has not been that unfair to them.

My colleague is probably going through hell but she is being extremely brave about the whole thing. She comes to work everyday doesn't whine about which shift she is on while some of us try to shirk work and adjust shift timing to fit in our plans with friends.

It’s amazing how life teaches you to be tough in the most difficult times when everyone expects you to break down. But perhaps, that's the beauty of life, its lessons come at odd times when you are least expecting it.

A big hug to her.

Swashbuckling guy from high seas seeks soulmate

2011-09-20T00:35:00.007+05:30

There comes a time in the lives of most young eligible girls, when their parents’ worry about their future (read settled state of affairs) and it overcomes every progressive notion in their modern outlook-ed life. When such a state of affairs comes to pass and the said young girl is unattached, the only logical thing to do in our society of the arranged marriages is to look for potential grooms- by hook or by crook! So said hapless female has to be subject to being posted on matrimonial sites, at the receiving end of ‘eligible’ biodatas and be the object of interest for other matchmaking mommas and other busybodies within and without the neighbourhood.

There are two ways to overcome this assault, to pretend to go with the flow or to stubbornly hold ground. We might advise, maybe a tad bit impertinently that for the sake of your peace of mind, and harmony at home, its better to go with the former.

And so it happens, you’re swept by the inevitable tide which we will call ‘A suitable boy’ and it takes over your life much like a tsunami. More of that later. Much more entertaining is to be at the receiving end of some ah, truly unique proposals. As an honorary confidant and best friend, I am happy to say, I am privy to many such interesting stories and for that, let me introduce you to – Yama* (name changed for purely entertainment reasons and because she had the misfortune to have been called that once upon a time) – a truly unique and balanced girl if there ever was one. I can wax lyrical but it will not stop me from having fun with and at her expense. But darling that she is, she doesn’t not only not mind but keeps my entertainment quotient in check. Without blathering on any further, let me show you the letter she received, yesterday.

Introducing:

Yamo: On her laptop, checking mails

Ravvy: Aka Ravinder Singh, Swashbucking Naval Merchant sailing the high seas, looking for love, life partner and marriage..

Scene 1, One and only Act

Well , I am Ravinder Singh . I saw your profile in ****** matrimony website.

I don’t know how to start, whether to say hi or hello, which of the two sounds better , All I know is that this is a marriage proposal letter.
(REALLY? It is? I would never have thought?!)

I write to you because I would like to express my undying and unconditional feeling for you after reading your profile. Marriages are made in heaven and when it’s about yours and mine after reading your profile, I believe that God might have taken some special time and consideration so that I get the best in this world .
(I want to say something very sarcastic and witty but I’m currently speechless)

MARRIAGE. This eight -letter words elicits different emotions and feelings to different people. People have fallen in love with their life partners as long the earth has existed. (O Reelee?)

People have and always are looking for new and creative ways of expressing their love to their beloved ones. One of the oldest ways of expressing interest in getting married to a girl is writing proposal letter. The letters were then sent in the mail or some other applicable means including sending a messenger. Nowadays love letters have taken a different form with the advent of faster communication especially the Internet. (So technologically advanced! Are you sure there isn’t a future here Yamo?)

Today, I have taken the mature decision of listening to my heart and decided to express my feelings for you. So I am writing this marriage proposal letter to live with you forever and want to know about your decision about marriage. (Forever? *Gulp* and you’re still writing the letter huh? What was all this before: a foreward?)

I was thinking about this marriage proposal since last three days , I am in merchant navy, and I am in this since 200n. Just today I came from –insert American Country name- , and I am writing you this letter because I want to know more about you and want you to know more about myself……..I cannot detail each and everything here in this letter. Yes, one thing more me and my family don’t believe in caste and kundli matching systems. I am against dowry so plz you are requested if u get agree you plz come in 3 clothes “ chunni , kurta , salwar” that will be enough for me and rest my responsibility to take care of you needs and whatever you like.

(Ok now I will take a break from all cynical sentiments and say HATS OFF. No dowry, caste or kundali matching, I want to ask this guy ‘R u fo real?’ for more than one reason.

Reinsert humour - chunni, kurta and salwar? Heinji? Why not pant-shirt ji? And undergarments??? )

So , I would like that you please contact me as soon as possible so that we can discuss further.

My contact details are here below –
My chatting id is on yahoo – “ *******”
My email id is on yahoo- wouldlovetomarryyou@yahoo.com (Entirely fictitious. Wouldn't want you troubling the dashing young man)

I have nothing to ask, . You are truly my better half as what I think after reading your marriage profile. . When I look into my eyes through mirror , I know that there is at least one person who believes in me and will be there with me always this how I take my life partner as. (Look into own eyes in mirror? If there were someone else’s it would be pretty freaky, I must admit)

I hope you can read between the lines and guess just how much I really want you in my life as my life partner. (I think she got it, yea?)

So I request you To end my dreaming and put to reality. (Nope. Never)
Waiting for your warm and positive response
Contact me as soon as you can

Ravinder singh

Yama, meanwhile is still wondering what she should do. After having laughed herself silly, she is utterly exhausted and clueless, and perhaps speechless, like us.

Now I know a LOT of you will want to point out the genuine sentiments enclosed in these warm and hearty words and I would like to tell you I am not at all blind to any of them! This is just finding humour in a slightly odd situation and I’m sure you would too, if you suddenly saw this email pop into your inbox. More so if you were a guy :D

Disclaimer: English uniqueness is entirely attributed to the writer and I take no credit whatsoever. Maybe its some sophisticated form of English used only by well-traveled individuals, especially those who frequent Latin America.

The pretty times in not-so pretty times.

2011-09-07T22:29:00.005+05:30

(Click to Enlarge)

A serious bout of seriousness has hit us. No jokes, each has been dealing with a range of emotions, namely anger, frustration, homesickness, delusion, anticipation and for one of us, its taken a toll seeing us all in such a state.

Nandini, the not so silent witness and listener to all our woes came with a genius idea unmatched by any khuraphati we know in our lives. A sudden dose of such fun made us roar in laughter all at once. Much needed, trust you me.

God bless our friend.
And while God is at it, hopefully He also takes care of our individual miseries.
Amen.

Please mind the gap

2011-07-25T23:13:00.005+05:30

Since the time the Delhi metro introduced one whole compartment for ladies, we haven't stopped blessing them. Let's face it. It’s not a cool idea to travel with sweaty and at times horny men. (Please note we aren't calling everyone horny). So for the last seven months, journey on Delhi metro has been smooth.

Or NOT. Well the ladies are fine, yes. But they come with their own hang-ups. So we bring to you the different kind of travelers that we encounter on a daily basis. Yes we know you have been always curious to know what happens in that 'exclusive' compartment of ours. Don't lie now; we have seen how you guys look at our compartment forlornly. So here it is.

The Pushy Woman: Yea she pushes and hard.

Charactersistics: Semi Belligerant, will demolish all resistance in her way

Beware: Pointy elbow

The ‘Edjuster’: Aunty types who will assume one square inch of seat is sufficient to accommodate her ample ass. She will insist that people ‘edjust’ (read:adjust) for some space.

Characteristics: Big Bum, no offence, its inevitable. Underestimates self ass size

Beware: She may attempt to sit on your lap, at the very least, your thigh.

The Hawk: She will outrightly ask you which stop you’re getting down at, and make faces if its not convenient. She will then scrutinize all ‘sitters’ for signs of getting up and leaving and the merest movement will gain her notice.

Beware: In a competiton to occupy the nearest vacated seat, she is like a rugby tackler. She WILL not lose.

The BO Queen: Yes we do wonder, synthetics in summers and monsoons? Nobody tells them it’s a bad idea? Or their own noses are so assaulted that the olfactory nerves are immune to self sweat stink?

Characteristics: Will stick close to you with perhaps one deadly underarm raised. Sweat patch may or may not be evident, dependant on the grade of synthetic she is wearing

Beware: Of passing out by sheer odour assault.

The Farter: Inevitable. There are these women who will undoubtedly enjoy the multitudes of the metro and the anonymity of being able to let out a silent but deadly one. Worse if it’s a stander because the sitters get the worst of it.

Characteristics: Well there are none, are there. It could be anyone

Beware: Of being in the fart epicenter and being looked upon with suspicion by fellow passengers whose noses have dived in their shoulders or protected by their hands.

The Queen: She comes and asks meekly to give her some space to sit. Slowly and cunningly she takes over the entire seat making you look like the new entrant who asked others to ‘edjust’.

Characteristic: They are smart, operate silently and shrewdly.

Beware: Of giving up your comfortable seat to a not so innocent co-passenger.

The Indulgent mother: She will allow her annoying little pesky kid to do anything and everything in the metro. Will not care if her indulgence causes inconvenience to the co passengers.

Characteristics: she smiles and beams proudly at her kid. Lets the kid monkey around, scream, run around. She will just sit and smile through the whole thing

Beware: She might ask you to shift to let her kid stand next to you on the seat and enjoy the wonderful world outside. If you agree, well...then good luck to you!

The Annoying Kid(TAK): Kids are sweet things......people of course. Cute little people. Mostly. Unless they're traveling and cranky or traveling and hyper. In which case they can be a royal nuisance, despite said cuteness. They will wail and weep, wipe their snotty little noses on the metro seats, want to stand and look at the scenery and incessantly comment on it, in a loud voice, ask annoying questions or if they're hyper then they will think the metro poles are made for the express joy of their being able to swing around it like little monkeys. Never mind that your shoe/foot may get trampled or your bag has size 2 foot prints on it, The Indulgent Mother will smile leniently as if her offspring was born for the sole purpose of doing this act which must in effect bring joy to everyone around.

Characteristics: You know which ones. Dont start again.

Beware: The chances of TAK being fascinated by any of your gadget or possessions are high. If that should happen, you are advised to pretend the next stop is yours and get off, and get on again. (Exit Strategy) Unless you want said gadget smeared with fingerprints, snot, saliva amongst other unsavory things.

The Surreptitious eater: Yes, they do exist. Despite metro rules stating that (intone) Eating and drinking is not allowed inside the metro premises- people have the irresistible and seemingly uncontrollable urge to eat something while traveling by the metro. Maybe they can only consume food while traveling in air conditioned public transport? Who knows.

Characteristics: This person looks shifty. Male or female. Will keep food article concealed or in a bag and frequently be observed shoving things into their mouth and munching furiously while darting furtive glances around. Some also try to brazen it out and eat like they own the compartment and daring anyone to object.

Beware: Namkeens can be messy so it is to be hoped you're not sitting next to someone obliged to stuff millions of little food particles in their mouth sneaking because chances are, food spraying will happen. Also, in case you sit next to a noisy eater, please refer to Exit Strategy mentioned above.

The Accidental Guy: The odd man who enters the ladies compartment in the mistaken belief : "Ohmaigawd- empty-ish apartment full of the indianladies. Waow." and then quickly makes a hasty escape when he realizes that there is fee (fine) for ogling manyindianwomens and he could just as easily do it for free on the roads of the Delhi.

These are a few of our random sarcastic satirical observations. Any resemble to anyone living is purely intentional. Please feel free to add your experiences to it as well.

A sense of humour is a prerequisite.

Drops of Jupiter

2011-06-17T17:23:00.003+05:30

Walking gets too boring, when you learn how to fly!

Let's cover the clichés first- great weather, some purpose in life, (mind you only SOME because people with a lot of purpose are not so easily delighted), doughnuts, rain, some selectively chosen music to compliment the clouds, and some mindless dancing. Did I cover everything? Vodka shots? But its daylight, let's save that for later!

An awesome bookstore, some nice poetry (definitely a bluestocking!), nice conversation with a few darlings, random hugs to mom and the prospect of a delicious weekend.

Now am I covered?

Yeh Dilli hai mere yaar...

2011-05-06T03:16:00.003+05:30

Yet another link, yet another conversation.. and the same simmering anger that I feel over having my home insulted. It may not be perfect, it may not be utopian, but it's also where I live and I would rather ignore the flaws that catalogue them and be perpetually dissatisfied. It doesn't mean I'm blind to its imperfections, it means that I love it despite them, that I live with them daily and maybe a warped side of my brain even cherishes them for how it makes my home unique. My home, my city.. Delhi.

Oh yes, if you're a hater, you can stop right now and google 'Reasons to hate Delhi', grab some soda and snacks and have a little gloat about how some misguided, stereotyping writer has got it right yet again- how Delhi is so uncouth and Dilliwalas are manner-less and that nobody cares about their neighbours, we have a faux culture which includes only showing off and 'show-sha', how socialites are rampant and sentences start with who do you know instead of what do you know and they blather on about traffic,sewage, pollution, population,politics and everything else in between.

I'll be the first to know what's wrong, after all I do live here. Yes, it's my birthplace and it makes me partial to its eccentricities and inadequacies. But not blind, never that. Being a girl in the city, I know exactly how unsafe it is for me, and I certainly don't cherish that, I also know how bureaucratic it can be, how hard. But that's not all it is and that is what I want to acknowledge. That you out there, and all the others atleast have the fairness to concede that it is what it is and its not all bad, to have the grace to live and let live, to leave if you can't handle it and to suck it up if you can.

But let this not be a rant against a rant. It's not a justification or a defense or a stance. It's just letting *you* all know that we know what you might or might not think and that friendly sparring apart, it just gets boring after a while. *yawn* We know you love to hate Delhi. Which incidentally is India's 'international/domestic airport' city, with people docking in from all parts of the country and beyond so it is pretty much a reflection of everyone in this country than a separate 'breed' of individuals.

Poor Mrinu was once very uncouthly called Dilli ki billi. And then quoting a dialogue from Dev D, the conversation went on to talk about 'Dilli ki billi ko maaro, kaato, lekin paalo nahi.' (You can kill a cat from Delhi, even cut it up, but never try to make it a pet.) This was from a person who himself lives in Delhi or would like to say so, when the truth is that he resides in Gurgaon, the neighbouring Hariyanvi region Delhi so graciously embraces. That the person knew nothing about Mrinu but could call her that, is a classic example of how people perceive Delhi to be.

They decide, rather predecide that it is the city for the over-pompuous, easy going, not-so-hard working, flashy and conceited individual and frankly we've had enough! Poor Mrinu might never recover and she anyway was never a cat-lover to begin with! Pshaw.

Phew. That was a bit of a rant anyway. Oopsie. But if you KNEW how many anti-Delhi articles and chats I've had recently, you'd say I was justified!

Okay, I'm done!

Alpha, beta, romeo. Do you copy?!

And the world spins madly on...

2011-02-20T11:39:00.006+05:30

It's been a while since anything music related was posted. With the influx of tonnes of music videos, great songs and links floating around in cyberspace- to make music a bit more meaningful and attention worthy becomes harder. But hopefully the combination of this lovely video and the beautiful song will be the perfect attention holding experience. Here goes nothing! The video is goosebumps inspiringly gorgeous :)

Woke up and wished that I was dead
With an aching in my head
I lay motionless in bed
I thought of you and where you'd gone
and let the world spin madly on

Everything that I said I'd do
Like make the world brand new
And takethe time for you

I just got lost and slept right through the dawn
And the world spins madly on

I let the day go by
I always say goodbye
I watch the stars from my window sill
The whole world is moving and I'm standing still

Woke up and wished that I was dead
With an aching in my head
I lay motionless in bed
The night is here and the day is gone
And the world spins madly on

I thought of you and where you'd gone
And the world spins madly on.

Thought clouds!

2011-02-19T01:13:00.002+05:30

Respect, Mr.Lyricist.

2011-01-17T23:52:00.001+05:30

We have all grown up during the 90s, haven't we? So it is but obvious that we grew up on Bollywood numbers, nay? But confession time, not just any Bollywood numbers, we danced on the raunchiest ones available. Those days, item songs were not really existent, so when the film makers had to add some masala, they would make the hero and heroine do, well, stuff. But as ten year olds, we understood zilch, except the beats. And we danced. Unknowingly to what we danced to. Here are some of our fondest memories, minus the raunchiness that we now understand.

Angna mein baba, duaare pe ma, kaise aye gori, hum tohare ghar maa..would be my pick.

This song was a hit with me and my sister, we would choose to be the girl and the boy in the song and enact it with the steps as shown in the TV. The song was plain fun and had beats that made you gyrate. Little did we know then, that the song had such a, umm, well sexual meaning.

Your father is in the porch, your mom is at the entrance, oh dear fair lady, how do I enter your house?
When I will finally come in, I will like to eat. So what will you feed me?
I will feed you garam garam pooris, you will eat from my soft soft (naram naram) hands.

I mean wtf. WTF. Why are they talking with such innuendos, and why were we as 11 year olds, singing this song?

Govinda knew a lot about sarkaaeleu khatiyas and found them jyaara too, just like any boy would. He was the epitome of such songs and his pelvic thrusts meant more than just good dancing. I know now.

As for the trouble the boy had in the song, well, I may safely say it is quite a problem in real life, especially cos the moms actually never leave the house.
Respect Mr. lyricist.
-Mrinu

You see, I’d hate to admit that I ever liked a raunchy number, or even heard any when I was a child. 80’s and 90’s were, and still are, the data bank for the sleaziest songs (lyrics +choreography), so if asked otherwise I’d pretend to have never watched one and give you a raised eyebrow look for doing so :p

Chumma chumma de de..
The song that made ‘chumma’ more offensive than ever, is indomitably my most liked raunchy number. From pelvic thrusts, to grinding, to taking/tearing clothes off… this song was ‘cheapumptious’ (cheap + sumptious...i just like the combination I came up with) I still vividly recall how I would dance like crazy on this number, wearing my frilly frock (I was 7 then, do not judge) dancing on the sofa and repeatedly calling out ‘chumma chumma’. My mom though, could not tolerate my naïve self any longer and one day, told me that it was not “ladylike” to dance on such numbers…and definitely not the way I did :p

But I never outgrew my liking for this song, the tune..Yes, the tune still makes my feet tap.
-Piya

I have two songs that I’d like to mention in this post.
Jaati hu main, jaldi hai kya
Dhadke jiya, wo kyu bhala

The song came out at a time when my allegiance was slowly shifting from Aamir Khan to the great SRK. He had just done two or three odd movies before Karan Arjun (for the uninitiated and the ignorant fools, the above song is from this film). I was in love with not just Shahrukh Khan but also the Baazigar pair of Kajol and SRK. On top of that, Kajol’s blue off shoulder top with colourful skirt (yes, I had an eye for fashion even back then!) made the song extremely watchable (if that’s a word). Two of my favourite stars gyrating on a catchy number, what more could I ask for. And I really didn’t care about the meaning behind the song.

Few more lines from the awesome song:
Jaadu tere jism ka teri or kheenche mujhe
Kaabu na khud pe rahe, jab jab main dekhoon tujhe

Holy crap! And I knew the entire song and used to take pride in the fact that I knew the words and the exact tune. No one cared about this talent of mine, but I was still very proud of it. Now that I think about it, I feel like making the younger me shut up!

I’d also like take a moment here and mention the super hit track from the film Khalnayak. It went like this, Choli ke peeche kya hai..
Now, I wasn’t allowed to sing this song as a kid. I knew it was scandalous but never could fathom as to why people raised eyebrows on this song. It was only few days back when I heard the song again, that I realized the big deal about it.
Yes. Two days back. At the age of 25.
-Anjali

Rukamani rukamani shaadi ke baad kya kya hua
kaun haara kaun jeeta khidki mein se, dekho zara
ooo o o o ooo
Baahon mein hai baahein daale meethi baatein hone lagi
Khatiya bhi dheere dheere khat khat hone lagi
Aage peechhe hua to jhatpat hone lagi

So this mast number from Roja which had a great tapping beat and had these old ladies slyly singing on a khat, which by the way, wasn't clue enough for my pre-teen, pre-pubescent mind.

That they were actually talking about a couple, erm, doing it on their wedding night and who came out tops is scandalous enough, never mind that its in a patriotic film. But filmy masala is filmy masala, who says the freedom fighter oriented flick can not have its share of raunchiness in the form of lewd lyrics. And please don't forget that this is the same movie which had the song 'Dil hai Chota sa, choti si aasha.'. The diabolical irony of this is not lost on me now.

They also mention what chacha and chachi and mama mami might have done, for which I have just one thing to say- ew gross! Its nice to think of most elders as asexual beings and this is the kind of denial I am happy to live in.

One stanza also had the following lyrics,
Mile do badan to ye jawaani khil gayi
Zameen aasmaan ki har khushi tab mil gayi

Eh, really? I'm not even going to translate it into English!

And I do pity the Rukamani's of India post Roja. Atleast the ones who understood.

And please don't forget that when this movie released, early 90's, I was a little kid. Innocent, musically unsound, tuneless but caught on to random songs with ease. And I can't even say this song is double meaning. It has only one meaning and it has been made quite plain.
-Nandu

Bittersweet Symphony

2010-12-31T21:07:00.003+05:30

So another year has come to a closure. And this year flew to say the least. There were changes, big and small, but we managed well. Everytime.

Piya, or the hesistant blogger as she will be now known as, recovered from a bad case of ‘wrong time, wrong guy’ and well, the winters see a new Piya with confidence and the heart in the right place. She bid one of the most memorable part of her life goodbye but only emerged stronger.

Nandu has had a little adventure across the seven seas, is a degree richer but perhaps none the wiser (kidding! But wisdom is definitely overrated)! Stranded in mid-twenties, this year will perhaps take a swing -life’s a clean slate, ready to be filled in. She now is a kickass photographer (to us, she always was) and has started her career, with a ‘little help from her friends’.

Mrinu braved a zor ka jhatka with élan. She, the believer in many things and the one with an open heart embraced a lot of things that were contrary to her philosophies. And till the last moment, she did the juggling act till she finally waded through, with surprising ease. It was probably a big thing but seems natural, when one sees it from a third person view.

Anjali, the little ant of the group had joined a new place in the beginning of this year only to realize she had left the devil for the fire. The new job made her get up at 5am every morning for making reports and while she became worldly wise, the stress showed on her pretty little face. Add to that some very unique relationships and people in her life, and you would agree with us if we said she sustained a zoo cum circus the entire year.

As age catches up with us (pun intended) we become busier. Remember how we wanted to grow up to be able to do things our way? Turns out that when you are a grown up, things still don’t happen your way. There is a fair amount of cajoling, coaxing and mind wrenching efforts to be put before a job is well done. Sigh. If only we could, we would have remained like those little girls from the Vodafone ad, saving seats for our friends, sharing chocolates and well, with no boys in the picture for a long time to come.

The year was nice to us, yes. And we were in turn, very nice to it. We worked hard, partied hard, made amends, made new friendships, braved crap at work and in life, and till last night, braved the very frosty winters to do what we love the most; meet up and share a drink and toast to what is the most precious to us, our friendship.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year that is full of warm, fuzzy memories.

PS-Resolution would be to ummm...(shamelessly confessing)to write more :P

Puke free since ummm....(contd)

2010-11-13T00:58:00.005+05:30

On a September night, when beloved Nandu was planning the beginning of a new chapter, all the girls (including two other buddies (we'll call them Kin and Neenz) met up. We went to Hard Rock Café, to apparently celebrate in style. And we cut a cake, made toasts, clicked pictures and got super, duper drunk. Got hit on, all of us- by a cheesy bartender there- we even have pics with the smarmy fellow. But that's deviating from the point.

We were staying at Nandu’s place, so we didn’t care much about being reprimanded by our parents. We looked for our cars, and at this point, we must tell you Nandu and Mrinu were totally flying off their handles. Mrinu was walking with a different set of people, thinking they were her friends and also trying to open random cars, thinking those were Nandu’s big gaddi.

After several drinks and having a few plates of very cheesy nachos, somehow two very and four semi drunk girls got into one car.
Once inside the car, we were 7 including the hapless driver. Nandu sat on the car floor, mainly because a) there was no space and b) she was sliding off surfaces like everything was a slide. They both were mighty high and none of the others girls could manage two of those. The fresh breeze felt good on our faces but Nandu kept saying ‘I feel queasy, no?’

Mrinu was singing something in her mother tongue and the car felt like a bus. Nandu was trying to get her attention by scraping her knee but Mrinu enjoyed the tickles and continued singing. When the rocky motion of the car (thanks to bad, dumb driver) + enough alcohol and less food - the Nachos decided to make an unsavoury reappearance. On Mrinu's arm.

Mrinu just felt warm and told the world how warm her arm felt. Nandu realized her awesome little skirt was spoilt. She started whining in a funny manner saying ‘My skirt. I puked. Eh eh.’And Mrinu was marveling at how she must share a special bond with Nandu indeed to not be grossed out by by being puked upon. (They share a special bond since)

It was a long night thereafter, with one little bottle of mineral water and an arm and a little skirt that needed washing.

On a cold December nite, Mrinu set off in an empty bus to Connaught Place. She was to meet Anjali and her childhood friend, Lawyer boy. The duo were already hanging out there and Mrinu was to join them. Being too cold and lazy, she had put it off till almost 8pm, but then she trudged in the bus. Once there, it was too overwhelming (Reasons cant be disclosed. Lets say Anjali was quitting the place where they both worked in and umm, romance was in the air.)

So the drinks began. It was a Saturday, so Mrinu had to eat vegetarian fare and she picked really cheesy stuff. And began her stint with Vodka. In the beginning all three of them spoke, with rounds of vodka and cheesy nachos or buns or some veg crap. There was karaoke and awesome singers rolled one favorite song after the other. Mrinu kept coming in and out of focus, she remembered sharing a few laughs, then a lot of colours. In her head, that is.

When she next opened her eyes, Anjali and LB were tabbing the bill. She wanted to get up, to speak, to be able to say she needed the loo, but there was inability written all over her. Anjali, being the awesome friend that she is, understood the need and lifted her till the washroom. in the loo, Mrinu totally chatted up a stranger (asking if the girl had come with her fiance, and to the utter disbelief of Anjali, she hugged that woman when she said she was gonna get married soon)

Thoroughly embarrassed, the three made an exit and started looking for autowalas, mainly for Mrinu. LB, who was from Kolkata and should have been given first prefernce, was too tied up looking for autos for the super high Mrinu. Meanwhile, Mrinu rejected most autowalas shrieking 'Yeh banda rapist lagta hai' to almost every one of them.

When one finally agreed, LB volunteered to drop his hapless school-friend-now-drunk-woman home. Little Anjali prayed and went towards the Metro.
In the auto, Mrinu wanted promises from LB, of the forever kinds and he kept nodding his head to everthing. Him being tall made her look up at him and that did things to her already sick tummy. And then like a projectile, she threw up. from the right side of the auto, she puked, came up, told her buddy 'Basically I never puke' crouched and puked again, came back up and said 'Puking is not my style' and puked some more.

LB kept patting her hand, telling her yes, he agreed that she never puked. In fact he said that even now, she wasn't puking (she later understood that was sarcasm)
After the auto screeched a halt below her house, he asked her to do some last minute damage control, like clean her face on her sweater, set the hair straight and finally, to stand on her own.

Mrinu reached her house, barged into the loo, sat on the floor and sang 'Zindagi ne zindagi bhar gham diye..' After her dad knocked on the door quite a few times, she came out almost an hour or so later, in jeans wet from sitting on the floor. Her dad smelled the puke on her and gave a disapproving look. If the daughter's vodka nites weren't enough, she was now coming back with remnants of it. Tch tch.

Drunk Mrinu had another cross on her list. She had now puked.

Puke free since ummm.....

2010-10-29T15:23:00.010+05:30

Ted Mosby has been puke free since 93. We were in class 3 then. We were neither drinking nor puking then.
Cut to 2010, life has changed. We are 25 now (sigh) and have got drunk. Innumerable times. But puking had never been an issue.

We have seen a friend put his face inside the pot after drinking all night. We have also seen a friend puke at 4am in the morning after having ten bottles of beer the entire night. She is 4feet high. It was just amazing that she lasted that long.

Let’s face it. Its shit embarrassing to vomit. You stink, you look oh-so-not pretty and your friends are exasperated (yes they are, do not believe what they say!)

Piya and Anjali have always been the sober drinkers compared to Nandu and Mrinu. While Nandu and Mrinu would go all out (literally) after two drinks, it would always take a good amount of alcohol to get Piya and Anjali drunk (in the literal sense). So puking was also not really in their scheme of things. While Anjali had puked couple of times in the loo, Piya’s record remained spotless. Almost.

So when Piya decided to get drunk on her 24th Birthday, no one really had predicted what was in store later that night. The evening started off with a large pitcher of LIIT. The pitcher with numerous straws was happily passed around and everyone was slowly getting into the mood. Numerous other drinks followed. Anjali and Mrinu made several rounds to the bar and got their glasses re-filled. What is interesting is the fact that the birthday girl was not seen near the bar even once. Neither was she seen holding a drink which she could rightfully claim as her own. All throughout the party, she took sips of everyone else’s drinks but never really went and got her own drink.

Then the obligatory Birthday shots were organised and everyone had two shots each of kamakazi, which was rounded up with few other drinks. By this time everyone was good high, not shit drunk but entertaining high. The night was young (and cold) and people were swaying to the music. This is an observation, that one tends to get higher when one dances after consuming alcohol. That person may not have consumed too much alcohol but after grooving at the dance floor will be quite drunk. No idea how it works, but it does.

And that’s exactly what happened to our dear Piya. Sips from numerous drinks+LIIT+shots+fresh air+dance= a very drunk Piya. Funny part is that drunk Piya also adopted a fake birtish accent, which she noticed but couldn’t get rid of. So while on the way back to her place, she kept speaking randomly in that accent and punctuated every third sentence with “I have this funny accent” or “I am speaking in this funny accent”. Yes Piya, we had all noticed it.

We finally reached her place at an hour when everyone was fast asleep. Drunk girls make a lot of noise. They are loud and high pitched. And that’s not appreciated by parents. True story. And finally it happened. Right in front of us, at the porch of Piya’s place. She threw up amidst the beautiful plants that her parents had lovingly put. Lots of flowers, and there, Piya's puke, literally watered the plants. What is more, she scarred the wall next to the front gate, permanently. And very calmly said, 'Ab chup chap andar chalte hai, ok?' Yeah sure.

Anjali has always claimed that she pukes at her own will. Weird, we know…but that’s how it is. Also, she has always been proud of the fact that she has puked in a sober way, in the loo and not in the pot. And such incidents were rare. She would sometimes claim like Ted “puke free since ….”. But things were to change.

On a school friend’s birthday party, where she knew only the host properly and the rest fleetingly, Anjali decided to make alcohol her friend for the night. After two drinks, things obviously started looking up. She made friends, danced a bit, laughed a lot, drank some more, and predictably got high.

While on her way back, she rolled down the window and decided to take in some fresh air. Bad decision. Because, after drinks (she had lost count) and dance, fresh air just added to the misery. Plus, the empty roads and car at the speed of 80 made matters worse. Being the weirdo, she tried to control and wait till she reached home and the safe surroundings of her loo, but couldn’t. And out it came!

Like a dog, she perched her head out of the car and puked. Because even then, at the back of her head, she knew she could not afford to dirty the car. So there it was, on the car door, the remnants of the rocking night. Next morning, she woke up surprisingly early and strategized as to how to clean the car. Parents were at home and it would be hard to explain why she was going downstairs with a bucket of water and cloth. So she opted for a small bottle of water and piece of paper and went downstairs to clean the car. Borrowed a piece of cloth from a car cleaner and cleaned the car. Early on a Sunday morning. With a bad hangover.

But more importantly, she had her very own puke story. Ugly, disturbing, record breaking and well, Ted Mosby was growing lonelier by the minute.

To be continued...

foggy windows

2010-10-23T22:43:00.004+05:30

I could probably tell you in descending order how I like my seasons but I’d have trouble picking a favourite.

I love the sultryness of summer and the endlessly long days with their scope of daylight, it breathes of potential. Sure, they’ve been killer this year but life goes on doesn’t it?

I love the brief spring which brings colour to the erstwhile winter wonderland. Where once there was barren, there is abundance and fragrances.

I love monsoons just for the sheer expectation of them. They’re unpredictable and a nuisance but I love the rain showers, thunderstorms and dancing in the rain. Life stops, but it also begins.

Autumn. I like how it marks the end of a cycle and the beginning of another- the yellowing leaves, the barren trees, the fact that it paves the way for winter.

Well, what can I say, I’m biased I’ve realized. Winter, it turns out might just be my favourite. Possibly because of its brief visit and the respite it provides from the scorching (previously described romantically as sultry) summers.
My bias for winters could have to do with the fact that Diwali marked the beginning of winters so it always felt… festive and hopeful. And even though we traditionally don’t celebrate Christmas but it became associated with presents and Santa Claus it and snow (no we don’t get it in Delhi but it’s the idea, si?) and of course New Year. It’s the twilight of the year.

A time of recollections and nostalgia,
of warm afternoon magic,
chai, coffee and soup,
of languid conversations and introspective monologues.
Of orange peels and woolly warmth,
cozying in duvets, especially the extra precious minutes in the morning.
It’s a wisp of cold wind on the tip of your nose
And mufflers, shawls, mittens and socks
hibernating birds (and humans)
peanuts and dry fruits of all kinds
knitting needles and balls of wool
long long baths and (justified) alcohol intake
Long walks in the evenings
frosty mornings and smileys on foggy car windows
dewey leaves and wet grass
Hugs, cuddles and lazy snuggles.

I don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that I’m a winter baby. Or does it?

Depression.

2010-10-12T02:31:00.003+05:30

The whole deal about depression is that you have got to come out of it. There is no way you can stay depressed for too long. Reasons are:

One day of depression feels like a week of a vacation, same magnitude or more, but inversely proportional.
A very big drop in efficiency. You would hate to hire yourself if you saw what work you were doing.
Friends don’t deserve that attitude from you. That blah, I am fine, will tell you later, I will-work-my-way-out-of-this crap. No, hang out with them and cheer up anyway.
The madness in not knowing what lies ahead is an absolute killer. Mindeff happens, true story.

So one must get over it and do a lot of things to do so. To me, it’s a combination of a lot of things, because I am never happy with just one solution. A lot of back up plans have to be in place, so that depression doesn’t rear its ugly head. And if it already has, one has to get up and attack. I must always be prepared.

So on a day you choose to grab depression by its balls (yes, only men can be that much trouble, so depression is a man) and ask it to get out of your life, you have to begin really early in the day.

I try to be nice from the dawn itself. I wake up real early, also cos I cant get any sleep. I chant, do deep breathing and after an hour, I believe that things can be brought back to normalcy.

Be nice to everyone. Hear your mom out when she calls the maid a bitch for bunking yet again, hear out your dad when he tells you he thinks you are overspending on the weekends, hear out the hot aunty from the first floor when she says your hair would look much better with weekly mehendi. Everybody needs to speak and you are troubled enough with your own mind telling you a hundred things. So its better to hear other people talk, keeps you away from the hard work of doing so.

Eat everything you are given, and make sure you are eating healthy. Depression is a time when you feel everything is going wrong. So, atleast the food you eat should look healthy, like you will survive.

Go to the beauty parlour, get waxed, pampered. Yes, you might feel as if who are you doing it all for, like life is over, but you never know, you might just live through this. Its a chance you have to take. And just in case those amazing friends turn up to make you feel better, you dont want to look ugh.ly, nay?

The temple is a great way to feel better about yourself. As soon as you see those smirking idols, you feel a little revived, as if they will smirk but listen to you, eventually. You go and do the quintessential 'mattha tekna' and trust you me, there is HOPE. Just like that. After that, you feel ready to take on a little more than what was being dished out. (yeah, I know. Its like we move from one problem to the other, but then not talking about it wont make them vanish, is it?)

You need inspiration. I go for music, a lot of it. I listen to a lot of rock (the world go to hell types)to pop music (they are the safest) and eventually end up listening to that secret Jagjit Singh collection, weeping to my sleep. After all, no one understands better than Jagjit does.

The absolute must is the visit to the nearest Barista. Just the thought of a huge cup of coffee or hot chocolate with some soul curry with a friend or two, sigh. The fact that you can share the whole thing that bothers you over a cup in a couple of hours, that makes the issue at hand look smaller for a brief moment there, no? You must rant, ramble and drink. And binge on the choco chip muffins ofcourse. The only place calories help is in your miseries.

At the end of the day, you feel tired because you have done so much. You feel physically tired and mentally you are a little numb because while you havent allowed yourself with much space to think, the issue still nudges at the far corners of your heart and mind. Ofcourse, you still dont have the solution. But you know you have friends, you know you have technology and spirituality, you know people look over you, waiting for you to get better. And that thing we call H.O.P.E.

And a day has atleast passed, hasnt it?

pic courtesy: a beautiful revolution

Cotton or Straw or China or... Comments!

2010-07-22T18:20:00.006+05:30

We met at this place called - lets call it pretty land..shall we? For it was populated with beauty and thats where the quadro(since its 4 and trio is for three so quadro should be for four) met . Nandini, Anjali, Piya and finally Mrinu. And we bonded and found each other here. The blog came to being here too. It was a special place. Girl bonding was discovered by Mrinu, a pillar like support in friendship was discovered by Piya, while Nandini and Anjali, who were already thick by then, happily created a small girly group with love and a lot of care. So much so, that distance eventually stopped mattering.

Soon, Nandini left PrettyLand to pursue a career in what she loved, even though it took her saat samundar paar. She is currently there, being awesome in her chosen field, also traveling the world, seeing new places and staying in touch always. Spreading happiness. She misses being close to her girls and not meeting them randomly and on special ocassions but such are the trials one has to endure in life- still its not so bad. Whoever created cell phones, phones, skype and internet is getting blessed.

Piya was an intern, (as you all know by now if you have followed us closely) and had left the organisation before any of us. She went crazy looking for that perfect job, faced relationship highs and lows at the same time and ended up with one of the country's leading mobile brands in the end. Her life there, however, deserves a post all by itself. (very exciting, trust us, you) She is currently struggling with some bitchy colleagues, much drama and much more but like mentioned before- that deserves a post in itself. Even though blah can be a state of mind for her frequently, Piya moments surface occasionally when she will sing songs that dont mean anything, making random noises which can be both endearing and annoying and take you down a couple of notches if you are feeling a bit too smug. But that's Piya. She's held a job for more than a year and the others couldn't have been happier for her, she's on her way!

Anjali, the sanest one amongst us (you have no idea HOW sane. Pun intended), was wanting to leave this job more than she was tired of being called fussy and single. She had started looking for one for the last whole year itself and was keeping happy and calm and not losing her mind over this rut called life by being with us, her pretty friends :) (at heart too!) The last year kept getting interesting and unpredictable for her, and before we knew it, she had chosen a job with such a different profile that you would have thought she was upto something. A risk analyst no less! And well, personally, she had aced something pretty important. (this is the part where we go wink wink) Yes yes, the lady is climbing ladders, stairs and also frequently taking the lift. She's going places! Hopefully great ones!

Mrinu was holding the fort at the not so PrettyLand. With all of the ladies gone, she had the urge to move too. She's had it for a while but good company kept her in a profile that she should have quit a while ago since it wasn't that appreciative of her creative talents. She could could have joined an asylum in sadness once Anjali left. If she had looked for a job with that much dedication, then she would have been the second last one to leave, but no. She realised her desperation had hit a new low once Anjali left. Saying yes to shifts, to far off places, she was doing it all. Happy to say, she resigned ten days back and is now a high flying online journalist in a much better company. It may not be PrettyLand but hey- it pays the bills and its new so it will be a while before she gets bugged of it and then she will go to a hill station and be happy for a couple of weeks! Thats Mrinu too!

With her, the journey of PrettyLand comes to an end. Not the memories, not the friends we made there, esp, not them. They don't come to an end, heck no. Aren't we celebrating our 2nd year blog anniversary?We carry on, a little slow with this blog because the twenty somethings just keep getting busier with each birthday. But the blog is special. Its a little space which we created and personalised and trusted enough with each other. Sounded off sarcasm, shared absolutely hilarious incidents (drunk or otherwise) bashed various genders (we pointed out female behaviour too!) and got philosophical at our retrospective hours. And made friends! You!

We hope its been as much fun reading the blog as we have had writing it. And we also hope that the ones who're here to stay, will stay despite the frequent disappearances and the ones who stumble will take pause and read something funny and smile. Because whatever we do write- (even male bashing posts)- are all in good humour.

Which is why year 2 is even more special, because the dreams are bigger now, life has more at stake, there's more to share, and most importantly, because we know, while some wander, some are here to stay.
We are. And you are.

P.S: With reference to the title- there are traditional gift suggestions for the 2nd year anniversary but we think comments are the best, don't you?

Love actually is all around you..

2010-07-19T13:21:00.005+05:30

Everything…almost everything in this world ends and begins with love. Think about it. All problems, hatred, solutions and of course, happiness itself has one common theme: Love. It is a part of all lives in more than one way. If you think or simply observe the people around you, all of them, well almost all of them, can fit into one of these broader categories of love. Let me elucidate.

The much in love Aah…the perfect love. People belonging to this category have a constant smile on their face. Anytime of the day, you can find these people engaged in a conversation with the love of their life-over the phone or in person. If not talking, they are in deep thoughts about their loved one.

In denial love We all have been through this phase, haven’t we? These people live in constant denial about anything close to the word LOVE. They will have some symptoms of the previous category-like having a stupid smile every now and then without any reason- but when confronted, they will deny anything remotely related to the word love. Infact, ‘species’ of this category are extremely cynical about things related to love.

Getting rid of love They were once a upon a time ‘much in love’. Then got tired of the same love(if you know what I mean) But can’t get out of love because of old time’s sake. But desperately want to get rid of it and be ‘love-less’ for some time.

Wanting to be in love They love love. They love to be in love, think, breathe love. Infact, the whole concept can be ‘magical’ to them. They can endorse love to one and all.

Experimenting in love They have been in love, have fallen out of love and are willing to give love a shot but not whole heartedly. So what do they do? They experiment. With all ‘kinds of love’. You know, not be too attached but yet have a good time with each one of them. But end up in love all the same.

Denying love Not to be confused with “in denial love”. They don’t want to give love a chance. It comes often, knocks at their door, but the door remains firmly shut. Always. Love can be denied for several reasons. A ‘victim’ may have got hurt in love, or is just plain scared.

Find old love in a new bottle They are usually in love with same person all over again. Break ke baad.Very typical. Nothing much to explain.

Having numerous loves Life is a party for them. They love life and love giving love a chance as many times as it comes their way. They have fun every single time. No strings attached.

Heartbroken in Love The worst hit, if you ask me. Alcohol, tears, sleepless nights, loss of appetite, drunken phone calls. Phew. Need I say more?

This, of course, is my observation. I feel, we all somehow, in some way, fit into one or more than one of these categories. Now the question is- which category do you fall in? ;-)

Could you repeat that, please?

2010-05-03T14:05:00.007+05:30

There are some things that mean very differently at different points in life, especially when you are in ‘love’. Here are some side effects that slowly come out of the sidelines and take over completely:

Talking till late on the phone
So your boyfriend cant let you off the phone, he wants to talk endlessly about how similar you are, about how you must go for that movie with him and other censorable stuff. You spend endless hours on the phone and get up sleep deprived for work the next day. At times, you sleep off on the phone and are then told how he counted your breaths (YES, happened to me)

So cut to a steady relationship. Your boyfriend calls you up at all the decent times a guy should call, you discuss each other's day and mostly hang up on a content note. If you stay up late talking to friends, you are hence forward looked down upon. He finds you on call waiting and says, Dont you have work the next day? Yeah, right.

Being out every weekend
So you are dating and you have to meet every weekend, go for movies, lunches, dinners, drinking, the works. Even matches played in your city are a possible date.

In a few years’ time. You may not meet every weekend or worse, he may become a frequent visitor to your house (now that your parents know and approve). You end up watching a movie at home or eating food experimentally cooked by you.
Outdoor plans suddenly become lame. And your guy even reproaches you for making too many plans with your friends. After all, why would you wanna be out in the sun? Just get the pirated cd home for pete's sake!

PS: It’s the pits when you are in a long distance after being in a short distance relationship with the same guy (I mean you were in the same city when you started to date, and then one of you moved out, still carrying on with your relationship). You will hate the fact that the other is having awesome weekend plans for no apparent reason.

Talking about guy friends
When you were dating initially, it was cool to talk about how many great friends you had in life. If you had platonic friendships with your guy friends and could discuss anything and everything under the sun with them, you were thought as chilled out by your bf. He took u as a happy go lucky person with no hang ups.

After dating almost forever, things change. Why would you wanna tell anyone you are sick of your job? So you had a fight at home, why tell your friends? You told your guy friend you couldnt go for the play because you aren’t well? aaaaaaaaaaaargh! You know how boys think! How can you be so open about your life!?

Sigh.

Eating Maggi
You and him, enjoying a lovely evening together at his place. You make some yummy maggi and you are content. Of course, that is what he wants too.

Cut to some years later. So tell me, are you planning to make maggi all your life or do you want to learn other things too? Roti would be a good start. eh. It’s difficult to have one cosy little date without discussing how we will be making life perfect for each other with all the delightful cooking in our future together. I thought perfection was what we had in our Maggi evenings.

Yes, same folks, different strokes.

Photo courtesy: Cathy Thorne

What if?

2010-04-10T15:11:00.002+05:30

Giving Up

What if we stop having a ball?
What if the paint chips from the wall?
What if there's always cups in the sink?
What if I'm not what you think I am?

What if I fall further than you?
What if you dream of somebody new?
What if I never let you win, chase you with a rolling pin?
Well what if I do?

I am giving up on making passes and
I am giving up on half empty glasses and
I am giving up on greener grasses
I am giving up

What if our baby comes home after nine?
What it your eyes close before mine?
What if you lose yourself sometimes?
Then I'll be the one to find you
Safe in my heart

I am giving up on making passes and
I am giving up on half empty glasses and
I am giving up on greener grasses
I am giving up

I am giving up
I am giving up
I am giving up on greener grasses

I am giving up for you
I am giving up for you
I am giving up

As always it started with a song. I was discussing with a friend last night how life should have a soundtrack, our lives as seen through a music, when people don’t break into a song but a song chooses moments in your life to represent in music what you can or can not in words.

♫ I am giving up on making passes and
I am giving up on half empty glasses and
I am giving up on greener grasses
I am giving up ♫

These are the key lyrics. I’m no caterpillar sitting on the mushroom of relationships (Alice in Wonderland twisted reference, and no I haven’t seen the movie yet, I just happen to like the book a lot.) and I am no all knowing grinning Cheshire cat (:P There, again!) but I’ve seen things, I’ve heard much and I’ve been a sometimes silent, sometimes vocal and many times a very reluctant witness to relationships, the course they take and the many hurdles that almost fling themselves in love’s gentle path.

What perplexes me is do you decide whom you fall in love with? Or is it decided for you? Because clearly if so many people need to ‘work’ on all relationships, there must be some considerable amount of maintenance required, nein? I’m being rhetorical here; I know all relationships need work, from a casual friendship to the seemingly most easygoing relationship. It’s work. Period.

But here’s my naïve and somewhat inane question, how do you decide that this is it? That this is the one person with whom you would try and make it work? That beyond this one person your eyes must not stray and that they consolidate the sum of all your desires. And that you give up after that, you give up looking for the one. Because to all intents and purposes you’ve made your choice and its an almost irrevocable one, to many of us. (Barring the promiscuous ones but that’s a discussion for another day. Or maybe no discussion. They don’t believe in monogamy and that’s simple enough to understand).

I’ve had discussions with many happy couples and I can’t say that they had doubts. In fact most of them have had crippling doubts about each other to the point of wanting to call it off but after getting people (I have been ‘people’ sometimes, many times in fact) to convince them that its worth ploughing on, its worth all the trouble- the derailed track of troubled love for the while runs on schedule again. Till when? The next hurdle? The next doubt? The next temptation?

What happens when an engaged man realizes that there is a better deal out there? That the person who he thought was the one, wasn’t. What happens when the married woman feels like straying, but is convinced it’s for the path of true love, truer than what she’s experienced so far? And what’s to say that something higher than that won’t come along? Or are we not supposed to think like that? That all such thoughts should be clamped down in to the recessed corners of our mind to be only taken out furtively like banned books and shoved back again?

Because someone explained to me that that is what dating’s about; testing waters with different people. But is it? So your marriage is ultimately your final date? Is that why so many people don’t believe in marriage? Its not like if you’re ‘merely’ living in with someone without having exchanged sacred vows that you expect any less?

What if you feel shortchanged? What if that one chance meeting with someone who makes you feel more at home than anyone else ever has done deserves a chance? Are you being greedy or justly reasonable? Maybe you’re trying to be fair to yourself and the person you’re dating. Maybe you’ve both been each others 8’s while 9’s or 10’s existed out there? (Yes yes, I know! :P)

I know many people are simpler than this, and I hope and pray that I will be one of them because its unlikely that a lazy person like me would make double the effort so I hope strike one does it. But what about everyone else? The thinkers, the ones who contemplate ‘what if’s’ and maybe act on them?

I know, I’m sure most of you have varied opinions on this and I’m looking forward to reading all perspectives. But just before you hit comment, this isn’t my state of mind. This is not a question I’m thinking of, its something I’ve observed and I’m just commenting on it, like you will.

It all boils down to faith and hope then? They’re not bad things to fall back on, them two.

Do's and Don'ts

2010-04-01T16:24:00.009+05:30

Funny thing happened in the morning today. You see my new job (which is not so new anymore) entails me to wake up early in the morning and start working from home. So every day I wake up really early in the morning (let me not disclose the time here…some people might die of shock) open my laptop and start working.

Since, I wake up really early in the morning, it so happens that most of the days, I am sleep deprived. Anyway, so today while staring at the laptop and trying to make some sense about the stuff I was writing about, I felt this strong urge to take a power nap. Point to be noted here, I was up and working for almost one and half hours by this time and my family was just waking up. Yes.

I decided to take a short power nap (power naps are supposed to be short, aint it?) and resume work after sometime. So I lay on my comfy bed and dozed off thinking that the sleep would do me good and I would start working again in sometime. Suddenly my dad entered the room declaring “Do’s and don’ts for Kolkata!!”.

Bit of a background here. Long weekend ahead, so am going to Kolkata, alone. To catch up with some friends, faff, the usual. Anyway, since morning this was the first time that I was talking to my dad. I mean I didn’t even know that he was up and about!

So yeah, when he entered the room declaring that, the drousy-in-sleep me got a little startled. He of course ignored the fact that I was trying to sleep and continued“First, do not do late nights. Dont give your uncle and aunt (I am going to be staying with my relatives) unnecessary tension”.

“How late is ‘late night’?” I asked.

“Don’t come home at 12. Its not done. You are staying with your relatives. Remember that”.

“Second”, he continued “Do not have vodka there!”

Ok now I was fully up! Are you kidding me? I am going to be meeting friends there, they get to booze and I don’t!? Instead, I made a funny face and said “Do I ever come home drunk, dad? Why would you say that?” and tried to look hurt. It didn’t work.

“That is not important here, what is important is that you listen to me. Do not have vodka there. I don’t want the entire Kolkata discussing my daughters love for Vodka!” Sigh, dads can be dramatic.

“Third, do not disappear for the day. Do not go on a silent mode. Basically keep us informed about your whereabouts.” And with that he left the room and slammed the door shut.

It took me a while to take in all the instructions. Then I realized that the list consisted of only donts. So what about the Do’s? Surely he could suggest me some places to visit, to eat etc. So I went out and asked him. “You just told me about the Don’ts. What about the Do’s?”

All he had to say to that was “Do’s are hidden in the Don’ts. Figure them out.” and went back to reading his paper.

Dads. Funny people. :-

Five ways a Woman can ‘possibly’ stay happy with a Man!

2010-03-15T16:16:00.003+05:30

The post you’re about to read is NOT a typical example of ‘male bashing’ (even though it might seem like it initially). It’s an amalgamation of thoughts and a few lessons. Lessons, that we woman more so often conveniently forget.

From one Woman to her fellow Woman-beings :D. Here we go….

Five ways a Woman can ‘possibly’ stay happy with a Man!

1. Staying with a man is more than enough, you’re asking too much by wanting to be happy :P

2. Do not Expect. Swear by this, put it as a reminder on your phone…do whatever it takes but avoid expecting from your Man/any Man. It’ll pinch less and you’ll eventually be happy!

3. When you feel you’re unable to get through him, try and think like a man and you’d probably realize there was nothing to understand about in the first place :P and that being stupid about regular things is his favorite time-pass ;).

4. Stop reading ‘men are from mars and women are from venus’. No matter where who’s from, we’re together living on one planet and you can’t be reading books to understand your guy. And why would you even wanna try to understand him? Darling, you can have jars of ‘Womens Horlick’ and still not have the strength required to understand a Man. So don’t beat yourself over it. Indulge in what God made us best at (not mentioning the list, cuz we all have our gifts ;);) lol.

5. If he sounds/behaves too unreasonable (which is most of the time) start saying this in a loop ‘arre tum itni idiotic baatein kaise kar lete ho har baar…kya ye tumhara talent hai? After this you should run, run far and run fast...but only to find Another Guy :D

Phew, I’m done, and this was such a task! Thank god I decided to write just 5 points cuz if I had to write point number 6, believe me, this post would have taken me a few more days to complete or may have never got completed!

On a serious note, no matter how many points I write, no matter how many books you read, no matter the number of advices you seek…in the end only YOU can make YOU happy!

P.S: I doubt any guy would take offence to this post, it’s sort of in their favor ;). And girls don’t forget that the word ‘possible’ has been marked in bold and underlined ;);)

P.P.S: Don't give too much thought or importance to this word 'happy' cuz it's way too heavy to be shouldered all the time.

Till my next,

Tadaa!

How to understand the people from Mars?!

2010-02-14T16:17:00.004+05:30

This Valentine’s Day, we girls have decided to do what we do best! Or atleast what we find the most entertaining; discuss men! We have written about how men talk and what they actually mean. It is purely out of real life incidences so forgive us if that isn’t generic for you! And as a sort of a summary, we have come to realise that men are almost always contradicting themselves! Dont believe us? Read on..

1) When a guy asks about another guy "how does he look like?" its always a trick question and there is no right answer for it. Whatever you say, will be a negative answer only!

2) When you call a guy a geek, they may take offence to it in front of you, but secretly they love being called a geek, they really have no issues with it. They feel smart infact!

3) When your guy asks you, ‘So this guy you went out with for a movie, he is dating someone?’

What it means if you say Yes- Sala, apne life mein kuch sahi nahi chal raha hai kya jo meri bandi ko line maar raha hai?

What it means if you say No- Sala, apne life mein kuch sahi nahi chal raha hai kya jo meri bandi ko line maar raha hai?

4) When your best friend who is a guy, says, ‘So he asked you out?’ and you answer in the affirmative, he says 'wow am so happy for you!'

What he means-'Shit, how could she start dating! But she was always available for us to hang out, why the hell did she have to start dating too! I hope the guy isn’t really good and this is short lived!'

5) After a fight, you tell your guy you want to hang up and not talk, and he does exactly that. You fume that he didn’t linger on and say sorry.

What he thinks after hanging up-'Phew that was close! Hopefully subah tak thandi ho jayegi! I wish her boss keeps her busy with work and then I can always talk sweetly into things!'

6) When a guy is totally hitting on you and you catch him off guard and say you already know, he feels cornered and back tracks and says ‘Are you mad? What made you think like that?’

What he actually thinks in head- 'No, this girl is way too smart for me...cant handle her!'

7) When a guys says, ‘That's not what I meant...gosh I dont wanna explain now’

What it means is that it is exactly what he means, and since he finds himself in a soup now & fails to come up with a perfect POP (plaster of paris) lie, he uses that all time famous ‘I dont wanna explain’ (jeez guys! the same line all the time:|)

8) Like when they say they dont gossip, it just means that they smoke in one corner pretending to be cool but are having the most interesting bitching session about the new guy in Flat 5 who got the hot girl. (This one is screaming the truth man!)

We could have gone on and on but we resisted on two factors. A)We also know when to stop. B) We have a fair amount of male readers and though all the above is true, we wonder how much of this will go down well! Anyway, let us know if you have more to add to this list :P

Happy Valentine's Day people!

Mush in the air!

2010-01-13T21:26:00.005+05:30

I don’t like mush too much. I have always maintained that too much mush makes me nauseous. I am the sort who usually rolls her eyes at people being too romantic. I mean its just too filmy…such things only look good in the movies and not in real life. But something happened yesterday, something extremely cute that sort of made me feel all warm and fuzzy in this cold.

All of you must have read the post about code names. In that post I had talked about this guy who we fondly called Bus Bhaiya. Back then I had mentioned about his dedication for his ladylove and how his gtalk status messages were always dedicated to her. Guess what, they still are. He usually writes vague poetry about his girl or picks up some random quote from some place and makes it his status message. Somedays the quotes are cute, yes, I have to admit but yesterday, his status message made me smile and silently say “awww”. It simply said, “ I love us :) “ That’s all. Had it been someone else, I would have surely asked but knowing him it had to be for his girl and that just made the sentence extra special for me. It was simple and yet it said a lot! Gotta admit, the girlfriend is lucky to have someone so romantic in her life.

Awww moment number #2- Now I have to first give some background. You see, my friend met this guy in her French class. She eventually left the course mid way but she continued being friends with him. The guy obviously likes her…hasn’t been able to ask her out yet, he is shy(I feel for you guys…I really do) but my friend maintains that they are just ‘good friends’. Maybe they are, but I like to think otherwise. They do spend a lot of time together; they are out together every weekend.
The other evening he came and picked her up from work and dropped her home. That way they would get to spend some time together. I’m not too sure as to what transpired in the car but when I asked her in the morning next day about her ride back home she just made a face and said how she doesn’t like people throwing unnecessary attitude. Point noted. Ride back home wasn’t good. I went back to work.

So anyway, after a long day at work when we finally left office, it was dark and cold (Delhi winters at its best these days!) We both were heading towards the parking lot when I looked back and saw this guy approaching us from behind. My friend was busy on the phone calling her driver and did not see him at all. I obviously got very excited the moment I recognized him and tried telling my friend but she was too pre occupied. We just exchanged polite smiles while my friend told her driver to get the car to which the guy just said “madam peeche lagi hai car” and came and stood in front of her. And only then did my friend notice him. He gave the sweetest smile to her and my stupid friend just looked baffled. He had been waiting outside our office in that cold for two and a half hours just to surprise her and apologize and make up for his behavior the previous night. Later when I spoke to her at night, she told me that he also got her a huge bouquet!

I know what he did has been done millions of times before by other people, but nevertheless it was extremely sweet. Yes there is no other word to describe it. Sweet because even though they are not dating and they are ‘just friends’ he made so much of an effort to apologize. Sweet because he drove all the way from his office in NOIDA to our office in Gurgaon just to say a ‘sorry’ and was brave enough to wait patiently in that cold for two long hours. He could have just called her up, but I guess he wanted to see my friend’s reaction. I don’t know if he got the desired reaction from her but he surely put a huge smile on my face. I hope my friend does say a ‘yes’ to him eventually, whenever he has the courage to ask her out. But the way things are going; I’d say he is almost there :)

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-04T02:01:00.003+05:30

Review the past year and consider plans for the coming new year? I'd not be able to say, nothing ever goes exactly according to my plan but I think that the pieces of the jigsaw fall together haphazardly but in place somehow. That sounds rather silly in a sentence doesn't it? Anyway, thats what I'd like to believe.

Someone silly said, expect the worst but hope for the best and I guess I like silly :P Because that's how I'd like to be, optimistic but realistic and sometimes idealistic. Thats a lot of tics but since they're not the itchy ones, I'm okay with them!

Acha anyway, I don't know so much about resolutions but I'd like to be happier and I do believe that its a personal decision. I actually am quite content with my lot except for lack of physical proximity with some of the people I love most in the world- my family, my friends and of course my blog sisters :) But I'm trying to make it on my own, on a new adventure, exploring - so thats some compensation, although not too much but you cant have your cake, eat it and put some in the freezer for next year too.

What the past year has taught me is that given time and patience, things can be made possible and that there are people you can never give up on no matter how tough it gets and there are those who don't give up on you; that sometimes love is absolutely unconditional, the only condition being that you be at the receiving end; that you can do stupid things and get over them. I learnt (not through personal experience) that love happens and that it can also go wrong and its alright, you take something from the experience regardless.

I learnt that Piya has a huge amount of inner strength that she herself doesnt know she is capable of.
I learnt that Anjali can really wade through the thicks and still dislike whining.
I learnt that Mrinu can drink like a fish and then move like humpty dumpty and talk like she has verbal diarrhea :P Haha kidding Mrinu! But its true :P
Apart from that, I learnt that she is right in her belief in love and hope and happy endings.

In their own way, all of them have made me proud of the people they are and the potential I can see in them.

And I continue to learn new things from these three amazingly pretty people :) Well, lets just say amazing because even if they looked like Medusa (which I thank God for that they dont, they're all easy on the eyes ;P ) I couldn't care less. They are what they are and not what they look like and I love them.

Happy new year everyone. I hope the coming year is, if nothing else, adventurous. And I wish everyone had friends like I do to share it with; if not, go out and make some!
Life's short, make some memories.

Love,
Nandu

With Ginger Joy in this cold weather- I simply say...

2010-01-03T20:12:00.002+05:30

Don’t know when blogging became such a task for me. I just deleted 2 paragraphs because they seemed so preachy and sermon-like to me. I don’t want to write about how 2010 is going to be, I don’t want to write about what I feel 2010 should be like. But, what I do know is (thankfully) that this year I’m trying to keep life simple and chaos free.
There I’m blank…what can I write now? I have nothing to share or rather I feel nothing’s worth sharing. Life has been good- im sharing this after a long time. I’ve lately started to miss the feeling of being loved (please don’t say…your parents and friends love you. I know that! ). I know life from here on will be good. Life from here on will change; drastically. It’s not going to be the same anymore...I’m glad for that.

Mr G we’re standing with arms wide open...come fill our bank accounts, come broaden our smile, give us reasons to blush, make us fall in love :D and lastly don’t forget to hug ;).

Till the next time!
Love and Happiness
Piya!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T11:59:00.003+05:30

When Mrinu first told me that we should write about the past year and our plans for the coming year, I was blank. Literally. Also, telling the world about my New Year resolutions never appealed to me. But here I am doing just that. Why you may ask? Because one should always listen to a pretty girl; they are usually right about things and well its not good to annoy someone so pretty :P

2009 was well…a very normal year. Nothing extra ordinary happened. When I look back at the year, I see more of disappointments and they aren’t worth discussing. It wasn’t as dramatic a year like 2008 but there is nothing worth remembering either. But that’s all in the past and there is no point lamenting about it now.

So like a normal, positive person I am looking forward to the next year. I am a bit skeptical but I’ll still hope that things happen the way I would want them to. The last couple of weeks have been good and I am hoping that it remains that way.

My New Year resolution: To go with the flow. Yeah I am keeping it simple. And also not to have too many expectations from life (I don’t know if that will be possible) One can only enjoy life if we stop thinking so much and wanting so much out of it. It will have its ups and downs and to put it simply; we will just have to deal with it. There will be days when we’ll cry buckets but then there also will be days we’ll be so happy that nothing on earth can effect us.

So 2010 is to all the happy moments which make life worth living! Cheers!
Happy New Year Guys!
Anjali

Will be waking upto another brand new year tomorrow. Provided I get up on time after all the merry making. A little thank you note (or a-could-do-without note in some places) for the year that went by:

For all the strength that was needed in times like these.
For enduring my job. Another long year.
Nandu left for UK. While that hurt, what really made me cry in amazement was how much she cares. Writing, mailing, sending sweet nothings, from out there, she doesn’t let us miss her even a bit. (Yea ok, a bit. No, make that a lot.)
Anjali’s last day today at work. I WILL SO MISS HER. AAAAARGH!
Drinking with girls, oh the lights, the buzz, the fun..Yes girls you make it speshul!
To writing more (free lancing, here I come!)
To have been able to earn as much as is needed to buy a pack of Parle–G every time I saw a stray around me.
To good things and bad, as they all left a taste in my mouth, bitter or sweet.

That’s it from me, don’t know how much should I be expecting from the coming year, but hope, I will! Keeping the faith, as that’s what I do best!
Happy 2010!
Mrinu

PS: Piya and Nandu, wuv!

Pffbt!

2009-12-12T15:52:00.001+05:30

vnkjh nvdfj b jlnvlsv lskvjsv klsjvha asjsjcbv jkkdmzb!!

yea yea, we know we havent been writing at all! Winter laziness, we call it! and yes, we will be back very very soon :)

Muchos love!

Have you ever noticed that-

2009-11-18T14:24:00.005+05:30

When you get a call at 2 at night, and you answer the phone all groggy in sleep, why does the person on the other side have to ask “oh you were sleeping?"
When you tell your friend that you like someone, and ask him or her to keep it to themselves, how come the entire world (read: your circle of friends) gets to know about it the very next day?
When you are showing your new apartment to people and they look at the kitchen and go “oh so this is the kitchen!?” No its the verandah actually
Your friend finds a baby cute and goes all gaga over it but you cant help but wonder what’s so cute about her/him but cant say that, so you smile politely.
You are having a vague, ‘dead end’ sort of a conversation with someone over the phone and the person on the other end keeps saying “aur bata…” or “and ….what else”. I always feel like saying “You could hang up if you have nothing else to talk about, I really wouldn’t mind.”
One can never ever look good on a passport size photo. It’s like an unwritten rule, that God made and studio people follow.
We all know a Neha, a Rohit, a Rahul, a Pooja. And for the bongs, a Abhishek, a Moumita, a Sushmita…
There are days when you are absolutely free and would want to talk to people but no one would be free to talk to you. They would be at some party, or a meeting or out shopping. And it works exactly the opposite way when you are busy and can’t talk. The entire world will remember you on that particular day.
You hear your phone ringing in the other room and by the time you answer it, the call gets cut. You call back on that number immediately but then that person doesn’t answer it. How can a person disappear within seconds?
You meet distant relatives at family gatherings and social events and every time they exclaim “arrey, kitne bade ho gaye!”

PS: I have to admit, that I have said/done all the above mentioned things many a times! But then its okay, I am human after all :P

Mundane Musings!

2009-10-20T22:09:00.005+05:30

In utter blah-ness that has persisted way too long now...I tried writing a diary entry, tried writing a fictitious story and when all attempts failed this is what i came up with..thoughts trying to rhyme with words ???

Carefree and merry that’s how life use to be

Everything seemed manageable and there was no sign of ennui

Sitting on those college steps, sipping tea was my luxury

now luxury is considered getting free from work at five thirty .

Time seems to be passing by so quick, it’s hard to keep pace

You suddenly feel trapped and choked when ‘life’s’ reality hits you in the face

School and college days feel like a long gone fantasy,

where envy and contempt were mere forms of juvenility.

This world is a battle ground you learn to survive,

warily avoiding all the bickering and the constant strife.

Staring in the mirror I wonder what made me this way,

looking so worried, unhappy and frayed.

Will my silence be mistaken for my weakness?

If so, should I be caring a damn!

My resilience stronger than my will power

Don’t really bother about who’s being a sham!

Aayi Diwali?

2009-10-18T00:17:00.001+05:30

Diwali, the festival of lights. There is so much I can randomly say about it except that it’s become such a commercial and sparse festival, that I wouldn’t be able to say much without ranting quite a bit. Of late, all I could relate to it was, traffic jams, rush for buying gifts, a cursory puja, sweets, a not such a ban on firecrackers and a day that left you feeling a little happy but a little desolate as well. Don’t ask me why, I’m strange.
When we were little, Diwali was about fire crackers, about family getting together and praying, about new clothes and gifts that you got but again, of late, it has been about money in envelopes, estranged family members and haphazard pujas which you dutifully partake in regardless of where your mind is. It hasn’t been all bad of course, there have been some really quirky ones that I’ve celebrated and remembered and probably will for years to come. I love lighting candles and diya and just going from room to room lighting all possible light fittings, I loved the Diwalis when me and my sister used to just rent movies or buy VCDs and watch them non stop one after the other with breaks inbetween to be hospitable to guests, I loved going to the Gurudwara and lighting candles there as well. I loved? I still love ☺ So while I criticize some aspects, there is loads that I can see in it to make me smile eve when the overall picture doesn’t look so great.
This year, I’m away from family and friends and everything that is familiar so while I have the objectivity that is somewhat inbuilt, I’m also sentimental. I will miss sending ‘Shubh Dipawali’ smses to everyone who sends me one (that’s how I function!) I’ll miss sitting quietly in the evening figuring out what needs to be done, I’ll miss just picking up the phone to talk to my friends and passing the evening hanging on the phone with someone who was probably having just as lousy a time as me.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder? I think so ☺ I’ll be lighting up my little corner regardless of where I am, and hope that the Gods of small/big/medium sized things remember to bless my little cranny as well.

Happy Diwali everyone :)

Shubh Deepawali for those who prefer to be more traditional ;)

If only...

2009-10-12T00:10:00.006+05:30

,
O re manwa tu toh bawaara hai
Tu hi jaane tu kya sochta hai
Tu hi jaane tu kya sochta hai…
Kyun dikhaye sapne tu sote jaagte…

The song was striking a chord slowly but steadily. She was listening to the whole song for the first time. Before this, she had only caught the trailers on tv…he was playing it from a CD, that made her wonder how did he burn a CD of that recent a song so soon…she wasn’t complaining though..it had just rained, and the sky was now a happy blue and air was fresh and vibrant, almost as if the breeze was a little girl in a ponytail, running in a meadow..happy, carefree and alive…

The car had open windows and there was no dust entering inside from the cars as there weren’t any..just a stray one now and then…they were on the highway of the Vasant Kunj Gurgaon road, and the speed of the car made her heart race..

The song, the weather and her feelings were playing frenzy with her mind and heart. She was worried he might be able to hear her heart beat.

This man, this absolutely gorgeous young man, tall and lanky, bright eyes and a laugh that spread to his eyes and made his whole face so very expressive and lively. What would she not do to see him smile and laugh beside her always? How had she not realized in the seven long years he had been a buddy, that he was the one who made her feel absolutely complete, absolutely happy, almost smug…

He joked about something, and she blushed, and then bit her lip, realizing that now she would be made fun of. He had seen her blush and asked her if the song was doing this to her…

All those years, they had been good friends, and yet she hadn’t bothered to think of him in this light. Tied up with bad relationships, a hectic job, a stressed family life, she had taken him as granted…the last few months he had shifted to her city, she had discovered she could feel something much, much more for him. And right now, she knew exactly what it was. The feeling of knowing made her shiver a little..

He now took a smooth turn and the airport loomed large in front of them. She asked why the airport, weren’t they on a long drive? He said, soon she would know. He parked his car in front of the arrivals and waited. He leaned against the car and she gazed at him peacefully, let her eyes go through his whole frame and smiled at herself. She had a prince waiting for right next to her, while she was busy kissing frogs..

From nowhere out of her day dreaming, she heard him shout out, “Hey Archu! Finally meet my best kept secret, Tina! My love, my foreign returned doll!” and then he turned to Tina and added, “God I missed you so so much!”

She was stunned for a while. Leaning on the other side of the car, she didn’t know if she could walk again, her feet felt like lead. She walked slowly to the other side and joined in the hugs and hand shakes.

“So this is Archu! Hi, I have heard so much about you. I told him to tell you all about us, but you know him, some crazy surprise he wanted it to be! But you cant shout at him, he is just too adorable! Two years were maddening without him….”

She just mumbled a few words, yes, ya he is, he never told me, wow, am happy for you guys..

And just at that moment, the same song started inside the car again.

Jo barse sapne boond boond,
naino ko moond moond
naino ko moond moond
kaise main chalun, dekh na sakun, anjane raaste…

And we bring to you...

2009-08-17T17:40:00.003+05:30

There are romantic guys (sigh) and there are practical guys and there are practical guys with a romantic streak. We’ve seen all three varieties. They’re all nice, but the last one wins hands down. That is if the girl isn’t anti-mush. Then you are very lucky :P

So it all comes down to the fact that most girls like sweet romantic gestures. Be it the cheesy candle lit dinner, or well, you remembering her favourite cartoon and getting socks which have it. It makes them feel loved. And we’re not talking grand gestures here, its more about thoughtfulness.

After seeing endless romantic movies- (Notting Hill, When Harry Met Sally. You’ve Got Mail, Never Been Kissed, 27 Dresses, Jerry Maguire etc etc etc), numerous FRIENDS episodes- actually all FRIENDS episodes numerous times, reading lots and lots of chick-lit, having had some sort of experience with various sorts of guys- we think we can help guys out. We think. We’re almost sure but don’t trust us 100% .

While discussing all of this, we realized that guy- boys and men- are often confused and left clueless about what girls want and girls are sometimes, well frankly speaking , disappointed. Even if you have been dating for five years and it’s a foregone conclusion that you Will get married is no reason not to propose nicely. Horrible example in brackets, please don’t do it. (“Hey. So listen, we’ve been dating for years now? What say we get married?”) What will you tell your kids? What will you think of when you have to chase dementors? What will be that happy memory?

To answer all these questions, we bring to you- tadaaaa (*drumrolls*)…..

…………..

The Proposal Management Agency! (TPMA)

Romantic ideas for the uninitiated

Basically the concept is very single, when you’re asking a girl out, for a date or for Marriage it deserves a Special Something. Which means some amount of thought and planning. We have a couple of idea here based on which we hope that the dormant cells in your brain start working and you come up with innovative ideas of your own.

Now see here, a marriage proposal is perhaps the start of your life together and it’s imperative (yes, a heavy word must be used for proper emphasis) that you do this part really well. It’s what she will remember during the good times and the bad times, what she will tell her children and their children (probably her friends as well, but hey- no pressure!). It will be the memory that she will share with you as her most precious. And more importantly, if it makes her happy, won’t it make you happy too? Hai ki nahi?

Purpose: Marriage proposal

Romantic Level: Regular
Budget Level- Medium
Effort Level: Thoughtful

Now what you have to do is, dress up nice, tell your girl to get ready for a special date, wear a dress or whatever you think looks nice on her and take her to a roof top restaurant. It has to be roof top. While you’re at it, take flowers, her favourites in her favourite colour.

Then propose.

____________________________

Purpose: Marriage proposal

Romantic Level: High
Budget Level- Low
Effort Level: Quite a bit

Take her out for a long drive. And by long we mean till the runway. Errr. The airport runway. Now you can dish out wine, (Indian wine, cheap also) make a toast to her, for her, with her, sit on the bonnet of your car and tell her why you want to marry her.

____________________________

Purpose: Marriage proposal

Romantic Level: High
Budget Level- None
Effort Level: Rare

Take her to your place when nobody is home. If you are planning to marry a girl, we’re sure you are old enough to have her come to your place alone. Make maggi for her yourself, and while she is waiting for you to come join her, give her your oldest toy, your oldest stuff toy (that torn tiger or that nearly headless teddy or that GI Joe dad got when he went abroad) and tell her why you trust her with it. Because she is nearly that special…

____________________________

Purpose: Marriage proposal/ asking out

Romantic Level: Extreme
Budget Level- Medium to high
Effort Level: High. Creative

This requires a bit of creativity and a lot of effort but its all worth it. You should click lots of photos of your girl (without being creepy i.e. if she doesn’t like being clicked choose one of the other ideas), in various moods, your favourite poses, candid ones, fake-candid ones. Now depending on your access, use your room or hers and put up the photos in nice frames and in the middle of the room, ask her out or ask her to marry you and tell her that you can never get enough of seeing her, of being with her.

____________________________

Purpose: Marriage proposal

Romantic Level: High
Budget Level- High
Effort Level: Physical

A small vacation. To the hills. You and him camping. very very cold, nose red and freezing, you both share a vodka and smile with warmth at each other from what you can see in the light of the lantern. Clear skies, a lot of shooting stars, and you hold hands, gaze up. Then you kiss her and propose.

____________________________

Purpose: Marriage proposal/asking out

Romantic Level: Medium to High
Budget Level- Medium
Effort Level: Talent related

This is easy. If you can sing, even a little, pick a song, her favourite, your favourite, your ‘song’, a song you can dedicate to her- in short- anything that’s easy to sing but also romantic (Remember Anyone but You from Juno?). Go to a karaoke bar, be prepared to be slightly embarrassed, made fun of etc etc and go all out! Who can resist? It’s a fun idea, romantic, won’t cost much and your girl will feel so special! Aww.

(Intake of alcohol permitted to bolster courage)

____________________________

Purpose: Proposing/Asking out/For a date

Romantic Level: Medium
Budget Level- Low
Effort Level: Low

Although not highly original, (you can listen to the song ‘Falling in love at a coffee shop’ while reading this and understand why we say what we say) you couldn’t get a better ambience than the smell of freshly brewing coffee, some yummy desserts and space to hold hands. Coffee shops make PDAs somewhat accepted so long as you don’t go overboard which we suggest you don’t.

Then do your thing: Lots of quiet talk, whispered sweet nothings or a muffin with a ring.

____________________________

Purpose: Proposing

Romantic Level: High
Budget Level- Medium
Effort Level: Singing, cooking or dancing related

This is a cocktail of clichés but hey! whatever works right? We’re mixing- dedicating a song to her in a bar, to dancing with her cheek to cheek on a slow song in a nice quiet place (your place/her place/friend’s place) and even going down on your knee..Yet another idea would be to, bake a cake (ONLY and only if you know how to make one), or buy a cake alternatively, and write what you feel on the cake with icing in her favourite colour! A combination of two of these or even all three would convince her that even if you’re not being highly original, you Are trying!

____________________________

Purpose: Proposing

Romantic Level: Medium
Budget Level- Low
Effort Level: Sporty

Now this is an all out guy’s way. Pick a game you’re good at but that she is also interested in. Make sure you’re better at it than she is. A basketball knockout, arm wrestling, cards, scrabble- indoor games, outdoor games- whichever !

Just bet on it :P Winner takes it all- and by all we mean the girl!

____________________________

Purpose: Proposing/ asking out/ apologizing

Romantic Level: High
Budget Level- Almost Nil
Effort Level: Creative/ Daring

This idea is a bit inspired but it so cute and adorable that its sure to be a winner! Haven’t you crooned – ‘You say it best when you say nothing at all’ numerous times with Ronan Keating and realized that it made so much sense?? We’re suggesting, you don’t say anything but rather make little cards/ placards/ signboards and write what you feel like on them. Then when you meet her, show them to her, one by one.

Alternatively, if this isn’t up your sleeve, write her a letter!

____________________________

We guess we got a bit carried away there didn’t we? That’s a lot of ideas, but that means you can choose whichever you like?

Girls, what do you think? What way would you like, write in with some suggestions.. Or tell us real life experiences?

Guys, how have you thought of proposing your girl? Or have you already done it, then share!

We love hearing back from you!

Life..as it is right now...

2009-08-01T01:14:00.003+05:30

Some quick updates, or maybe the lack of it. Life seems to be the usual and normal. Normal because there are no adventures or mis adventures happening in any of our lives or the ones that are happening… well one cant mention them here on blog space. Mrinu darling just came back from a weeklong holiday with her guy. She looked a bit tired today at work but yet very refreshed and at peace. Yeah, love does that to people. And eternally optimistic and oh so romantic Mrinu totally deserved the break. Ya, I know while you are reading this, you are probably thinking of your loved one and smiling. No? Come on! Don’t lie.

Nandini is lazing at home. God, I so wish I could trade lives with her. And clicking to her hearts content. Also, helping distressed friends with various problems in life, be it chosing the perfect shirt for a friend to wear to a meeting, to solving boy troubles of the other, to even giving lonely hearts company at the movies, Nandu has her plate full. She is also looking for that ‘perfect’ job. Yeah well who isn’t! :P

Piya’s life is and will always remain a roller coaster ride. But she is the one who comes out of every ride and says “ Hell ya! I want to sit on it again! Bring it on baby!” and jumps back right where the action is! At work, Piya has to deal with jealous female co-workers, prospective suitors, strict super boss, and smart alec immediate boss, and at night she devotes her time over the phone playing agony aunt to jilted ex-lover. Yes she is kind, wants to make sure that her ex is happy even when they aren’t together. She has always been the ‘Mommy’ and perhaps will remain one

My life on the other hand remains constant. Well, some changes here and there but miniscule and not worth mentioning. Apart from the fact that my boss still pretty much hates me and would not like to acknowledge my presence if he had it his way. Despite the fact that I work like a frikkin ant!
And yeah, the shaydar beeps a little less. Actually doesn’t beep that much (can you believe it!) But that’s a story for another day. ;) Oh well. Life as I said, remains the same for me.

So yeah, these were the updates. We will keep it coming. Watch this space for more…

Movies that we watched this month: Ice Age 3(fabulous), Harry Potter and the half blood prince (a bit of a let down), Hangover (must watch), Transformers2 (Mindless time pass), New York (predictable, not bad though), Luck (liked it)

Music that we are listening to: Dhan te nan, Kaminey (super cool!) Dido (lots of her!), MJ (he still rules!), Love Aaj Kal soundtrack (Chor bazari is cute), Hard times by eastmountainsouth (simply lovely)

Jab We Met.... continued

2009-07-21T23:29:00.015+05:30

We carry on with our versions as to when we met...
Chapter 3: When Piya met Nandu and Mrinu

Piya:

Let me tell you how I bumped into Nandini and Mrinalini; through Anjali of course, and well, how we managed to keep it going since 2007!

Being the way I am, striking a conversation with unknown people is not a task; obviously I have to find them worth conversing with in the first place. And Nandini, Mrinalini were just the sort of people I would’ve wanted to be friends with. Once I had Anjali’s vote of confidence (she was a little wary of this new intern :P) knowing Nandini and Mrinalini was easy.

Now, Nandini was that girl in office who looked pretty, prim & proper, was very tech savvy, rational, had all the nice chap-sticks etc… and with all of this, was absolutely grounded. She’d instantly accepted my presence, made sure I was included in all the fun and before I knew it, I loved ‘this’ character. Most of my time would pass by hopping from Anjali’s bay to Nandu’s. She gave me Oreo cookies almost daily, books to read and tons of movies to watch. Nandini aka ‘chalu tamatar’ is the ‘fevicol’ in the Pretty Four’s friendship. Keeps us together, keeps the fun alive, loves unconditionally and pampers US regularly!

While God hurriedly packed me, Anjali and Nandini off to earth, he took his time with Mrinalini. He added a lot of drama, a lot of emotions, a lot of sense and oodles of romance and then created Mrinalini. This woman is a rare find and I feel lucky to have met her. When I first saw this pretty girl, I thought she’d be one of those snooty intellectual types, who’d refuse to entertain an intern. Thank God I was wrong! Though Mrinu did take her time with me, but soon enough we were bonding over ‘jaat’ songs, bitchiness and boyfriends! I’ve always admired her optimism and her famous ONE liners have always kept the ray of hope alive in me.
My 2 months of internship was soon extended to 6 months and the time I spent at that media house amongst these hip media girls is/was/ will always be the best time EVER spent and experienced.

I strongly advocate the concept of an ‘internship’!

Chapter 4: When Mrinu met “the other three”

Mrinalini:

And as we go down ‘memory lane’ I can safely conclude that I am the last one to have joined the bandwagon. It was Nandu who began the destined ‘frandships’ we now have. She was a very good friend of Anjali’s when I joined the organization two years back. I, however knew Anjali since a long long time. Never really friends, we kept bumping into each other in our locality and had common friends to a dozen. If we weren’t bumping into each other for a while, then it was people who would remind us of the other’s existence by telling us, ‘hey you look a lot like Anjali, the features and all’ or ‘hey you remind me of Mrinu, a tuition friend, you guys look very similar’ LOL!

So when I joined the media house that year, it wasn’t really a surprise that I bumped into yes, none other than Anjali..The friendship that was long due had now started rolling. We had jokes of every kind, we had sarcasm for common people we knew, we had all that jazz brewing between us. And Anjali, on her part, came with two other people, Piya and Nandini. Piya was the cutest and most fashionable intern I had ever seen, with a sense of humor that made you wonder about her varied characteristics. She would discuss bags and perfumes like a French one minute, and sing Jaat songs like Hat ja Tau (from the truck wala’s stereo on the way to office) the next minute. Good fun!

Nandini, however was somebody who would not be a friend as far as my records go. Very fair, tall, almost like a model, I don’t have many friends like that. I go by the belief that such stats make the person a little less on IQ, so I don’t really mix. And I am of the super mixing variety..When I started to get to know Nandu, however, it was like, ummm, meant to be..Smart, literary, compassionate and very idealistic, in short, very similar..I realized Nandu had broken the cliché I had made in my head..And I was glad. She is what you call a ‘breath of fresh and dreamy air’ in the mundane life we city dwellers have.

So Nandu, Piya and Anjali came together into my life as a complete group in itself and if I may confess, it was probably the first time I discovered female friendship. A tomboy with football as first love, I really didn’t gel with girls too much in life. These three, however have made up for all the childhood fun I missed and more..
It has been no looking back ever since…Life and our profound wisdom-sharing about ‘boys’, vodka, Harry Potter, the love for writing, music and movies and so much more to discover, thanks for making my life so ‘Pretty’ girls!

Happy birthday to us!

Jab We Met

2009-07-21T13:07:00.016+05:30

We are celebrating one year of our blog. We thought of a lot of things that make it special, you the readers and friends, our writing which we want to look back at fondly one day, the fun we have blogging about most of our strange yet happy daily lives, the list could go on..

But what makes it the most special, is the four of us!

This blog post is a kind of a trip down memory lane as the four of us reminisce about how we met each other. (We met each other and then kept meeting.), how it all started, how the four of us got together and then there was no stopping us thereafter!

Chapter 1: When Nandu met Anjali

Nandini:

The baton was handed to me, Nandini. Because Mrinu said “You’re the oldest in the organization”, by which she meant her present and my erstwhile office and that made me feel odd, sad, slightly left out but also wonderous. Eh? Wonderous? I mean, in wonder. What is the word for that? Anyway, I was amazed, astounded, gladdened, and other such happily surprised words that we were still such good friends after all this while. Perhaps better friends than we were. People have office acquaintances, colleagues they hang out with or get to know as a part of social survival skills; very few have what we did or still have- friendships that are so strong that time becomes immaterial.

Let’s flashback to about more than two years ago, just about (If you want the cinematic version then you can think in black and white. Or sepia perhaps?). It was any given day, grumpy morning in the bus, having woken up much against my wishes. I would usually listen to music and sleep in the bus, read sometimes. This girl had just joined the organization, maybe a couple of days old and the bus route had been slightly varied to include picking her up. However, nobody remembered her name, no one had her phone number and well, nobody cared about the new girl who missed the bus and would have to manage coming SUCH a long, virtually transportation-less route by herself. It made me a little angry, plus I side with the underdog. I mean, cmon! So when I did see her in office, I introduced myself. I don’t usually do this, I’m a bit of an introvert but one does what one has to, to combat meanness and support public good (Don’t I sound all holier than thou? I’m not!). I took her number, told her that I could call her in the mornings if she was late etc etc. And That’s how I met Anjali.

Everything else was gradual, but still fast. Fast in the sense that we’re so close now that when people meet us, they wonder how long we’ve been friends. It surprises me too sometimes. But like I said, time doesn’t matter. She was mostly reserved initially, quiet but I would like to say that I have a feeling about things like this. My charm and congenial disposition broke the ice. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Naww. See, friendships like this, they happen and when they do, you don’t question, you accept. We’re both very similar as people, by nature, in our ideologies and our approach to life. But there was also so much more to her. She was/is still calm, rational very down-to-earth and approachable. Atleast that’s how it seemed to me! She isn’t like that with everyone which is another thing I like about her. She’s discriminating; don’t get me wrong, she’s nice to everyone, but who she likes, she decides and then sticks to it.

Anjali and I have often talked about this, that how there comes a time when you feel like you’re content with all the people you have in your life, you don’t want the extras or you don’t want to make that extra effort when your circle already seems so full. Yes well, it doesn’t quite happen like that. Sometimes you don’t have a choice, and you know what? It’s good.

Chapter 2: When Anjali met Piya

Anjali:

I was just a month old in the company. It was one rainy day and we were wrapping up work, when our boss came and told three of us to give our computers to the people standing behind her. When I looked up I saw

1. A boy dressed in formals ( and looking a bit odd in our office because he was the only one in a tie. You see, in a media house nobody really wears a tie to work)

2. A girl dressed in shirt and trousers (sigh. yes)

3. Another girl and this one looked very hip, dressed in a smart shirt, jeans and big hoops.

They all looked a bit nervous and were eager to impress the boss with their intellect. They were there for an interview and were asked to give a copy test.

Cut two- Different day. Early morning at work. My boss came and introduced the team to a new girl, the big hoops girl. Number 3! Looked at me and said ‘you have a new neighbour (she was going to sit next to me) Show her around and tell her about the work.’ That’s how I met Piya. One look at her and I decided that she could never possibly be my friend. Yes, that was my first impression of her.

I have to make an honest confession here: I have always been wary of ‘fashionable girls’. The ones who can spot Prada and Gucci from a distance, have the names of the latest perfumes at their finger tips, fuss over chipped nail, look and behave like a supermodel and Piya ‘looked’ all that! So me, the simpleton, was confident that we both could never be friends. And when I thought that, MR G up there had a hearty laugh! Piya, the new intern was not just friendly but also dying to impress one and all (this, I got to know much later from the DIVA herself)

I tried. I tried very hard to maintain a distance but it was difficult to ignore someone who looked like an absolute DIVA and behaved just the opposite. Well…most of the time. So when a girl dressed in hip branded clothes impersonated Simpu of Channel V with élan , one couldn’t help but join in the laughter. One moment she would be going gaga about the Davidoff perfume on her bathroom shelf and the next moment she would be cracking one of her famous one liners!

I give Piya all the credit for our friendship. Had she, the intern not tried so hard to impress me, the so- called ‘senior member’ of the team, I would have missed the chance to know someone so vivacious, smart, witty, warm and affectionate a person like her. She is now an integral part of my life, with the other two ( Mrinu and Nandu) and am so glad about that. On a day when we are walking down the memory lane, I’d like to say a big Thank You to the Pretty.Perfect.Piya.

We aren’t done yet… the story of our Dosti continues. Over to you Piya!

Celebrations!

2009-07-21T00:03:00.001+05:30

Happy Anniversary to the Pretties!

Letter of complaint to THE manufacturer

2009-07-19T01:27:00.004+05:30

To THE Manufacturer,
Heaven Villa
Next to Pearly Gates
Opposite hell
0000

Sub: Defected pieces being circulated, please take curative measures ASAP!

Respected Mr. G,
This is to bring to your notice that your product-Men- are causing great trouble, anxiety and much pain in our lives down here. On purchase no prior warnings were issued at the back of it, also, no user manual was handed for the proper functioning of this product. This has created a lot of havoc in *‘our’ lives and we would request you to help us deal with this problem in the best possible way.

The product has the following defects:
• Is clueless
• Needs regular oiling
• Is slow and takes a lot of time to start functioning
• Produces foul smell periodically
• No number of kicks forces ‘it’ to work… is stubborn and moody….if I may add.
• The product lives under a perpetual impression of being Sovereign
• No amount of ‘our’ understanding helps it to become better

After reading the aforementioned issues, I’m hoping you will realize that women don’t complain out of habit- we are just painfully confused!

The problem does exist; however, we would like to give you a chance to rectify the “item” since you have in the past created some excellent quality products- US! And because we respect your abilities and capabilities, we would like to give some suggestions to speed up the process:
1. User manual is a MUST!- it will help us to deal with the problem effectively- page by page.
2. Warning signs ( such as; Suicidal Tendencies, Mama’s Boy, Woman in a Man’s Body, Simply Stupid, Beyond Improvement, Infidel, Born Brain Dead, No Scope, Awful Humor, Idolizes Salman Khan- Himesh Reshammiya and the likes, Multiple Flirting Disorder, Thinks ‘elevate’ is cool! Etc etc) should be printed in caps- preferably on the Forehead!
Mr G, I feel these 2 points will be enough to take care of the situation down here. If you incorporate these points while manufacturing the product it will really simplify all ‘our’ lives.

Hoping to see some positive results soon!

Yours Sincerely
Puzzled Women!

P.S: Don’t fret over the products already manufactured; we’ll try coming up with some permanent solutions! However, your guidance and suggestions shall always be welcome.

* ‘Our’- refers to the collectively confused community of countless women

ASSUMPTION and DISCLAIMER: Girls, you WILL enjoy the post. Guys, please to take in good humours. Ok? Ok. Many thanks.

Code of conduct while in a meeting!

2009-06-25T14:10:00.006+05:30

Ever so often, me and Anjali go through what we call ‘pointless and endless meetings’. It is a way devised by our boss to ensure that we spend atleast sometime with him and take notice of him. Ofcourse the exercise is futile, because after every such meeting, we emerge even more wary and sick of him. I know, we hardly talk to him but that is because his personality is such. His huge frame, his fair complexion and very well taken care of features (ewww) and his strange fascination to red and pink and happy girly colours doesn’t do much to make us even remotely happy about the fact that we are associated with him at work.

Everytime he calls up on my extension and says, ‘Mrinalini, you and Anjali come to my desk,’ I feel nausea. There are times when we are at lunch in the canteen, and he smses from the fourth floor, ‘Meet me at my desk.’ Sigh!
Lately, his meetings have become even more painful than usual. He gives us this hogwash about how he is now delegating us with ‘higher’ powers and how we should feel privileged in these trying times. In our language, we call it ‘more work.’

We tell Nandini about our woes on gtalk, on sms, on phone. And pretty ‘khurafati’ Nandu has come up with this absolutely brilliant plan to keep us happy and perky during these meetings. She sends us smses, which can make any normal person roll in hilarity, but me and Anjali cant laugh inside a board room, so we keep a straight face and burst within.

Here are a few Nandu gems:

‘Meeting, is it? Time to play another round of K I L L E R! Whoopah!’
‘You must wink at Anjali and if someone notices, wink at them too and mouth- I am Killer!’
‘You must accidentally by intention step on someone’s toes!’
‘Look around blankly for a while and after five minutes say, Why are we here? What is our purpose?’
‘Or or you both can wave around hands and pretend to talk to each other in sign language. And tell your boss it is to prevent Noise Pollution!’
‘At any given time, raise your fingers to make a V sign and say- Peace brother! Lenon died for it. Show some respect.’
‘Look at everyone with great attention and then announce in a quiet voice- No, everyone loses. Anjali has the prettiest eyes.’
‘Scribble in your diary-Ten things to do while attending a boring meeting and then flash the paper around.’
‘Coordinate with each other and then show the thumbs up sign. Add sly looks. You could also mutter- hehehehe.’
‘If someone is addressing to you, make your fingers squiggle and say- Talk to the hand!’
‘Before raising any point, just raise your hand and jump in your seat and mouth- me me me!’
‘Are you doing all that I’m saying? Ok, when the meeting ends, announce- I was killer, who is the loser detective?’
‘Say- I have an important point to raise, and then draw a point on a piece of paper and raise it in the air.’
‘Take my photo with you and say- She insisted’
‘Just randomly scream- Hello Hello. I think I’m picking up some important signals.It’s the cute boy from the eighth floor.’
‘At the end of any point, look at Mrinu and say-I concur, do you concur?’
‘Look at nobody in particular and mutter rhinoplasty, liposuction, rhinoplasty, liposuction…like a chant!’
‘Say-Lets observe two minute silence for all those who no longer get to attend meetings such as these. Then close your eyes and fold your hands.’
‘Just hum a song and say – My inner singer could not be contained!’

So ya..having a friend like Nandini has its benefits. She makes life-in-the-times-of-recession-hit-working friends so much much much fun! Wouldn’t you agree?

PS: I suggest you try some of this yourself. I often wink at Anjali, mutter stuff, show thumbs up sign et al. It is FUN!

It poured that day... Piya's Version

2009-06-14T12:23:00.017+05:30

It poured that day. But still, having tea with him outside after ages was worth it. Not listening to mum, she left for the back alley. The small tea shop was deserted, the shop guy was the only one sitting there with a flashy raincoat on him. He expected customers even now, she smirked. And with a jolt, she realized that she was out for the very purpose.
She went and sat on the somewhat cold and wet wooden bench, not conscious at all. It wasn’t one of the things that could get her worked up. Her appearance, her clothes were all very normal. In fact, she was wearing her dad’s t-shirt and her baggy jeans. The rains always made her wear something of her dad’s. Warm and comfy it felt against the skin.
Time passed, she had a phone, but didn’t want to sms him..He would be coming anyway, didn’t need to push it..Instead, she lit a cigarette, rainy days deserved a smoke, she always thought.

Through her smoke rings she reminisced the times they had spent together. There was no space for formality back then. He would often sing to her from his varied collection, bother her with his silly boyish jabbering ,and, every month expected her to cook chicken curry, which she gladly did. In college, Friday evenings were dedicated to spending nights at each other’s place, baking cakes, cooking maggie late in the night and giving impromptu singing performances. She smiled at her silliness now- how out of tune she must have sounded back then- since she barely qualified as a bathroom singer. But she wanted him to know, know that she appreciated music- a lot.

She had fallen for him and he knew. But they never got around to discussing the “possibilities”. Post college he went away to the states to pursue a ‘fancy’ degree while she stayed back to pursue a diploma in advertising. That day, just before he left they met up at this very place, it wasn’t raining then. The streets were dark, dimly lit and the yellow light from the lamppost soothed her mounting restlessness. They walked holding hands (it was deemed normal), he sounded excited and she appeared lost. She noticed from the corner of her eye that he was staring, he had also abruptly stopped now… at this point they had kissed. A second later he was back to blabbering about his soon-to-begin adventure, almost as if what transpired between them a few seconds back dint matter.

She kept mulling over their kiss moment time and again. Why, why had he kissed her and why did she let him? And why could she not ask him what it meant? The questions and lack of answers always left her irate.
He was smitten by his new life, while she chose to be pre-occupied with studies and work. They would chat online once a week; where he typed the most. He would call on all the festivals and her birthday. She was amused at his fake accent. At work, most of her time was consumed with constant browsing through his orkut account- album after album. His charming life made her envious and her desperate attempts to match up to it constantly failed; for he didn’t notice. Gradually the calls dropped, chatting became less frequent, he seemed content and distant. ‘Oye ’ sweetie had given way to ‘hey’ and eventually ‘hi’.

‘You fill up my senses like a night in a forest Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain’ HE was calling, after sooooo long. She jumped outa bed ran to her phone and almost screamed into it. His accent sounded real now. “Hey’ ill be in town day after tomorr-ah lets catch up”. He ended the call saying “I‘ve missed you and we need to talk”.
She did her little ‘happy’ dance and began to construe various implications of “we need to talk” the good and the ugly. Now she was just waiting for him to come and put a rest to her impatience.

The cigarette had finished long back, she finger-combed her hair, got off the bench and dusted the moist mud off her backside; when suddenly she felt a tap. He was there handsomely dressed, smiling, looking and smelling so good. Delicious - she thought. They hugged, may be a little too long. It didn’t bother her, he was here and she could handle it. Yup she could. He handed her a bag- “this is for you……let's go”. He took her hand and led the way.

It poured that day... Anjali's Version

2009-06-08T11:40:00.012+05:30

It poured that day.But still, having tea with him outside was worth it. Not listening to mum, she left for the back alley. The small tea shop was deserted, the shop guy was the only one sitting there with a flashy raincoat on him. He expected customers even now, she smirked. And with a jolt, she realized that she was out for the very purpose.

She went and sat on the somewhat cold and wet wooden bench, not conscious at all. It wasn’t one of the things that could get her worked up. Her appearance, her clothes were all very normal. Infact, she was wearing her dad’s t-shirt and her baggy jeans. The rains always made her wear something of her dad’s. Warm and comfy it felt against the skin.

Time passed, she had a phone, but didn’t want to sms him..He would be coming anyway, didn’t need to push it. Instead, she lit a cigarette, rainy days deserved a smoke, she always thought….and so did crappy days at work. She suddenly realized, that how off late, she had been smoking quite regularly. She took a puff ‘ahh it felt so good’ she thought, but at the same time felt a bit guilty. She should try to quit, she thought. “Some other day I guess, not today” she murmured to herself.

Her phone beeped. It was his message. “Babes, its pouring here n am stuck in a stupid jam. Will be late. Leave after sometime ok? I’ll meet u at the chai wala in an hour or so?” She read and re-read. ‘Now what?’ She thought of going back but it was raining hard and she felt quite comfy here. She could wait for sometime and then see how far he was. Ya she would do that. “Ek Masala chai” she placed the order and lit up another cigarette and looked out.

Rain always had a calming effect on her. The water, the greenery, all made her happy and nostalgic. She started humming Country Road and smiled to herself. 'Why cant all days be like this?' she wondered. She was enjoying the randomness of the day. No rush, no deadlines, no phone calls. Only the sound of rain falling on the asbestos roof…

Masala Chai arrived in a small glass. She took a sip and cooed. “Perfect” she said to the chai wala to which he just gave a toothy grin. The big tree outside was swishing along with the wind. Suddenly she saw a small head peeping at her from behind the tree. She waved and called him out. But he hid behind the tree. She called out “idhar aao!” He again peeped and this time stared at her. She waved and called him. The little boy was drenched to the core and was shivering a bit. He kept standing near the tree and smiled shyly at her. She called out again, “idhar aao”.

He finally started walking towards her. The little thing came and stood at the entrance of the shop. He kept smiling shyly. “ Idhar aake baitho” she said and slowly he came and stood near the wooden bench. He was in an old dirty oversized T-shirt and shorts. Drenched, the thin T-shirt stuck to his small frame. He looked about eight. Although tiny and frail, he had bright eyes and chubby cheeks. She offered him a biscuit that had come along with her tea. At first he just looked at her and did not take it. When she insisted, he took it and gingerly took a bite. She noticed how quickly he finished it. She offered him more and this time he took two without any hesitation. He continued to stand at end of the long wooden bench she was sitting on. She looked at the small cabinet that was placed near the stove at front of the shop. There were biscuits in a glass jar, eggs neatly stacked next to it and paos in a basket. She ordered for a plate of 'anda bread' and another cup of tea.

She looked at the boy lost in his thoughts, gorging on the tasteless biscuits. “ Kahin kaam karte ho?” He looked up and nodded. “ Peeche ki dukaan me” . “Aaj kaam nahi hai?” “Dukaan band hai”. Ah well, that explains why he is hungry, must not have got his day’s meal.

The food arrived. “Yeh lo” she pushed the plate towards him. He looked at what was being offered and then gave a big smile. She noticed that one tooth in the front was missing. He took a big bite and sat down on the bench. She enquired about his name again. “Mohan” he said. “Kya kaam karte ho tum Mohan?” “ Peeche dhaabe pe kaam karta hu. Sab kaam kar leta hu. Chai dena, table saaf karma, sab kuchh. Baarish ke liye maalik ne dukaan nahi kholi” he said. She smiled at him and listened intently. She took a sip of her chai, and lit up her third cigarette. ‘I really need to quit!’ she thought and took a drag. “Didi aapko cigarette nahi peeni chahiye, sehat ke liye kharab hai” Mohan said solemnly and then took a bite of the bread. She looked at him and chuckled.

Image courtesy: http://mesimagesdinde.blogspot.com

It poured that day...Mrinalini's version

2009-06-02T11:00:00.004+05:30

It seems the idea worked. The Rain Gods did bless us with two divine rainy nights..Now wishing for more..Sigh!
So, here goes my version:

It poured that day. But still, having tea with him outside after ages was worth it. Not listening to mum, she left for the back alley. The small tea shop was deserted, the shop guy was the only one sitting there with a flashy raincoat on him. He expected customers even now, she smirked. And with a jolt, she realized that she was out for the very purpose.

She went and sat on the somewhat cold and wet wooden bench, not conscious at all. It wasn’t one of the things that could get her worked up. Her appearance, her clothes were all very normal. Infact, she was wearing her dad’s t-shirt and her baggy jeans. The rains always made her wear something of her dad’s. Warm and comfy it felt against the skin.

Time passed, she had a phone, but didn’t want to sms him..He would be coming anyway, didn’t need to push it..Instead, she lit a cigarette, rainy days deserved a smoke, she always thought..

She reflected on how rain was the answer to so many of her questions..The rains came and poured over the heavy feelings she had kept in her heart for so many months. He was now a different person, no more hers to have. It was all very different now..The equations had changed so very much, but yet, she felt she hadn’t changed. He had. The metamorphosis had been his ever since they had split. And now, it had been two years to that.
He still hadn’t come. What was this? Cold feet? But this wasn’t a date. It was plain ol’ her, and it wasn’t like renaissance. Life had moved on, and so had everything else with it..Paths were chosen, there wasn’t much looking back to be done..Then why was this difficult?

He came, in his track suit..she smiled..Somethings never changed..
“Smoking? Been here long? Am sorry..gym just got over..” he said.
“Yes, I guessed that much..want to have tea?” she asked.
“Umm, thik hai”

On two small cups of tea, they acted like this was the hardest thing they were doing..
It was a mistake, coming here today. It was good the way things had become silent, possibly forever..she thought.

Oh lord! When will this feeling go? When will I look sane and capable to hold one normal meeting with her? he thought in his head..

"So hows work?" she asked..
“It is great. Never thought I’d be anything other than a hospitality guy. And here, I am with a MBA to my name!” he said.
“Yes, that indeed was a great career move..Am glad..And..how are things with her?” she asked, sounding normal..
“It is the best, we plan to settle down soon..Even our folks are happy. What about you? Becoming an old lady, you are..” he nervously joked..
“Yes, very soon. It is upto us. We are planning for spring next year.”
“Oh wow! Congrats! That is news.”

Weird. Weird. Weird.

It is time to get up and go. And never look back. This idea was a bad one. All your fault! her mind shouted things randomly..

“Chal walk me home, will you? Its started to rain again..Mum goes berserk, you know..” she said quickly, not knowing what else to say or do.
“Yes I know your mum. Chalo..” he said. He felt glad she took the call, as always..

Neither spoke, or maybe they did, but it was almost as insignificant like the meeting they had..Reaching her house, she said, “Take care. Bye and good luck with life..”
“Umm..yea..you too..umm..ok then, see ya..” he trailed..

And they parted.

There was nothing more to it. Remembering just caused distress, and a little bit of pain. That was then, and this was now. Memories were like ecstasy, they just caused a whirl of emotions that weren’t meant to be. And reality had moved on. Way beyond to what had been.

Just the rain had remained.

It poured that day...

2009-05-28T15:11:00.007+05:30

We are going a little out of character with this concept. Actually, a few weeks back, it had rained pleasantly enough to make us feel like write a fictional piece each. We wanted to make a story out of a rainy day itself. And all four of us did; while one of us was dreamily vague, one was very-city, one was uber cool with her thoughts and one was, ummm..plain real. We will be posting each of our story in the next few days and you can guess which one is what ;)

PS: We are also trying to appease the Rain Gods in this manner as they are clearly not in a mood to appease us with some blissful rains. Rain Gods, we are creative when you pour. Please consider this flattery enough to pay a visit soon!

The common opening to the story thus runs:

It poured that day. But still, having tea with him outside was worth it. Not listening to mum, she left for the back alley. The small tea shop was deserted, the shop guy was the only one sitting there with a flashy raincoat on him. He expected customers even now, she smirked. And with a jolt, she realized that she was out for the very purpose.

Time passed, she had a phone, but didn’t want to sms him..He would be coming anyway, didn’t need to push it..Instead, she lit a cigarette, rainy days deserved a smoke, she always thought..

MY VERSION

It poured that day. But still, having tea with him outside was worth it. Not listening to mum, she left for the back alley. The small tea shop was deserted, the shop guy was the only one sitting there with a flashy raincoat on him. He expected customers even now, she smirked. And with a jolt, she realized that she was out for the very purpose.

Time passed, she had a phone, but didn’t want to sms him..He would be coming anyway, didn’t need to push it..Instead, she lit a cigarette, rainy days deserved a smoke, she always thought..

Her attention drifted, her gaze trailed the drops slithering away in a hurry on the broken window pane as she tried to be creative with the smoke swirls. She chuckled, he would be amused, she could never carry it off. He seemed to be the anchor point and her thoughts kept drifting back to him. Should she worry? That everything seemed to lead back to him eventually? Nah, she had her balance. She looked at the shop guy and signaled for a cup of tea. What better way to wait, to pass time, and she didn’t mind waiting. After a long time, she felt relaxed, almost boneless with contentment with no other reason that consistent rain and the prospect of meeting him. She remembered when they’d both gotten caught in the rain last week, dripping wet and eating maggi. She smiled, and then caught the shop keeper’s look. He must surely think she’s demented, giggling and smiling to herself.

Her tea arrived, and defying the law of averages, it tasted rather good. Or maybe she was feeling too complacent. It was a wonder, how the brain works as she imagined lazy thoughts going from one nerve to the other, carrying signals and thoughts. She hummed a song, and waited. It was raining harder now, she was getting goose bumps on her skin. She had a sudden urge to jump and twirl in the rain, splash in puddles and not care about clothes, hair, shoes, dignity… Wouldn’t that be street entertainment now?

This weather could induce melancholy, she mused. If she were so inclined maybe she could debate life, love, existence, mortality, morality and what not but she would rather not. Its amazing how the mind can be clear of all strife. Perhaps the most toughest question right now was, if he got delayed or worse yet didn’t come, would she be mad? Or would she not let anything spoil her mood and sip her tea, have another one and stroll back home?

She looked up to order another tea and there he was. And once again, her heart skipped a little. New love or strong love, she wondered? Will it stay like this always, this intensity of her love or will it fade away with familiarity? Who cares. She shrugged her shoulders unconsciously as she dismissed the thought, signaled for two teas and smiled at him.

Quotable Quotes

2009-05-05T14:25:00.005+05:30

Another outing, another coffee shop.. and another list! Whoops! We do seem to be making a habit of this aren't we? But the lists are made over sugar high’s and not martini highs (Where's your list, N? We're waiting!). We collectively shudder to think what those lists would be like if made public!
A laid back Saturday, recession hit pockets and a street full of tempting wares. Is that torture or what? However, we didn't give in to temptation (desserts don't count) and stuck to essentials. Hence we treated ourselves to dessert and it was then that the idea of another list came up and while we enjoy all your comments and feedback, we have our doubts whether this list of mostly inside jokes and shared experiences would mean anything to anyone else other than the four of us.

It’s just our way of stamping this blog with our personalities, making it into a memoir of sorts so that we don’t forget- being silly, being together and most of all being silly together…

The following is a short compilation (liable to be updated time to time!) of some of the stupid, mad, sometimes sensible, sometimes ridiculous things we say from time to time. As stated, these are more personal jokes but there are some things almost everyone will relate to…
And well nobody quotes us, so we quote ourselves :P

Presenting, what we like to call- Quotable quotes:

Mrinalini:
On Nandini’s crush over a college professor:
“If I could get used to Leonardo, Hugh Jackman and Arjun Rampal being unachievable, what's a professor? chin up mate..”

Drunk Mrinu telling JB:
“Never trust a woman with an 'X' in her name! What is she? An MF Hussain film??”

Mrinu in the middle of the day at work:
“Vodka kahan ka shabaab hai?”

“Men are never men. They never grow up to be a man! They remain boys, always…”

“Pretty (pronounced: purrreettyyy) lies in the eyes of the holder. (Who holder?)
Depends on who is holding you at that time.”

Mrinu telling Anjali about prospects of meeting a Shahid Kapoor-esqe stranger at a camp:
“If you can trek together, you can do anything together.”

“It's all about H O P E” ( please notice the space between each alphabet)

“I always believed in true love- Sachha pyar is all there is”

Anjali:

“Marriage makes you Round”

“Round people can also be attractive….….in some cultures”

Drunk Anjali on phone to Nandini:
“Remind me to pee when I get home haan.”

Anjali, to a guy friend over gtalk, while PRETENDING to be drunk. (It was a typo, but oh-so-embarassing):
“Main frooty fresh and juicy” (She wanted to type MANGO instead of Main)

“Living in denial doesn't help”

Pia:

In the heights of summer:
“I can't wear woolen trousers to office, because… well they're woolen!”

On being told that the game of hide and seek was ‘I Spy you’ :
“So it was always 'I spy you' and not 'I Spice' ?????”

Mrinu, on reading the draft of quotable quotes, “ITS I SPY YOU?? Nobody told me till this moment!”

Pia busted some more childhood beliefs when she realized that it was 'Roshini karta bajaj' and not 'Roshini kutta bajaj!'

Nandini:

On a girl called Roxy: “Roxy sounds like an underwear brand.”

On how shampooing hair is a sure shot technique for a good hair day and hence feeling good about yourself:
“Shampooing hair is like troubleshooting. If that does not work, what will?”

“All girls like me” (what she actually wanted to write was- all girls like IT) damage done :D

“Life is such a scalene triangle sometimes, nothing matches.”

PS: Ever wanted to use a non-sensical term wherever you felt like and in any situation? Well, we have one :D.. its “TAAM” use it any anywhere and everywhere, it's a sure shot way to baffle a victim.

In the name of God!

2009-04-12T10:38:00.004+05:30

On Thursday night, I had a 'Jaago India Jaago' moment. And yes, before that, I should confess I have temper problems. And in that given moment, I can speak exactly what I want to speak. Yes it is a talent, thank you.

So I had as usual gone with my parents to the Sai Baba temple, our official Thursday visit to Sai Baba. And after the arti, I carefully edged my way with Ma for the deeya. The people, who had very peacefully been clapping and singing the hymns since the past half an hour, suddenly had a train to catch. They leapt towards the deeya all together, and I rued the fact that I had moved quite a bit ahead with a very frail Ma beside me. Now I couldn’t back out and I was scared that she would get hurt by the hurtling bodies in front of us and also those pouncing from the back. Had these guys been praying for brute strength to Sai Baba, I wondered…

Eventually, we joined the line for Prasad, and again, covering the ground around Ma was important. And just as luck would have it, people insisted on passing from between me and her. I let a few go and then decided it was enough. An insignificant 50 year old woman and her entire family tried to edge around me and pass from the between, saying, "Zara dekhe to..Zara jaane do ek minute.." And I told her it wasn't a bridge and infact the line was so small, she could just go behind to reach the other side. Breaking it from between was not that essential. And to my surprise, instead of being guilty of doing that, out of the entire family, it was just that woman who turned, ready for a typical Delhi aunty fight.

"What do you think? You young girl can tell me what to do? Mannerless generation of kids! Badtameez hai, mujhe sikhaogi…" I was surprised at how spiritually developed she was. I kept showing her a hand to lower her volume but when she realized I wasn't up for a shrieking quarrel, she pitched her volume a few decibels more!

That's when I lost it. I said a mental 'sorry' to Baba and began, "You fifty something woman, I don't need to learn tameez from such a badtameez oldie. And my mother has had an operation, hence I asked you not to push around. Do you understand that or are you too dumb to understand what a temple stands for? So much for your bhakti!"

Her husband was approaching me with a very menacing look, but froze mid way when I started speaking. He came and ended up saying, "Beta beta, ab rehne do…"

The people in the temple by now had made the woman go outside (who went on doing kai kai kai..) and had come to me and requested me to be quiet. The panditji came and smiled and said, "Beta, aap toh samajhte ho..Aap shant ho jao." And I immediately became quiet.

This is what happens when you ask an average person in India to follow some basic unsaid rules, that too in a temple. An auntyish woman, who sang bhakti ke gaane with such dedication, cannot follow some basic humanitarian rules. And then they call themselves spiritual, all in the name of God. The same God, whose curtains were now closed, as he was put to sleep by our Goodnight prayers. This lady didn't even blink an eye before shrieking like crazy inside the temple. Where was her God now? Or had she forgotten what she was here for? The bigger purpose? All lost in the triviality of breaking a line…

I have no shame in saying I don't respect such elders, for their age or for anything you might say. We, as the next generation kids are way better than these stubborn mules who flaunt something they dont have. We are atleast real and honest. And probably more spiritually developed. Atleast I am.

India can never progress if the Indians cant maintain common etiquettes, and I mean everywhere, not just in temples.. If Indians cant give two minutes to keep a line or respect a weak human being amongst them, then India simply cant..

And that angers me…

Just looking

2009-04-09T23:24:00.006+05:30

Just looking

there's things i want
there's things i think i want
there's things i've had
there's things i wanna have

do i want the dreams
the ones we're forced to see
do i want the perfect wife
the word perfect ain't quite right

shopping every day
take it back the next break
they say the more you fly
the more you
risk your life

i'm just looking i'm not buying
i'm just looking keeps me smiling

a house i seen, another coulda' been
you drenched my head and said what i said
you said that life is what you make of it
yet most of us just fake

i'm just looking, i'm not buying
i'm just looking, keeps me smiling

Swirling in a pool of CRAP!

2009-04-07T22:52:00.002+05:30

I never ever wished life to be a fairytale. I certainly dint wish for it to be a nightmare too. A ‘liveable’ life would have been just fine.

I have been missing from the blog scene for a while now, blame it on my fairytale:p.
Work’s been keeping me on my toes (literally). While the initial one month of my training occupied most of my time avoiding strange, wicked, stupid people, the following month was a breath of fresh air. With my improved ‘sucking-up’ skills and hard work (no seriously I did work hard… not hardly: p) I was shifted to a team I preferred. I represented my company and clients at the fashion week along with 2 other female colleagues, looked my best (still felt underdressed once at the venue), admired models backstage, ogled at a few male models, exclaimed on seeing Sari-Man (man with a draped sari on his tee accompanied with a nose ring) and felt irritated on seeing him hog all the media attention.
On my second day at the fashion week, I needed the need to be ‘known’ and so I urged Nandini to drop in after college. Seeing Nandini (looking suave as ever) get off the auto, I felt a pang of relief, I knew could finally perform the ‘baby this is my place’ act; air kiss, engage myself in some ‘serious discussion’ laugh, giggle and comfortably look preoccupied.
Once the fashion fiesta was over, it was time to welcome Mr long-distance. He was convincingly smitten by the new me (weight loss + birthday clothes + pleasing hairstyle= new me). Four days with him were pure bliss; it was the therapy I desperately required.

Apart from staying clear of bickering at work place, hoping each day for life to change for good, day dreaming, just dreaming, sulking, whining, laughing at times and dressing up for lousy clubs, there’s nothing quite interesting going on. Nandini and Mrinalini are a balancing factor in my and Anjali’s life.

I often wonder – When Happiness and luck were being distributed, were I and Anjali busy eating?

PS: Ever heard anyone writing their obituary as a part of an interview test?
Stay hooked- Anjali shall elaborate: D

A list...

2009-03-29T01:28:00.007+05:30

A lazy morning, a shopping trip and a humungous lunch leave two girls immobile, lazy and somewhat sleepy. So Anjali and Nandini decide to sit and digest their food while analyzing why it is that they are still single. The following list was compiled (sitting cross legged, munching burgers, fries and baked potatoes) and is a mixture of things that they look for in a guy (idiotically enough), reasons why they never said yes to any of the guys who DID ask them out or just a general description of the causes of their single status and why it is likely to remain so…

Too picky
Outstation candidates are not applicable
Guy cannot be called Saroj, Jitender and the likes
Online relationships are not relationships
Being related to the status of backups is not appreciated
Strange behaviour such as stalking, taking photographs without asking or even offering to take photographs is not exactly appealing
Packaging relationships with marriage is not exactly high on the list. Like saying “I wouldn’t mind marrying you” would not exactly go down well
Pink hair on a grown up man is not attractive, neither are those extra 50 kilos.
Sardars.. forget it!
Not ready to become a package/twosome/couple whatever! Need some SPACE.
In the habit of making fun of people indulging in PDA
Definitely not ready to be needy, clingy or dependent
Fortunately or unfortunately, there is abundance of ego. Happens when you have been single for so long. (Forever?)
Should be able to handle mood swings, the irrelevant ones as well… A little doubtful about whether there is someone out there who would be willing to handle it
Fake accents? I fink nat! Dun wanna hee-are it. Or extreme metrosexuals. We’re called the fairer sex for a reason. And guys, what’s with the latest trend of scarves around the neck? It suits only SRK.
Not ready to handle emotionally immature people. (BOYS)
Coloured/streaked hair, chunky belts, gold jewellery… Stay away!
Must. Know. English. Repeat loop.
Pseudo cool people, pseudo intellectuals. Uff. Don’t try too hard! Its ok if you’re not the coolest, just don’t pretend.
Possessive, demanding, dictatorial…. Nuh-uh. Join the army, not the list of suitors
Even if it is the 21^st century, chivalry is not dead. It is not about feminism… it’s about manners.
Personal hygiene counts Big Time! Wash your hair please, how many do guys have anyway?
Understanding sarcasm is a prerequisite. Taking hints, overall perception, are all plusses
Dude needs to have other interests besides dating a girl
Too much mush- oh no! Get.A.Life.
Point no 25 does not include romantic gestures and surprise gifts.
Should be able to indulge in random, vague conversations initiated by us and not get bored of it. That is, until we do.
Must be a talker (about relevant things of course) but not too much. Trying to edge in a word in a monologue of “I, me myself” is not exactly the nicest thing to do.
After reading this list, one must not get daunted, depressed or discouraged.
Despite all the aforementioned requirements, idiosyncrasies, whims and fancies, it would be nice if he worshipped the ground we walked on ;P

Combined efforts of Ms. Nandini and Ms Anjali

P.S: Most of these are written in good humour and a funny vein, it would be nice if they’re taken the same way

PPS. We’re only joking about a few. But we are serious about the rest. Now guess which ones are which!

PPPS: Post scripts are SO annoying but so relevant. Just so you know, the list was compiled on two long shopping bills and half a napkin.

Nice guys finish last!

2009-02-23T12:08:00.004+05:30

Why should one ever aspire to be the nice guy? What is the need to be a nice guy when they always finish last? And I mean literally so. Watched a few movies lately and one thing has become abnormally clear to me. That these nice guys, nobody cares for, really.

Cut to Vicky Christina Barcelona, a film by Woody Allen, one of my favorite directors. So in the movie, Christina falls for an amazingly hot and unpredictable Spanish artist who brings back his hot ex-wife and they all live together, indulging in co-operative and mutual love making!
Vicky, who is Christina's best buddy, is soon to be married to a 'Nice guy' who is very worldly wise and loves Vicky to the core. Vicky suddenly forgets all about her commitment to the ‘Nice guy’ and spends a cool afternoon sightseeing with Mr. Hot and Unpredictable and ends up sharing a passionate night with him. She secretly stays in love with him even after she gets married. So much so, the ‘Nice guy’ becomes quite much like a prop in the movie, to whom Vicky keeps going back to when her wild fantasies don't end up the way she wants them to.

The Accidental Husband is another such movie. Emma is some sort of a Radio Love Guru who dishes out advices to stupid women about love and marriage. Some of these women actually break their marriages after taking her advice. She incidentally breaks one such marriage and the guy who is heartbroken decides to pay her back in the same coin. When Emma gets ready to marry her own boyfriend (if you haven't guessed, this is the the 'Nice guy') they find that she is electronically registered as married, thanks to a hacking genius who happens to be the Heartbroken guy's sidekick.

So while she tries to unentangle herself from this mishap, she falls in love with the man, who somehow seems to have forgotten all about his fiancé and instead, woos this Love Guru female who wrecked his life earlier!!!

You may ask, where is the 'Nice guy’? Well, he is busy trying to choose the colour of the walls for the house he and Emma bought together. And also listening to her radio show in his car and getting more and more bewildered, miserable and helpless by the minute when he sees her slipping off. He even gets her back once in the middle, only to be run out on in the final scene (which is quite obviously the church scene where they are supposed to get married). He actually lets go of her because wo kisi aur ka naseeb hai..tsk tsk..(the movie is in English but such feelings sound better in cheesy Hindi)

I am just too zapped by the portrayal of the Nice guy. Why does being perfect and caring in every sense of the word hold no meaning to these women? They run off with some unpredictable madcap (agreed they are hot! To all firemen and bisexual artists, no offense!) only to come back later or maybe stay on forever…but what the heck? Wasn’t your life going perfectly fine with the Nice guy as well? Why does he suddenly lose his sheen once a charmer enters the scene? Anyway, I would like to meet a guy who could charm his entire way through life…I have seen and met so many and trust me when I say it, they cant keep up the act forever, they just cant! Nobody can! So in that case, why is the 'Nice guy' just a safe bet and not your Prince Charming??

We always want someone to choose the colour of the walls with, to buy a house with, to make breakfast with…and when a like-minded guy comes, we keep him for marriage, for long term plans but not for the fantasy parts. Maybe he could be just as good you know where! Why is escaping the real thing so much fun, and why is jeopardizing the reality so very tempting..

I don't have the answers to these, but I just hope the 'Nice guys' don't watch too many of these movies and end up feeling like the losers and do what they aren't meant to do; play and act like the 'Unpredictable' ones. We will all be at a loss then, wont we?

A Sunday afternoon...

2009-02-09T11:27:00.005+05:30

One doesn’t expect much out of a lazy Sunday afternoon. You laze around the house, sleep, watch TV and by the evening feel worthless and …blah. At least that’s how I like to spend my Sunday. This Sunday was different. This Sunday had all this and yet it become a Sunday that I won’t forget for a long long time.

It all started when I decided to get a haircut and asked or hinted almost everyone i know to come with me. Reason: I hate going to parlours/salons alone. The people there are trained to make the clients feel insecure about their looks. Eg : You should use Olive oil, your hair is very rough Or You badly need a facial, the dark circles sweety, are not nice. Whatever way one can extract some extra money from us poor souls. I come to the parlour to feel nice about myself and NOT to feel like a sham, which they constantly try to make you feel.

So after failed attempts I finally asked my dad to come along with me (height of desperation!). Since it was afternoon and the roads were comparatively empty he willingly let me drive (it’s a rare thing). So I very nicely took the car out from the parking lot without any hitch, maneuvered it out of the apartment gate, smoothly drove out of the bumpy side lane and landed on the main road, towards the market( the detailed description is because I am still a novice when it comes to driving). I crossed the first red light and pressed the accelerator and enjoyed the cool breeze running through my hair while my dad sat on the edge of the seat and behaved as if we are going to drive off a cliff. In fact he kept moving his legs into imaginary brakes and accelerator while I applied them in reality. Sigh….dads!

At the second red light, I took the right lane and waited for the light to turn green. I had to take a right for my salon. A cop on a bike was waiting at the same red light in the middle lane. As the light turned green I slowly started moving. The cop was right in front of me and was going straight when suddenly he decided to stop and then turn towards right. Although I had applied brake, the car still hit his bike gently.He glared and I ignored. I smoothly took a turn, drove couple of meters ahead and finally parked the car. Meanwhile my father frantically kept saying “Great! You hit a cop! Oh God!” and then “Ok now he is coming our way and he will want to talk to you.” “Let him” I said “Its his fault, not mine”.

The moment I came out of the Car, the cop cornered me and asked “Gaadi chalani nahi aati kya?” My answer: “Bilkul aati hain ji (Such confidence!) “Accha, toh aise chalate hain, logon ko maar ke chalate hain ?” “ Nahi, aapki galti thi, aap seedha jaate jaate suddenly right turn lena ka socha” (Great Anjali now you are going to tell the cop about traffic rules…great!)
The cop was vehement and kept insisting that it was my fault. My take: “ Dekhiye, na aapke Bike ko kuch hua hai, na mere Car ko, toh aapko problem kya hai?” ( I loved the confidence I was oozing and that too in front of a policeman) “ Matlab kisi ko chot lage ya gaadi thuk jaye tabh hi problem hoti hain..hain?” “ Madam aap toh manne ko hi tayyar nahi ki aapki galti hai” “ Kyu maanu main, jab meri galti hai hi nahi. Aapki galti hai” (I cant believe I actually said that).
Now it was my dad’s turn to mediate. The pitch was high just like mine, but his tone was much polite. “ Aap duvidha me the, seedha jaate jaate aap do second ke liye ruk gaye, yeh toh manna padega” “ Na aap galat bol rahe hain na na hum” “ Accident toh by chance hi hota hai na, jaan boojh ke toh accident nahi hota.” My dad like a true gentleman tried to make that stupid cop understand, while I kept shouting “ Aapki galti thi, doosron pe mat daaliye” ( to which my dad glared back at me to shut up). He asked for my license and I promptly took it out. Dad said with a solemn look “ Ghair kanooni kaam hum nahi karte” (as if its going to make any difference to him Dad) After analyzing my license he finally left.

He was on the look out for a bakra and was in a mood to earn some quick bucks and thought I was an easy target (since I am young, a woman and I hit his bike) but soon realized that it was his fault and I couldn’t be cornered that easily. I’m sure he was disappointed to see my license as he must have thought that I am a learner who was driving without a proper license and he could have earned couple of hundreds from us.

I did go to the salon, and got myself a haircut, which I hate right now. Maybe with time I shall like it. While coming back my mind went back to the incident and I couldn’t help but feel nice about myself. I drove properly, and also in my way told a cop that he was at fault and did not budge from my stand. It was a simple incident and am sure you all have gone through something like this before and but it was a first for me and I felt like superman :)

It may be a trivial thing for others but it was a small little victory for me and as I said, I will remember it for a long long time.

New Year for The Pretty Four.

2009-01-02T20:38:00.005+05:30

Piya's take: The year that starts and ends on a Guru's day- Thursday!

As the end to 2008 drew closer my expectation with 2009 multiplied. I’ve already told all my loved ones that this year is going to be an excellent yr for each one of us. It almost seemed like a promise I made to them and myself. And honestly speaking I’ve no second thoughts on what I just declared.On the 31st evening while I was in the washroom I counted everyone (I knew) who had a bad time in 2008 and the ones who had a good time. Surprisingly counts on both the sides were equal, but if I had done a holistic analyzing and drawn a chart of the same I’m certain the ‘bad column’ would have exceeded the good one. I and Anjali just kept telling each other that next year is going to be great and soon enough we convinced ourselves about it. But my declaration above is not limited to our belief; there is this surety, gut feeling, positive vibe and assurance that I’m already experiencing. Two days into the New Year and I can feel the good times rolling in.If you’re wondering what’s so great about this year than I’ll say I don’t know. I just feel everyone deserves ONE year to set their lives back on track, ONE year to rectify mistakes, ONE year to take that plunge do what they’ve always wanted to do, ONE year to stabilize themselves and ONE year where God soothes their lives creases. 2009 is that ONE year. 2009 is that year that’s going to make us strong to bear all the other years until that ‘one’ year comes again.You know how you've always been told that one’s Mind is one’s strongest weapon against all odds. Try believing in it- if you haven’t till now- and you’ll be amazed to see what miracle ones belief, faith and hope can do. I am a staunch devotee of Sai Baba hence the aforementioned fact (refer to title name) is proof enough for me on how 2009 will be.I hope 2009 proves to be a fantabulous year for you all out there too and may be in December (or sooner; suit yourself) you can write about all the good things that came your way and let everyone know of how happy you are :D also I’ll know I wasn’t wrong (it’ll be such a relief.. lol)
Cheers! Piya

Nandini's take: This Year

This year, is gonna be incredible
This year, is gonna be the one
All the planets are lining up for me
This year, I'm gonna have fun
This year, I'll paint my masterpiece
This year, I'll be recognized
I can feel like I'll fall in love for real
This year, this year
January, I'll learn to fly
February, love's gonna find me
March, April, May, I'll get carried away

Oh, oh...

This year, I'll reach the pinnacle
This year, I'll get to the top
People will ask where she get that energy
This year, I'm never gonna stop
January, I'll learn to fly
February, love's gonna find me
March, April, May, I'll get carried away

Oh, oh, oh, oh...

This year, is gonna be incredible
This year, is gonna be the one
All the planets are lining up for me
This year, I'm gonna have fun
I'm gonna have fun
Just watch me now
This year
This year
This year

P.S: Nothing I would've written could match this song, so hum away :) and enjoy, this year
Love,
Nandu

X-Mast!

2008-12-27T11:57:00.000+05:30

Who said 4 pretty single girls cant have fun all by themselves in big, bad Dilli? If anybody did, guess Nandu would have to simply send the picasa album link to that person. To get an idea of what we are capable of. Just a gist of it.

Well, it so happened that we four decided to take things in our own hands and made a plan for Christmas eve. We would hang out, have a cake, be merry and spend some nice nice time together. That was the idea anyway. So, while most of our plans go dhap, this one plan slowly cemented itself in the upcoming weeks. Finally, on the 24th, with some minor hiccups (Mrinu having a choked throat, bloody Bengali catching cold just at the right time! And Pia having banged her car, was forced to repair it with her father towering over her with the look that said, ‘You young people of today!’ also Nandu simply could not manage to convince her strict dad; we almost decided to call up as Anjali’s mom and speak to him! ) we made our way from Gurgaon to Vasant Vihar in Pia’s car singing ‘Last Christmas I gave you my heart..’

So, we made it to Hooka Bar, this stylish pub where the manager looked at us and we thought he’ll know we weren’t 25 yet! He didn’t (actually it seemed our day simply couldn’t go wrong anymore!) and informed us it was a ‘No Smoking’ zone. So we looked at Anjali and said, ‘Ah well, if only Anjali cant resist smoking for sometime, I guess this place is good enough! You have your nicotine patch with you, Anjali?’ So the manager stared. Eventually, the entire complex did, but we will come to that later.

Inside Hooka, it was still Happy Hours and so we ordered rounds of Green apple vodkas with Pia sipping some orange flavoured ones. And we toasted to so many things, that Nandu decided we should not take our glasses away, just stick them together.
We had found ourselves a table closest to the bar and once we were settled, we realized that our table direction forced us to be the unfortunate spectators of an old ugly man cozying up to a young little girl. He gulped down whisky- two in a row (sure they were neat). God save the girl!

Meanwhile, the waiter in his Santa hat found it difficult to absorb our order.
Waiter: 3 orange flavoured vodka and 1 green apple?
Mrinu: No. 3 green apple flavors and 1 orange.
Man in Santa hat returned with 2 orange flavored vodkas…that’s it.
Mrinu: Aapko bola tha 3 green apple aur ek orange.
He rushes off to attend to another customer, leaving Mrinu visibly irritated. Anjali decides she’ll give it to him this time he returns.
Waiter: Madam dekho paper pe yehi likha hai-2 orange, 1green apple.
Mrinu: Bhaiyaaaaaa!! 3 green apple aur Ek orange kitni baar bole aapko.

Finally the drinks arrived:
Mrinu/ Anjali/ Nandini: Mmm nice!
Piya: Uhh mine tastes like shit!
Nandini takes the glass from Pia and confirms: Yeah
Anjali, sipping it: Hehe it is shit!

Anjali all through our drinks wished to go to another place and avail their happy hour too, when suddenly Mrinalini started giggling, followed by Pia, Anjali and Nandini. In the midst of non stop laughter, Nandu declared “I don’t know why am laughing” Anjali exclaimed “me neither!” Actually, none of us knew what the joke was. And then it struck us- Mrinalini was DRUNK! And the rest of us were well slightly getting where Mrinu had so quickly reached. Our second round arrived and realizing Mrinu was in lala land, Pia and Nandu quietly sipped her drink to half! Anjali, in between, was acting strange and kept saying that Pia should not drink anymore since she had to drive back.

A while later, we decided to get out of the place for a smoke and go to Chocola, a place famous for its chocolate delicacies (how obvious). Once out, Nandini began behaving strange. Our observation (fresh air + alcohol= drunk Nandu). Anjali got 2 smokes, while Mrinu protested she wanted a bidi. Nandu and Pia alternated between a paan and a Godaam Garam.

Snippets:
-Mrinalini constantly blabbered- we are pre-thy (pretty with an accent), I love the fondueeee (which was actually a chocolate cake) and that ‘He’- the guy she likes and the guy who was quite amused on seeing the 4 of us acting peculiar- looks like fondue.. He is fondue.

-Nandini: Look, people outside singing carols.
Pia and Nandini waved at them (WHY?) The guy turns back enters Chocola, hands us Christmas cards.

-Piya: Oh look cute guy across the street.
Nandini: He has a moustache.
Piya: No he doesn’t.
Nandini: Yes he does, come I’ll show you.
They go and stick out faces on the glass window and stare intently.
Piya: Yaaaaa he does have a moustache, how did you notice. It’s so tiny :p

-Cute guy looked at us, of course amused and minutes later entered Chocola with his 2 afro friends and sat right NEXT TO US.

-Anjali decided to use the washroom, started walking towards it when suddenly Nandini pushed her aside and entered the loo.
Anjali: HUH?

-Meanwhile Mrinalini was talking to JB, Anjali’s buddy over the phone telling her to get off the bus as she was needed home and that she had to go home right then! Also, how JB should not date Advocate Pintu [a name she mixed up] and how never to trust a woman who has an X in her name.
Mrinu: What is she? A fucking movie directed by MF. Hussain!

-Nandini started to go through Pia’s bag. Took out the sunglasses and placed them crookedly on her nose, while we desperately tried to operate her hi-tech camera. Nandu smiled for a pose, and seconds later, fell down on the couch chuckling. The foreign party next to us were thoroughly enjoying.
Soon, a search for the hi-tech camera cap began:
We were busy going through the hand bags, shifting couches when suddenly we heard someone tell us: Look under that couch, I can SNIFF it!
Unanimous turning of our heads and we saw the afro guy grinning and repeating I can sniff it. When we found it, Afro Guy said: I told ya, I could sniff it. (ya, great! Whatever!)

Later, we decided to stop for some coffee and burgers. Mrinalini’s guy was on his way to picking her up and Anjali’s sole aim was to get Nandu in her senses before we met her folks. So while Anjali was gone, Pia had the responsibility of 2 pretty drunk girls, looking at shoes.
Nandini: Look Fendi bag, kitne ka hai bhiyaa?
Bhaiya: 1850!
Mrinu: But yeh to fake hai.
Nandini: Even I am wearing fake Fendi shoes but they don’t look fake na. See.

Nandu took her one shoe off and balanced herself on one foot. Jeez!
Nandini: Yeh dekh dono ko (she matched her shoe and the bag while the shopkeeper had the look: What the fuck??) Soon, Mrinu sees her guy coming. He already had an amused look from far. Anjali by now was back with coffee, fries and burgers.
Mrinu to her guy: Look Anjali has such small feet and hands. Anjali show.
Anjali (totally embarrassed and probably thinking- why?): Uhh, okay! Here!

-We bid good bye to Mrinu and her guy and began walking towards the car. Nandini was hopping/ jumping, the fake fendi had given her shoe bites.

On the drive back, Anjali asked Nandini to perform on the song playing (Khaled’s Didi). Pia viewed the ‘dance’ from the rearview mirror; a black shadow going left and right with hands moving up and down!

Anjali: Nandini please behave yourself, your dad will notice.
Piya: Shake yourself up chal..Do we have water in the car?
Anjali: No.

We spotted her parents and slowed down.
Anjali: Nandu keep shut in your car. Don’t talk or giggle.
Nandini: Haan Haan!

We exchange ‘polite-sober-we’re-totally-okay’ greetings with her parents.
Nandini (Loudly): Anjali, Piya ka nightsuit and tera handbag tujhe de doon?
Anjali (with the shut yourself up look): Umm, no let Eeverything in the backseat be!
Nandini (sat inside, stuck her hand and face outside): Byeeee. (Then only the hand waving till we no longer could see them.)
Anjali: Uff is she mad why was she doing that? Her dad will figure.

The X-Mas party had happened, and it was for real. Just that, all the four of us just remember parts of it. That is how we wrote this post. Some parts, still missing.
PS: This story is inspiring in no way. It is all that women should not be doing outdoors all on their own.

Charlie and the photo factory

2008-12-23T23:53:00.004+05:30

Yep, that’s my version of the tale so you don’t get chocolates but photographs. It was my day out with a mime who plays Charlie Chaplin at a restaurant for a living. So for all intents and purposes, lets call him Charlie shall we, for the real one would’ve been proud of this 21^st (or is it 22nd) century copy!

Basically, coming to terms with vague themes, I decided to be vague in my own way and decided to shoot a photo series with Charlie because he in himself is such an interesting prop, I only needed to place him and viola! I have a photo story. Quite what the story says, I haven’t decided just yet but something will come up. Maybe something to do with surrealism and juxtaposition and contrast etc etc. hmmm. So back to the day.

Charlie, though very decent was quite tardy, he made me wait for two hours before he arrived and then put on his make-up while I was hanging around waiting for a ready made painted one. (While waiting I checked out hideously expensive overcoats and exchanged gossip with recession worried Anjali and Pia. We were depressed with the prices and decided to wait till the sale becomes more aggressive).

Since he had a 4 'o' clock birthday to attend and I had an evening book launch to rush to, my panic button was all but blinking red since the day being his holiday, it was all I had. Phew. I get jitters just thinking about it. But we managed. Almost.

First of all I took him to Jantar Mantar where the unique architecture would provide an interesting contrast and setting. What I did not expect was ‘Charlie Charlie’ and ‘One photo please’ requests from everyone, be it 6 or 60. Seriously, people were fascinated. It makes me wonder why I was and am always so blasé about this. Charlie Chaplin appealed to me as a photographic subject, but as entertainment, I probably would not be so enamored. But maybe my idea of creating contrast by placing him in dramatic or just different surroundings worked too well. People gamed. People stared. And people called out.

‘Dost’

‘Areey, hello yaaar’

‘Charlie Bhai’

‘Charlie paaji, oye hullo’

‘Hello Mr India!’

and you can add your variations.

This Charlie was as pleasant as was possible considering we were almost mobbed! Everyone wanted a piece of him. And I never once imagined this aspect of the shoot while I bit my nails thinking of locations and lighting.

As the day went on and we proceeded from location to location- in an auto, I was constantly amazed by the number of people who peeped out of their cars, turned their heads, hung their heads out of the window- just for Charlie. And he of course never failed to oblige. He shook hands with kids, tipped his hat to strangers, raised eyebrows for strangers, mimicked anyone with a funny expression and well, he did what he does best- entertained people. Pretending to trip while in Janpath, swishing his stick nonchalantly while checking out handicrafts or just making faces at a very old, amused lady- he was in his element. And I know he’s an artist and this is how he earns his living but the simplicity with which he adopted this role and proceeded to entertain everyone- policemen, beggars, our auto rickshaw drivers, security guards, aunties and uncles and little sardars- it was amazing.

Which is why, when we reached India Gate and some 15 unruly school children (probably bursting with post-puberty hormones) started to jostle, push and just misbehave with Charlie, I was furious. With myself for not thinking about it, since he was pretty much my responsibility and with people, who have no respect. Obviously, screaming ‘Don’t touch him’ and ‘Get away’ did not work. I wonder if my voice was within the audible range, but capable Charlie swished his stick and off we were. He was upset but within minutes he was entertaining ice-cream vendors with swashbuckling antics. Needless to say, I was charmed. Here was a boy, who hardly earns enough to keep house, is extremely talented and who likes being Charlie Chaplin and he gets over such incidents like a forgotten itch. I don’t think I would be quite so forgiving, or forgetful.

But mostly, it was his quiet pride in what he does, the smiles and the responses that he generated from every and I do mean every pedestrian we crossed (not to mention a group of very persistent south Indian NCC cadets. ‘Char-lay own photoh’) that kept him going I think. From Lodhi Garden to the National Gallery of Modern art, a book shop or a bus stand; everywhere we went, he drew smiles, if not awe. And me, I just kept wondering- how many lives has he touched today by a simple lift of an eyebrow?

What's in a name....

2008-11-14T17:20:00.004+05:30

Has it ever happened to you that when you look at a person you feel that person should be called a certain name? Do you feel that a person can look his or her name? Confused? Let me give you an example. When I first joined work, in the bus (yes my office provides transport, one of the numerous reason I am still working in this place) I saw this guy who looked very Punjabi (To all the Punjabis out there…I love you guys, Please do not take it personally) He wore branded jeans and branded floral shirt, a big metallic watch (also branded) to office. The shirt and the jeans were a size smaller or he had just expanded since the time he had bought it. He always wore Rayban shades, most of the time they were perched on the forehead or hung from his shirt pocket. His face was/is/will be always …round, and he had coloured hair. One look at him and I decided that he must be a “Gaurav” and believe it or not his parents also thought the same. See what I mean. Some people just look their name. Like Mrinu looks like Mrinalini, or Piya looks very Piya.

So some people look their name and some don’t. Yes, some don’t. I’m sure you and your friend at some point in your life must have said this “She should have been called…instead of ….” Or “She is soooo much like a …..” (Fill in the blanks with the suitable names)We all have ‘code’ names for people. If you don’t, then perhaps you lack the imagination which is another issue altogether. Anyway, coming back to names, like everyone we also have names for almost everyone. People who we like generally get good names and people whom we don’t like get names that suit their personalities (or so WE think). Nice names range from DIVA (because she behaves like one) to JB (initials of a name) to Goddess (because she is one) to Dan (short form of a looooong name) to The Lawyer (simply because of his profession) and so on and so forth. Most of these names are for friends, some get to know their ‘code’ names, some don’t but in any case they don’t mean any harm.

Funny names are fun. Sometimes these names become so common that one forgets the actual name of that person. Our workplace is full of them. I shall elucidate.

Blockage- Imagine a tall fair pretty girl with beautiful long hair. Add some extra kilos to her. Now imagine this pretty lass with a heavy baritone. And we have Miss. Blockage for you. Wondering why she is called Blockage? One fine day she found out that poor little Mrinu was having cold. So she took it upon herself to enquire about her health every.single.day.( sweet I know but whatever!) And always one constant question (in that baritone) and in a matronly way “So how are you today? Mrinu(feebily) “ Ok” blowing some more into the napkin “ And the BLOCKAGE?” The emphasis was always on the word Blockage. For the longest time whenever Mrinu thought about her all she could hear around her was the word “blockage” in that tone.

Matka- It’s not difficult to guess why a person is called that. Obviously for his physicality. This man happens to be a marketing guy who makes our life miserable by piling more and more useless work on us. And it doesn’t help that he looks and behaves like a ‘matka’. He is short, fat, and dark. He can’t speak a word properly and almost squeaks every sentence. And yes just like a matka his head is empty. He lacks substance. His actual name happens to be Arjun Agarwal but our team fondly calls him Matka. So much so, that once in a meeting Joe (my team mate) almost called him “Mat” and stopped at the right moment with us glaring at him. In his defense Joe said later “I just couldn’t remember his name. None of us call him that!”

Ishaan- Remember Ishaan from the film Taare Zameen Par? We have our very own Ishaan at work. He is a friend. But he doesn’t know he is referred to as Ishaan. Why you may wonder? Well, he is special. Or as Mrinu would put it “a little tara on the zameen” .The guy is a certified geek and has no qualms proclaiming that. Although 24 years old but he claims he is not more than 6.And is very proud of that. Awwww, our little Ishaan…He gets excited seeing gross pictures, enjoys toilet humour and loves to play ‘missed call, missed call’ on Gtalk when bored. Just like the Ishaan in the film, our Ishaan is totally ‘Bindaas!’

Purple Hair Giant- The name explains it all eh? This man is the most fascinating creature I have ever met. When I had first joined office he used to have long pink hair. He is about 5.10`, huge and had French beard back then (he recently shaved it off, revealing he has no chin) had long purple hair, which slowly turned shocking pink, and wears only shades of dark blue or black. Wow! The man had the hots for our Nandu for the longest time (another story for another time) He went bald in the middle maybe in the grief that Nandu had rejected him the 44th time. Is over friendly with the entire office and thinks he has the coolest sense of humour. Me thinks, he is just plain irritating. Current status is that he is dating Blockage and has lost 2 kgs. Ah love!

CUJ King-He used to go in the same bus as Mrinu’s. Quite the looker, he attracted a lot of female attention (Our ex-colleague Nida and Mrinu also being ‘one of them’). But CUJ king was hot only till the time he kept his mouth shut. The moment he opened it err…let’s just say lot of dreams were shattered. On his Orkut profile one of the most frequently used word is “CUJ” Eg: ‘I don’t like books cuj they r boring’, ‘Cuj am hot!’ etc etc. Yes, he meant ‘because’ or maybe ‘Cuz’. Once he had come to our bay to meet Nida and Piya had started singing ‘Kajrare’ loudly. We all were in splits CUJ it was funny!

Pigeon one and two- Two women look exactly the same but aren’t related. They both go in my bus, and have a neck like a pigeon and round eyes. They both love to be on the phone 24/7. Cannot sit properly and keep kicking and adjusting their seats through out the journey, love to disturb others around them but hate being disturbed. Pigeon One is taller and Pigeon Two stares a lot! Off late they have become bummies and are performing together for the upcoming office bash. I’m eagerly waiting for their event.

Verbal Abuser- Ex- colleague Nida’s fiancé. Uses abuses like punctuation marks in his vocabulary. But only in front of guys. In front of girls, he is full of ‘Lucknowi Tehzeeb’. He slips only when he is drunk. Ah.. can’t blame him, it’s the alcohol talking. His ultimate dream: To challenge every able bodied guy for a fight. He claims that he can win every single match.

LL aka Luscious Lips- My boss. Has fat lips (well taken care of with moisturizer) which are the most prominent feature of his face followed by huge nose. Simply gross.

Bus Bhaiya- Sweet guy, goes in my bus. Also a friend and is the mushiest guy on planet earth. All his Gtalk status messages are dedicated to his girl friend. Mrinu had a tiny crush on him which Nandu found hard to digest and said “But he is our Bus Bhaiya”. You know, some guys just give out that brotherly vibe and he is one of them.

I’m sure by now you must have got an idea of what I have been talking about. There are names for almost all weird characters and our office is full of them. And I haven’t even started with my college and school list.

Disclaimer - We aren’t uppity. We are just a tad bit sarcastic and yes, have a sense of humour. Our kind. All the people mentioned above are nice people and we don’t hate them. They provide us with a lot of entertainment and I have to admit, office would have been quite dull without them. So, to them!

Notes from the diary of a Could be Roadie!

2008-11-08T18:35:00.005+05:30

It all started when I heard that Dheeraj, a red haired wannabe model at work had registered for Roadies. Roadies, as you all must be knowing, is a very popular reality show on MTV, which selects a bunch of foul mouthed, skimpily clad youngsters who ride on bikes, fall off it, get cosy with each other and travel and see good places in the daytime and bitch and vote people out in the evening time. Of course, the channel thinks they are running a classic adventure series with daredevil stunts (read scripted).

Anyway, the auditions in Delhi were cancelled as rowdy Delhiites did ‘tod-fod’ in the venue. Result was, people could fill the form online and then be chosen. While I have never really harbored feelings to be a part of any reality show ever, but the fact that I could fill up a form online was making me curious to know how would I fare if given a chance (read a very easily accessible chance).

I filled up the form with very true answers, and sent it knowing they didn’t want ‘suljha hua’ youngsters like us, as Anjali puts it. Well, all you had to do was click on submit. So there.

I received a call a few days later from “Preeti from MTV” saying I had to get an extra pair of clothes that wasn’t branded for my auditions as my form had been short listed! Surprised and now a little worried (because it was fine till I was sitting on my workstation and filling a form online… Now it meant more work!) as I am the kind that sits on the sidelines and judges these funny people who want to be on TV. Now I was suddenly on the other side. And it was a little scary.

Morning of the auditions, 6:30 am
I dump my plans to go for the audition, because I had a sleepless night, and when I did sleep, I dreamt of two very decked up PYTs bitching about me on national TV, saying that I take too much space on the bed and that I eat ‘bhat’ on a road trip and that I have no fashion sense. All true by the way.

Still the Morning of the auditions, 7:30 am
I am sitting in the car with Baba, who had made sure that I went for the audition by saying, “We get to be young only once, so you must explore the world beta.” I felt like I was being taken to the butcher house.

As I entered the venue, I revived, feeling I should make the most of my day. Straightaway, I made a friend, Divyanshi. She insisted that this was the first time she had come to audition and that she had been partying all night. Her very pressed hair and a butterfly clip and nicely done features didn’t say so. Another girl, Nancy (or Harpreet) joined us, saying her nose had a small fracture thanks to the bottle that had hit her on the day the auditions had got cancelled. She had come for these auditions, yet again. Some enthu.

Soon, we were made to stand in a line and a camera swooped past us and we were asked to cheer very loudly and scream ‘Roadies’ at the top of our voices. When the camera came near me, I shyly waved at it. I still don’t know why.

Then came the ‘heroes’ (I say it in the plural form because there are quite a few in that category…You will surely know them all in due course of time) of the show, Ayushman. He came and asked some guys to prove it that they were ‘real mard’ by making them do push-ups. Even some girls did it. Don’t know what they proved.

We were all lead to a huge hall and divided into 8 boys and 8 girls for the Group discussion round. I had Divyanshi with me who seemed to like Nikhil Chinappa even more than I did. I silently cursed her. Into the GD room, we sat on a semi circle row chairs and the judge (Sagar from MTV Productions) said “Sab hindi mein baat karenge. Topic hai live-in (so much for his Hindi!) Mujhe yeh nahi dekhna ki kaun right hai ya wrong, mujhe bas apke behaviour ko dekhna hai.”

And the boys started off….They babbled loudly and endlessly about how everything is fake, and love is a time pass and nobody cares about emotions anymore and that ‘sab chalta hai’. One guy said, “Live-in mast hai, because ‘love shav’ kuch nahi hota, all that we need is sax. (yes u read it right) Sax mil gaya, to sab mast hai.” To that, a very quiet guy who sat next to me, looked wide eyed. He seemed scared at the mention of the word ‘sax’. I wonder how he was short listed for even the second round.

From the middle of nowhere, in barged Raghu, the man himself, Mr.Roadie personified. He entered with his arms outstretched, as if he was already holding the imaginary collar of an imaginary boy. His fingers then magically fitted into the collar of a boy sitting in the GD room and just like that, he was whisked outside.

And we heard. “Saale, B**********, tod-fod ki thi tune? Baap ka auditorium tha? Ja, jaa ke apne gunde dosto ko bol ki Raghu Dilli mein hai. Dum hai to aaj tod-fod kare. Sorry bol saaaaale!”

The poor boy, whose face was inches away from Raghu’s, stuttered, “Sir, maine to kuch bhi nahi kiya tha. Mujhe police ne do latth (read stick or cane) maare, to mai khundak kha gaya, aur pathar uthake tute huye khidki mein de maari! Sach sir”
“SORRY BOL B*******”
He said sorry and entered the GD room looking like he had wetted his pants.

I had forgotten by then if I supported the concept of live in or not. Also, the judge couldn’t hear anything properly, so he asked us all to speak one by one. While all the boys ranted about ‘time pas and sax’ the girls were a step ahead. I was the only other person who said that live-in couldn’t ever be a healthy concept. Except some cases, living in lacked a certain respect a relationship demands. People feel more like commodities.

The girl next to me who looked petite and quiet like a mouse with pink gloss, had this to say, “I think living in is great. If given an ‘opportunity’ I would definitely live in.” I felt sad for this creature who wanted an opportunity to live in. Tsk tsk…

Another girl with brown hair and a weird blue bandana had nothing to say but loved interrupting everyone with “all this is crap, sab chalta hai, live-in bhi cool hai” one liner.

The GD got over and the judge asked us to wait for eternity till the results would be put up. The ‘sax’ guy turned back and announced, “Nothing personal people!”

Once out, we realized why it would take till eternity. There were now atleast 800 people lined up in front of different rooms, all giving auditions. We were seated in a hall where one girl with ‘Diwali mela’ beaded hair came and said, “You know, I am an expert in street plays, so I was very efficient in managing the GD in my batch…blah blah”

I wondered how people can talk about themselves to absolute strangers and that too for hours. Saw Raghu asking one of the production staff what to do with a particular guy who had come to audition. When told to scold him, he began his usual bashing routine with this fellow who didn’t even know what he had done! I half wished to take an auto back home, itching to begin my blog post, I was mentally so done with this whole reality show business.

Four hours later and several smses between me, Nandu and Anjali, and pecking at Divyanshi’s alu parantha wala lunch later, this cute production guy who wore chappals and had three eye brow piercings announced we could see the results.

But before that, we had to huddle up together, shout Roadies again in front of the camera…I wished I had some vodka to enact this part for MTV. Ayushman, the host announced, “Guys, we received 50,000 forms from Delhi and shortlisted you 810 people. So Congrats! But now, we will be announcing only 10 people, who will be interviewed by Raghu HIMSELF! So here is the list!”

The girl who wanted an opportunity to live in was selected. The “all this crap” girl was selected. The street play loudspeaker was selected.

Suljha hua Mrinalini wasn’t.

My new friend Divyanshi looked like she had failed her 12th boards! I tried to make her see logic, tried to tell her that 10 in 810 dint mean she was dumb or not worth it, but she refused to blink or talk or laugh. The guy who had been bashed up by Raghu in my GD room came up with a shining red Swift and asked, “Lift, anyone?”

I sang ‘Sinngh is King’ along with the fm radio in his car and got dropped till home. The only other thing I did was tell the two people (him and Divyanshi) in the car that it was ok if they weren’t Roadies. They could earn and be respected people even now.

They didn’t believe me.

And that, my dears, is life :p

Rock On concert- With a different 'Star' !

2008-10-30T23:22:00.003+05:30

I know this post should have been up long back...but excuse Piya for her never-ending troubles and constant association with misery; that leaves her umm :(.
Read on to learn what i had been upto while Mrinu, Anjali and Nandu were busy going all gaga on Farhaan Akhtar and gang.....
As much as i would have loved to attend the concert (not because I dote on Farhaan Akhtar and others- but i knew i would have a fun time with my girlies) i couldn't. Mr long distance was visiting town. After 6 months of separation and constant prattling over the phone, the sight of seeing him physically present in front of me was overwhelming. God he looked so handsome, hotter than before and the aroma of his perfume filled my senses. The star of my life and apple of my eye! Well this is the impact that "Sachcha Pyar" (taken from Mrinalini's dict) leaves on you. From the fine dining, wine-ing to the hop dance (that's the best we could manage) in a 5 star was undeniably the most romantic way to celebrate the completion of a YEAR! I knew i was head over heels this guy. With the perfect weather and a car at your disposal, the long drive accompanied with Karaoke was just so perfect.
The 2 1/2 days of his company was eternal bliss. I may sound love sick and blah blah..but give me a subtle way to pen down all that i feel.
So while my girls jumped, and screamed and shoved around, I walked the city hand in hand, glowing, blushing- in absolute peace, much content with my "present" life. Of course his departure had me sulking for sometime till..till some job interviews in his town brought the smile back- Temporarily!
I should refrain from divulging any information on this right now... but hold on I may be close to making a sane, non-impulsive decision or may be back to brooding.

Yet again

2008-10-19T00:41:00.003+05:30

So it happened again. Should I even begin to bore you with the monologue of how another guy I’m simply not interested in almost asked me out to lunch (Does the college canteen count as a luncheon date place? Yes? Do I have a yes? He was VERY persistent)? Ok so no details then. Persistent guy (also charmingly referred to as ‘Dharmender’ owing to his filmy name) who I basically SEE through like he was thin air (he is muscular and well detestable but that’s his personality). And ugh anyway, he was unrelenting, so was I. He was being thick headed, I was being thick skinned and in the end I just said a very very exasperated NO. Tell me what would you have done? If in a span of five minutes you’ve made it clear atleast three times that you would rather be elsewhere than in the present unwanted company? Wouldn’t you have just wanted to bang your head against a wall because that would be less painful than trying to explain to a moron that you’re simply not interested? (For the record, the only head banging I do is to nice music in the confines of my room where no one can see me.)

Rhetorical questions all of them and it’s all a ‘moo’ point because I’m past caring. Two very very interesting, great things have happened and I couldn’t be more thrilled! First I get to attend a really cool workshop which I had no hope of getting through so I have an interesting few weeks ahead.. And secondly, the possibilities of getting a part time job seem really good. Yee. Yoo. Woo. Gimme an W..gimme an H gimme an O..well just say Woohoo for me will you? WOOHOO!!!

(I know you didn’t Woohoo. I just do. It’s the psychic in me)

Piya and I both have maybe some prospects working out. Oomph. Cross your fingers and toes for us. I will know if you don’t. Ref: Psychic comment above.

Anjali is going through a somewhat of a rough patch (Damn the cosmos and the powers that be). But she is still her same happy, frequently sarcastic self. Although her shaydar may be beeping a bit this time around. (Trust her to attract weirdos)

Anyway, like I said, not the best time for her. Since she and pretty much everyone in her family have recently undergone a ‘series of unfortunate events.’ Let’s encourage her to give us a heads up shall we? A.N.J.A.L.I - A.N.J.A.L.I – we want to hear your storeee .

Mrinu, sweet darling has also been through a not so great time (understatement of the century) but I’m amazed at how all three of them, Piya with job woes, Anjali and Mrinu with their own set of problems; are the most grounded people I know. Sure they whine and complain but it never becomes a part of their nature. They bounce back and I know you can call it human nature, I just call it their unique strengths. Me, I go on for quite a bit about poor me and these girls are my inspiration to limit that. Thank you.

I do hope that my babbling on for quite a bit will be an inspiration to them to give updates.

Over to The Pretty Three!

P.S. – Strange Irani boy has my phone number. Took it during lunch when he randomly started chatting because he’s new in town and knows no one and is looking for a place to stay. Oh long story.

Note to self- Learn to say NO.

The concert and all the madness !

2008-10-04T12:18:00.008+05:30

Where was Piya in all of this excitement, one might wonder. And one needn’t go too far in wonderland, because darling Piya was living in one. The girl whom everyone affectionately called the ‘almost single’ one was floating on cloud no 9 with none other than Long Distance Relationship guy, henceforth to be refered to as Lover Boy- LB. So LB, the guy who initially all girlfriends were vary of made yet another foray over the high skies and came to meet his girl all the way from Bengaluru to Delhi for a three day weekend. Waah bhai. Our girl inspires such dedication. So Piya was planning dresses and matching footwear; the right perfume, accessories; places to visit, things to eat and trying to cram as much together time in the three days as was humanly possible for anyone to do. It is little wonder then that the Farhan Akhtars and the Arjun Rampals of the silver screen faded into oblivion as her Lover Boy in real life stepped into the fillum scene of her life. Let’s just excuse the girl and let her be lovesick in peace

Snort (Fat chance of that. Girlfriends meddle. Period)
It’s for everybody’s general good.

Haan toh where were the other three of The Pretty Four? Making plans it seems; coordinating times, pretending to be casual about clothes but all excited to be attending a ‘do’. You know? No? Forget it.
After much coordination, it was decided that Mrinu would pick the passes, Anjali’s friend JB would reach on her own and Nandu, Anjali and her cousin Renee would all travel together.
The road to rock concerts was never so ridden with difficulties. Silly Nandu ran errands the entire day and then went to a shady place to get a haircut. Where the guy spoke in faux English and refused to let her go without a blow-dry (“Ma’am! I kahn not let you go. Look at all da frizzes? No wayyy”).
Sigh. Girls.

The trio finally headed to the concert, obviously late but oblivious still. That is until they hit.the.worst.jam.in.the.history.of.rock.concerts. Not that there is much of a history of rock concerts in Delhi but couldn’t the cosmos side with the pretty chicas and let the journey be any easier. Add hunger, thirst and humidity to that.
But it is a testimony to the spirit of the brave little excited girls that they were still upbeat. Spraying deodorants periodically, fanning themselves and chain-using wet wipes. Anjali, the lost soul for once sprang into action and made the driver take twists and turns and alleys-never-seen-before; and viola, they beat the jam and reached!

Sounds: People cheering, faint music, guitar chords
Passes were with Mrinu.
Coordination with JB was off
And general panic at missing even one song.

So they ran. And then promptly got lost- read, lost all sense of direction. They basically circled the wrong mall almost twice before screaming at a guard-
“Citywalk, city walk ka rasta kahan hai bhayya ji??”

It was still a long way off and running on the pretty but slippery marble sidewalk was impossible. So picture this, three girls, (who looked somewhat dressed up once upon a time) BRISK WALKING amongst other shoppers, like they were contestants in a race that the rest of the world had no idea about.

From nowhere, they see Mrinu and Mrinu was with JB. No ‘Hi’s’ and ‘Hullo ji’s’ were exchanged. In perfect coordination, with silent communication, they started running. (Please note: Mrinu and Nandu were meeting JB for the first time. Introductions were somewhat lost in urgency of the situation) Holding hands, forming a five girl chain and breezing past security, they made it to what looked like the entrance. All five girls promptly took out their V.I.P passes and start waving them around. That didn’t impress anybody much. Everyone had a purple/blue/red paper that they were fanning themselves with (later they would also realize the sense in that).

Next began a time which the girls would rather not remember. Hanging onto each other began the journey towards the centre of the concert. You wish.
It was like swimming through a sea of bodies. Eyugh. Definitely not nice. Nandu hanging onto JB, Renee clutching Nandu’s t-shirt, and little Mrinu marching forward with Anjali who was trying hard not to get lost. It was major chance pe dance.

Push . Shove. Stuck. Huge, burly guys shouting, “Hey, why the pushing?” To which the girls just waved their passes and said, “We have VIP passes! Move!”

More gymnastics and ten minutes later, sweating but exhilarated the girls managed to move past security, closer to Farhan. Arjun.Purab. (Nobody cared about Luke Kenny that much, actually nobody cared at all!)

The girls made it and then they could see..
….heads
heads
and more heads.

Errr. Examine the following situations:

The stage was set. Farhan was in full singer mode, short hair but still cute, even from a distance. Purab was the darling of the lot, prancing about the stage, entertaining the audience.
But it was Arjun Rampal who was the rockstar amongst them all. Who cared whether he was air-guitaring or breaking the strings? He was wearing a white figure hugging tee..yum yum. With a vee neck that displayed ample cleavage(masculine cleavage if there is such a thing as that!) and long hair tied with a bandana… so when during a break he tried to fan his shirt for some air- someone started screaming from some corner "oh my god! he is taking his shirt off!!" Arjun Rampal is taking his shirt off!!" That moment created ripples..

Scene 1:
Renee and Nandu (to random tall stranger): Excuse me, Excuse me! How can we go further towards the stage?
Random tall (also rude) stranger: Blank stare and royal ignore
Renee: BUT WE HAVE VIP PASSESssssss! (Waving passes almost in his face)
Random tall rude stranger who was blocking their view and might have been a member of the press: Waves back passes and ignores some more.
Renee & Nandu exchanged looks, made juvenile faces at the back of the rude press man and prepared to strain their tippy toes.

Jump. Arjun. Jump. Farhan’s hair. Jump. Somebody’s ass. Jump. Huff. Jump. Guitar. JUMP.

They MIGHT also have used the rude press man’s shoulder to lever themselves. He deserved the weight. Humph!

Scene 2:
Anjali met some friends from college, general greetings are exchanged and Anjali being the darling of her class elicits such dedication that her friends, Lift.Her.Up.
Anjali hoisted by two other GIRLS precariously balanced, screaming and general center of attention for other people who thought this was more interesting than looking at heads of the general public.
Anjali: I CAN SEEEE. I CAN SEEE. PUT ME DOWN. WHAT THE….! I SAW.. I SAW FARHAN, I CAN SEE HIM.
I”VE SEEN ENOUGH!

Anjali, it seems, did see enough and also exhausted her vocal chordal energy.

Scene 3:
JB and Mrinu managed to get somewhat decent vantage points and did not have to assault their toes to see the rock stars. Random strangers start chatting with them while the two of them exchange blank and dazed looks wondering if either knew the over-friendly people.

Tall tall, lucky JB. Object of general envy.
Little Mrinu decided not to be left behind. So much effort and pointless PR for passes and this? Not acceptable at all. She took a split second decision, dumped her bag, cellphone and pass into the hands of an exhausted-by-jumping-Nandu. Renee looked vaguely puzzled and alarmed and before you could say ROCK ON, Mrinu had hoisted herself on a barrier, because she wanted to go to the other side. (Remember the grass metaphor? Greener on the other side? Yes, that’s the one applied here.)

Of course she attracted attention- boys who were amused, girls who were impressed and security guards who were plain pissed. So our girl is faced with a hefty, angry looking guard who is holding her arm to dump her back on the less green side (you know what that means). But Mrinu was on a high and refused to be daunted, so holding the very same arm of the angry and pissed security guard, she took leverage and jumped. And landed. And smiled the serene smile of victory even as the angry guard is more bemused than pissed now. Mrinu beams and although she could see only slightly better than before, the jump seemed to have invigorated her.

A few minutes later

Mrinu was deep in conversation with the security guard – yes the pissed one, who excitedly showed her the pics on his cell from previous concerts and was looking fondly at her like she was his naughty little sister. “ See, Malaika, and this one Sunny Deol” To which Mrinu innocently asked “ Aur Farhan ki photo?” To which prompt reply came “ Ho jayegi manage…koi badi baat nahi hai.”

Only if the girls also could manage to click some pictures with Farhan and Arjun…Sigh!
So while Farhan crooned and Arjun and Purab grooved, the girls (with the crowd) drooled.
Asman hai neela kyu …paani geela geela kyu …gol kyu hai zameen...
Socha hai!!

After much head banging, arm swaying, futile pushing shoving and toe scrunching minutes, the girls were happy, satisfied but exhausted and hungry. Grabbing a bite was out of the question so the five-some grabbed ice cream bars- from a vendor, way outside the mall area. And then like little children, they ate ice creams like they had been taken out on the annual picnic. Which in a way it was. The silent grins were testimony to that.
After the sumptious (NOT) ice cream feast they all cramped into the small car, one top of the other and headed home squealing and still reeling under the Rock On magic!

The calls

2008-09-29T13:07:00.004+05:30

Harbani Khurana did reply the next day. To both the girls, and it simply read, “pLEASE cALL ME” (exactly this font).

Mrinu read and exclaimed, “Ok so she has a weird way of writing”. The two girls decided to call Harbani on different times. Anjali would call her up around 11 and Mrinu would call at 12. It was planned out in great detail and the enthusiasm and excitement was similar to what school kids have about bunking school. So at 11, Mrinu literally dragged Anjali to the pantry and Anjali (reluctantly) called up Harbani.

“Hello?”

“Hello is that Harbani?”

“Yes”

“Harbani, Hi, this is Anjali. I mailed you yesterday about the Rock On concert. You asked me to call. Ummm, I was wondering if its possible for you to arrange for some passes.” Mrinu looked intently at Anjali.

“You are in print media, right?”

“Yes.”

“See as far as media coverage is concerned, we are looking at only news channels. But I could give you passes for you and friends.” (ah to the point. Nice chick!)

“How many can you arrange for?”

“Three?”

“Make that four.”

“Cool.”

“So how do I collect it?”

“From City walk.”

“Where in City walk?”

“You don’t know where is City walk?! Honey, you don’t know anything then about the city!”

“No no, I know where is City walk, I meant in the mall, where do I meet you or collect the passes from?”

“I’ll leave it in the main office. Anjali, right? I’ll leave an envelope for you. Collect it anytime before Saturday. Preferably by 5.”

“Cool, Thanks so much”

Anjali disconnected and gave a triumphant look to Mrinu. “Four passes! Got four passes! Yay!” Mrinu smiled and then did some mental calculation and said “Ok so we need 5 more passes.” Checked her watch and said “I’ll call in an hour’s time.”

So while Anjali was happy and excited about the four people she could surely take, Mrinu wondered if Harbani would catch what they were upto. As Anjali and Diva went to the canteen to get whatever Diva wanted to have (lately she has to keep having something) Mrinu could stay no longer and called up Harbani.

“Hi Harbani, Mrinalini here. You are the PR person for the Rock On concert?” (like she didn’t know)

“Hi sweety, ya I am. So basically, you write for zzzz Times?”

“I don’t intend to cover your story as I am sure you are looking at TV coverage more than print. So, how many can you dish out?” (smart taking a cue from the conversation Anjali had already had with Harbani)

“Yes yes, subah se people are calling up, I don’t even need to go out and do the PR. TV channels are themselves confirming yaar. Darling, don’t worry, I can give you 4. Cool?”

Wondering what was wrong with this Sikhni who just went on saying ‘darling darling’ in every sentence, Mrinu was confirmed in her belief that this woman would never catch the email trick they had so innocently played on her. Never mind.

4 more passes!!!

So Anjali and Mrinu set to work. By the end of the day, they had charted out all the names they would or wouldn’t want to take along. Of course Nandini and Piya were coming even though they didn’t know it themselves yet.

Meanwhile, Anjali got busy being excited and for once happy that the “Press’ tag did anything to help except get free entry in ‘Dilli Haat’ (Yes yes, all you people with the tag, you get free entry! Yipeee! More power to the media.) So she is busy calling up people, friends and family, finding potential head banging excited individuals who would like to attend he concert.
Rrrrrrrrring Rrrrrrrrring

Anjali: Nanduuuuu!
Doyouwantogototherockonconcerttomorrowevening?

Nandini: Hmm, What?! Breathe and speak!

Anjali: Do.you.want.to.go.to.the.rockonconcerttomorrow? It will be SO cool! Please come!

Nandini: Rockonconcert! What? How? You’re going? Where? Haan?

Anjali: Yaaaa! Me and Mrinu are definitely going, We’ve got free passes!!! Mrinu has this friend who has this friend and they told us that press is getting free passes so she called and I called and yak yak yak yak yak..

Out came the entire story of how it was managed and what now etc etc etc.

Nandini: Hmmm. You know dad na. Its dicey, I’ll have to ask. He anyway thinks that rock concerts are license to misbehave for most and only shady people attend! You remember how I attended the Bryan Adams concert with my sister? Papa sent with us an EMPLOYEE from his office. Bhayya ji was running with us all the way. Grrr. That’s so not happening again! But this is really cool. I haven’t even seen the movie! But Arjun Rampal, Farhan Akhtar!

A few moments of silence as both Anjali and Nandini day dream

Nandini: I’m so coming! I’ll convince him somehow. How will we come back?

Anjali: Don’t worry, I’m taking my car so you come with us. Just come!

After some negotiations with daddy dearest..

Nandini: I can come!! Yaaaaaahooooo! One more ‘cool’ thing I’ll do! Ahhh. Good music, drool-worthy guys!

Anjali: So you’re coming?!! We’ll have sooo much fun! Lets plan! So till now, its you, me, my cousin Renee, and you know JB from my college and of course Mrinu the mastermind. I asked Piya by the way, she is going on a date with Viv morrow night. So cant make it.

Nandini: Hmmm…But its so cool! An all girls gang to watch an all boys band?

Anjali: So cheesy!!! But true! And maybe one guy, Mrinu is planning to get along a friend maybe but he’ll be coming from work, lets see.

Nandini: Ooooh. Friend and all?

Anjali: Oh. Long story for another time. But I pity the guy if he does come, one amongst 6-7 of us.

To be continued....

It all started on a Wednesday morning...

2008-09-24T12:04:00.003+05:30

Mrinu entered the bay at work, managed to keep her stuff at her desk and hurried towards Anjali’s desk. Turned Anjali’s chair and almost screamed “Guess what?” Sleepy Anjali looked dazed…she was still not out of her sleep and just gave a puzzled look to her hyper friend. “What?” she managed to say. “Farhan is coming. Saturday at select City walk.”

Slowly Anjali was waking up. “You mean Farhan Akhtar?” Ok now she was completely awake. “Yes” squealed Mrinu like a child.” “The entire cast is coming. There is a concert happening. Rock on concert.”

“Concert mane?” Anjali asked. “Are they going to perform live?” Mrinu nodded emphatically. “You mean the cast will perform? Farhan Akhtar will sing?” Anjali just couldn’t digest the news while Mrinu kept nodding excitedly.

“Oh my god!! We should go!!” Anjali finally said.

Suddenly Mrinu’s expression changed from excited to disappointed to determined. She said “Local radio channels are giving passes but cant get through the number only. Let me think how to get the passes” And with that she went back to her seat.

The day started with a meeting with the Boss and pile of work got ‘unloaded’. So the thought of acquiring passes for THE concert was momentarily wiped off due to the work pressure. Anjali had already resigned herself to fate that like all other happening do’s of the city, she would have to miss this one too. But Mrinu was on a mission clearly, because post lunch she came back to Anjali’s desk animated just like morning and said “Guess what? Sambhav can make it sambhav (cheesy I know!) for us!! He can arrange for some passes! Select City walk is a client of the ad agency he is working at.”

For a moment Anjali got excited but soon realized that it will be difficult to convince dad to let her stay that late, and in any case, why would Sambhav take her along? He was Mrinu’s friend, not hers. So she unenthusiastically told Mrinu to go ahead with the plan…that is if Sambhav could acquire the passes.

At four, new developments took place. Sambhav did manage to get two passes one for him and other obviously for Mrinu but gave Mrinu an information that changed everything forever (well momentarily). He asked Mrinu to contact the PR person at Select City walk and ask for media passes. Apparently ‘they’ were giving passes in bulk to media people.

Aha!Mrinu immediately drafted a mail to Harbani Khurana, PR Executive, Select City walk from her official id (no less) and asked for passes for the media.(such undue advantage one takes of one’s company name…sigh). And like a big sister, stood on Anjali’s head and forced her to do the same. Anjali loved delaying adventures by punctuating the ideas with a lot of doubts, questions and negative ‘could be’s…“But why?,” Anjali asked in despair. “ You have already mailed her asking for passes, I don’t need to ask for more!”

Mrinu sighed and said “ You do! Think about it, more the passes, more people can come along and she may not reply to me, but to you na. So mail her.”

“But Mrinu we are not going to officially cover the event, its like doing something illegal!”

“Oh god!! With this attitutde you are never going to do anything in life. We are media people. It’s the PR’s job to keep us happy…all the time! Now be a good girl and mail!”

Anjali reluctantly mailed with Mrinu overlooking.

To be continued...

Does being happy mean being gay?

2008-08-25T14:01:00.007+05:30

My life has been going a little hectic. Between some stupid assignments at work that take up my time but don’t add to my sense of knowledge, I have no time left for anything. Life is so dreary that I save movies on the pen drive and watch them at home! Yes, tsk tsk at your leisure…

The other day, somebody told me the love I share for Anjali, Nandu, Pia and Niharika is almost gay. The way I can hold their hand and talk about something very intense, the way we just talk amongst ourselves and how people around us seem to belong to some alien land at that point of time, is all very mushy, in urbane lingo, very gay!

While I did not bother to explain my stand on this, I was forced to think…Taking myself back a few months, I realized I was in the ‘somebody’s’ place asking the same question. And after some thinking, I know now what I share with my girls…

A best friend of sorts (I say so because, this tag doesn’t go down too well with the men in my life!) who we will refer to as “Unlinking Park” (don’t ask why, it’s a touchy topic) from hereon, has a friend. A best buddy, a chad budd (translate in Hindi to get effect) by the name of “Casanova” (name again changed though the monicker is self explanatory). They both are so close, that even a person like me needs to think otherwise.

On a day out at Casanova’s place, we were all watching Star Wars the movie and generally lazing around. All cig-addicts, we finished rounds of fags with ease. So, the time came when one had to go and get some more. Funnily, when Unlinkin Park didn’t feel like going, he would vote Casanova to go get them and would recount all those times when he had run that particular errand and then vice versa. The fact that two guys almost emotionally blackmailed each other to get ciggies in the scorching sun was a little too much. Since when do men have that trait? Then I thought of Dharam paji’s suicidal scene in Sholay and knew better!

Another evening, all the guys were playing football. While I am a self declared tomboy, my guy friends preferred to give me their wallets and mobile phones instead and kept me sitting on a bench. During the game it started to rain, and the guys started to have muddy fun. And suddenly all of them started roaring with laughter because Unlinkin Park had tussled with Casanova (who already had his tees off) with the ball and had downed his jeans, revealing his Hilfiger undies. Everyone had a good laugh at the cost of poor Casanova’s almost nude state in the middle of a residential park with arc lights! But Alert alert, my mind flashed with alarm…When all of them thought it to be plain ol’ raggin and jest, somewhere could there have been a different sexual message, a gay thing going on, very subtly??

Casanova brought a date home, and Unlinkin Park was already there, burning a cd of songs from Casa’s computer without even informing him that he would be coming! Infact, he was there before them! So Casanova spent an evening (otherwise meant to be spent in a more cuddlesome with his date) talking about good ol’ days when they were kids with his best friend and a confused looking date who could not believe she had been invited to his home for this!

On Unlinkin Parkin’s birthday, at ffad, they both danced like we weren’t there. Really. Though the former is not much of a dancer, Casanova only shows his moves when the ladies are around. He doesn’t get the name just like that! So, when suddenly after 12, the only person who could drag Unlinkin Park to the floor was Casa, it was sweet and hootable, but also very very fishy.

I think I was spending hours thinking about just them! God! How lame could my life be, but well, you cant always pretend to be busy, sometimes, you have to be plain vella! And what bothered me the most was the fact that they were both very close to me. What if one was gay and the other wasn’t? What if those two decided to confide in me one fine day? What if I was imagining stuff and in reality, they were simply buddies??

On a Saturday at a pub in GK2, we all were merry and those two were as usual at it. One had been thrown out of school, and the other had soon followed. One played cricket and one played tennis. And the stories went on and on. I was deep in my vodka and thoughts…What is it that those two saw in each other?

And just as abruptly, Unlinkin Park as if in a confession box, drawled to me, “You know what Mrinalini, you are not like them. You know those girls I see in Gk? Fair skin, brown dyed hair, designer clothes, them all? They look like 10,000 clones shopping! I like you. I think I do. What do you say Casanova? You approve buddy?”

And Casanova (who is the less weirder and more smoother of the two) says, “I always told you, go for her! Always, you shy pig! You are a late latif but Mrinalini knows that. You two make a good pair!”

And while I searched for my voice to come back, to be able to digest what I’d just heard, none of them waited for me to respond, they simply hugged. One in the other’s joy!

While I wont divulge whether I agreed or not, I will tell you this. They were surely not gay. They were just in love with each other. The bond that is mushy but not romantic. Friends forever.

And while the third person (me in this case) can sometimes feel bewildered at what one sees, the truth is not for you to see all the time. Sometimes you don’t get it, but there lies the charm of the relationship…

a quick update!

2008-08-24T23:50:00.002+05:30

Impulsive decision= no job= no crappy work= a whole lot of peace!

Yes, that's how it goes. I quit that publication now recording cum production cum something company. Never imagined I would feel so relieved. The ordeal is finally over.
There's so much going on in my life that it's hard to concentrate on one thing. There's enthusiasm building up for a kick-ass job that should be round the corner; hopefully. There's excitement for catching up with family members again- ah I missed those gossip sessions with cousins and all. I can meet up with Nandu, Mrinu and Anjali whenever I feel like. Mr. distant relationship is coming next month. I'll be visiting Shirdi for a few days (absolutely deserved).
Even though life's smiling down at me, everything's not all hunky-dory. But you know for once I realize that I have no reason to crib and whine. Hence things must be fine, it's just me whose being such a cynic. Trying to find yet another issue to sulk.

Anyway besides this I have had a fairly decent month. To begin with, i had two night outs in the same week.
Night spend 1: at Nandini's place which was so much fun. She's the perfect host who keeps brining the most scrumptious of dishes (cooked by her mom) to your plate. Oh how can I forget, Nandu makes yum chocolate mousse and if you eat them with Oreo cookies--- mmm the combination is to kill for.
Though I regret dozing off at 1am, but that's typical of me, I literally do a night spend. The entire time spent was great fun.

Night spend 2: at college friend's place who wanted to go out on a Wednesday night (ladies night=free entry=free weird tasting margarita's). We were 9 people in total, some skimpily dressed, some smartly dressed, some just dressed (me). So we reach this tiny, actually very tiny pub and move towards the bar, grab the margarita's and searched for a place to sit. There was some space on this huge couch but then we decided to leave it to the grossly engrossed couple. Getting bored we decided to hatch a plan to murder the DJ. I swear I could kill him for playing that exceedingly annoying dhee-chaak beats for continuously over 2 hours. I mean dude, give me the console I'll play better. Anyway the jerk begins to play some better songs and just then a friend suggested we should go dance on the SMALL table.

Me: Are u crazy? This place is anyway so shady.

Girl (drunk on lousy margarita's): let's go it's anyway so tiny.

Me: Hmm, okay

And I like a fool go climb it, and the next second decide to get down when out of no where a glass edge cut my ankle. Within minutes it began to bleed profusely. What followed was a painful ride back to her place and then in the morning to my place.

So yea that's all from me as of now but i'm hoping within the coming week i have loads of more interesting details to post

The usual and the unusual

2008-08-23T19:38:00.006+05:30

I saw a cat eating grass. A cat.eating.grass. Like properly munching it like it was a cow in cat's clothing.
And a rat eating flowers, all in the same day. Thought I should share.

There are some updates to be received by everyone, Piya and Anjali's career related updates and generally anything from Mrinu. Where are you Mri? Haven't read anything by you in while. Tune in guys.

Certain Random updates
Listening to: Vienna by Billy Joel (It is my 'calm frazzled nerves' song. When multi tasking gets too much and when I have too much on my list, the life list y'know? - travel to Europe, backpack across Egypt, get those expensive shoes, buy an iPhone, treat parents to a long vacation etc etc, I listen to this song and take deep breaths. Works for a while, you all give a listen! Song introduction courtesy Anjali)

Reading: Time Out- Magazine! Someone please suggest some books! I'm all out of reading matter and too lazy to research. Thanks to college and the commute, I have reading time again so all suggestions welcome.

So now that I have wasted your time giving random updates of strange things and my uninteresting life (except Vienna, must listen!), I will end your misery.

Toodles!

Anjali and the shaydar

2008-08-20T00:50:00.006+05:30

Being Anjali is not easy. For starters one has to deal with shady men all the time. Its like I have an active ‘shaydar’, a priceless term given by an intelligent friend of mine. Wondering what is shaydar? Simple, its Shady Radar. So I have an active radar, which attracts only and only shady men. Its not that I don’t know nice, decent guys, but the shady proposals shine out brightly out of the rest of the proposals. But I have learnt to live with that. What I haven’t been able to deal with are the volley of questions thrown at me. Sample this: “ Hey wats up? So? Tell me any new guy in your life?”( err….they actually mean ANY guy at all) or “ How come your not dating anyone”( well, lets just say I'm strange, I know you want to put me in the museum) or “ How come a pretty girl like you is still single?”(thanks for calling me pretty but is it necessary for a pretty girl to have a boy friend?)

All the questions are accompanied with bewildered looks, and after my answer its always a sympathetic like oh-you-poor-kid. As if I have an incurable disease. But now even I have a look to answer back which usually says “yeah what to do ….life is a bitch” At times, I feel like saying “I am single because am gay and I’m scared to confess my feelings to a girl” but then I don’t. Maybe because I’m scared that people might actually believe me, I mean they anyway doubt my sexual preference.

Another thing that I don’t get are the unending jokes on me being gay. No, don’t get me wrong. I love jokes on me. I am my favourite bakra. But really, just because I have amazing girl friends and best friends who mean the world to me does not make me gay, does it? And the jokes have been stretched so far that I don’t find them funny anymore, really.

Then there is the ‘good girl’ image I seem to have created. I really don’t have issues with people thinking I’m a good girl, a ‘homely’ girl and all that (which I am), but please spare me from questions like “oh I never knew you drink?” or “You smoke??!!" at parties. Yeah right! I smoke it’s a sin and you smoke its releasing tension? This world I tell you, full of hypocrites! I remember once this guy asking me at a party- I never knew you were into smoking and drinking? You just don’t look the sort. So what exactly do the ‘smoking and drinking type’ look, I wonder. Mini skirt clad, black nail paint with a come-screw-me look? I admit, I watch too many tacky hindi movies and hence this description. But seriously, how can one ‘look’ a smoker or an alcoholic? And why is it surprising only when Anjali Roy does it? Sigh!

I am not ok with pre-conceived notions. Well, notions about me atleast. I’m also not ok with the fact that my boss calls Mrinu and me the “bong bombshells” or the fact that he addresses me in front of other office people as Angie. Its ANAJLI and not ANGIE! Does he really think that by using such ‘cool lingos’ he can connect with us? Ha! Dream on! Because when a pot bellied man with a huge bulbous nose and ugly pouty lips like him calls us Bong Bomshells, it just sounds gross. Though I have to admit that he has good taste ;-) but still….eeewww!The other day he addressed Mrinu as ‘Baby’. Mrinu almost collapsed.

I’m also not ok about the strange men in my life (I’m being polite by calling them just strange…they are more than that), or the lack of a hot ‘Brad Pitt type’ of a guy in my life (yeah I’m a dreamer!).
I’m not ok with my job.Even though I work for the biggest media house in the country, or perhaps Asia, and my job sounds very glamorous but in reality it sucks! And I’m reaching a stagnation point. I need a new job…soon!And it’s so difficult to find the job you really want to do.And the wait is frustrating.

The list is long.And believe me, when one has to deal with all these and many other stupid things in life daily, it gets to you. But what keeps me sane are the friends. As Nandu put it, all the irritating things become tolerable because of them.