Girl’s Diary:
“Dear Diary. Today was an interesting date in my life. It began with the most melodious tune, my favourite song, my secret favourite song (the one I don’t disclose to others). `Bazigaar..Oh Bazigaar`. I really enjoy this song. I feel that the special one is just around the corner. And you know what I think I found him today.
Well I will come to that later. I got up, did my usual morning routine. I went out to jog in the park, enjoyed my music, came back, had the most beautiful bath possible and then sat down for my look of the day. After pondering for a good amount of time, and after trying out a dozen hair styles, I went for the `Kate Winslet from titanic meets Kate Winslet from Finding Neverland` hairdo. I was looking so beautiful today! I am so proud of myself!
Taking this getup to college was like taking a fat guy to dance! It was such a waste of time! Anyways, I had to do what I had to do. I attended all the lectures today. Not becoz I wanted to but becoz I had to! Attendance was low and had to prep it up! But luck was in my favour, all lectures had professors whom I don’t despise. A very rare occurrence indeed!!!J. Anyways, once college was done with, another piece of good news came my way; no practicals!!!! I was so happy. Immediately I called my gang and all of us went to Mocha for a blast. Boy I was glad I decided to go there!
He was sooo cute!!! I really adore him!!!! He had the sweetest smile that can be offered!! Well he came in while we had ordered our 1st round of coffee (low fat of course). He came and sat on a table in front of me. He kept looking at me for a long time. Then finally he I think made up his mind to come and talk to me. But since the gang was there, he was a bit shy. I understood that and pushed out and went to the counter. To my liking, he followed me there!!!! He said `Hi, My name is Akaash. I am in Dr Pai’s Maths class, same as your batch` I giggled. He was just magic. I said yea and just started talking. I know I am not the kind of person who would just start talking to strangers but this guy felt right. He was sweet, cute, kind and loveable; oops did I think too much? :)
He has promised to meet me tomorrow night, Saturday night! He is taking me out to have a nice dinner. Hope he sweeps me off my feet!!! I was in his spell the entire journey home, had dinner but under his enchantment!! God, please let him be the one for me! Good night! Bye!”
Guy’s Diary:
“Hi, I had a reasonably good day. I met a hot chick at mocha while I was waiting for Romi. She was so sexy and hot. Had a bit weird hairdo, but I think that was a one off thing. She bought the class thing which I told her, gosh girls are just so easy! Well she has decided to go out with me which reminds me to cancel my plans with Romi. The guys should know about this. I would get some popularity points for sure. Akaash-The guy who is double dating!!! Now that’s Kewl! :))”
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Appraisal Time!
The situation was tensed. Everyone had gathered in the lobby waiting for their chance to go in. People were going and coming down in a hurry. Curious faces in the lobby wanting to ask the people going in and going out of the room about the status. One of the curious faces was of mine.
I was really tensed and serious about the outcome. I had been looking forward for this day from the past year now. I was especially concerned about this day from the last 2-3 months when the hard ships had increased. I was thinking if my efforts in keeping things good and comfortable for others had helped in any way. I was only hoping that the outcome should be beneficial not only to me but to everyone in my family.
I looked down the line which I originated. Everyone was pounding their fists to their hands, moving around in anticipation that my name would be called and then eventually their own. This added to my nervousness standing at the helm of the room. It was like a runner at the start line; when will the gun would be fired, the flag would be waved and he would start running towards his destination!
Finally the door opened, and the person I wished to see most came out with a smile on his face.
“Congratulations!!!! You have been promoted. From a loving husband you have now become a proud father!” The doctor gave the most blessed news I had heard this year!
I was really tensed and serious about the outcome. I had been looking forward for this day from the past year now. I was especially concerned about this day from the last 2-3 months when the hard ships had increased. I was thinking if my efforts in keeping things good and comfortable for others had helped in any way. I was only hoping that the outcome should be beneficial not only to me but to everyone in my family.
I looked down the line which I originated. Everyone was pounding their fists to their hands, moving around in anticipation that my name would be called and then eventually their own. This added to my nervousness standing at the helm of the room. It was like a runner at the start line; when will the gun would be fired, the flag would be waved and he would start running towards his destination!
Finally the door opened, and the person I wished to see most came out with a smile on his face.
“Congratulations!!!! You have been promoted. From a loving husband you have now become a proud father!” The doctor gave the most blessed news I had heard this year!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
My Angel….
This article is dedicated to the love of my life....My Angel....
All through his childhood, Sam was a loner…never mingling with people…always wanting to be by himself…I would look at him as being an independent person….whenever he used to be brought into company he used to be very witty and a sport as well…..
That was Sam, on the other hand, Romi was the coolest chick in the house!!! Acting like a typical blonde coming out of a teen movie from hollywood, she was so opposite in real life…Smart, dynamic and sharp but a controlled loud mouth….She wasn’t the apple of everyone’s eye but whenever she met a sad individual she used to cheer him/her up like Sunflowers glazing in the morning sun!
These 2 hardly interacted in school and junior college…Even harder to believe when I reveal that both of them had adjacent roll numbers throughout school and both belonged to the same group!!!! Well the trend continued in college as well and then came a time when everyone of us had a decision to make….Post 12th std, everyone wanted something different in their life….Sam was more of the techy guy, so naturally engineering was the way to go for him…whereas Romi took the most surprising decision of them all, going in for dentistry as a profession!! They last met during their farewell party that year….The exchange of words was brief and quick:
“So best of luck for your studies, heard it is very difficult na..engg?” Romi tried to make a conversation…”Yea it is…but am looking forward to it..Congrats and all the best for your choice of career, its going to be exciting for u as well” Came the prompt reply…”You always have been mysterious…I will make it a point to run into you sometime in the future” She said….”Me too”. He quietly ended the conversation…
A good 6 years pass, after degree got over, Sam joined an IT firm whereas Romi started her internship at a local dentist clinic….
“Hi I have an appointment for 10:15 am?” Sam spoke to the receptionist…”This is killing me, requesting you to please attend to quickly”..Over the years, Sam’s outlook towards interaction seemed to have changed…”Madam, a patient for u to see…he is kinda in pain” The US sentiment in the exchange evident! “Yea send him in, lets see what he has got” Came an answer from inside…Sam went inside and sat on the seat “Sammy, is that you?” Romi shouted, “Finally after 7 years we meet and the thanks for that goes to your obviously decayed tooth!!! The chances of that to happen!!” She was good and he knew it…“6 years Romi, and yes it has been a long time..by the looks of it, you haven’t changed…Dentistry or not you would always be chirpy!” Sam in his usual sedate manner… “Yea I think they made Munnabhai and looking at the way I move around my college, the mammu style was the only thing they invented themselves!!! “ Both of them smiled and then seeing each other smile, laughed aloud!! “This is the 1st time I have ever seen u laugh!!Gosh you have changed” Romi made an uncharacteristic remark!
Then it came..on the dentist chair as she was drilling into his mouth, their eyes met and Sam said “We need to catch up…can we meet for coffee sometime in this week?” Without breaking eye contact, Romi said “You know na, too much coffee is not good for your teeth?..But I never cared about such thing ever!!” Again a sync laughter followed where she almost drilled into his tongue :)
1 coffee outing turned into multiple ones, Sam and Romi used to meet, discuss life in general and then make their way home, carry on with their lives and like this 7 months passed….One day Sam couldn’t make it for their weekly coffee and requested Romi to come to dinner with him…They met at the restaurant they had planned to….Romi was looking very beautiful that night, Sam was looking like a gentleman himself….”Sam, whats the occasion today? Why did u want to meet today, we could have met tomorrow as well na” Romi inquired, curious as she was…” it’s a special day, can I explain to you the significance?” Sam replied…”Yea yea, sure”
“Romi, sometimes in life, things don’t happen for a reason, they are made to happen that way, I still remember an angel walking into my class room, her eyes as beautiful as black pearls in snow, her hair, all bunched up like a long flowing waterfall, her attitude, as if someone won a million bucks!! I was totally floored!! I followed her throughout school, noticed her, admired her whenever she was in front of me, never missed my attendance as I went up just as she did….But I was scared, scared that she might not accept me, never spoke to her, showed an uptight attitude, but still she kept coming to me…talked to me….smiled with me…For the past 6 years, I have been building up the courage, never attended reunions just becoz I didn’t want to face her till I am ready, but kept a tab on her through friends..what is she doing, how is she fairing…where has she been employed…A cavity could have been taken care of at the very beginning but I kept it to rot just so that I could find the exact clinic, to come back, to show her that in life, there are no coincidences, no destiny, just love and a desire to be with her, to go at length just to meet her again and tell her this…on the very day 18 years ago, an angel, my angel walked into my life and here I am asking her, the most important question of my life… Will you partner me in this journey called life and make it paradise?”
“Yes I will Sammy, I will”
All through his childhood, Sam was a loner…never mingling with people…always wanting to be by himself…I would look at him as being an independent person….whenever he used to be brought into company he used to be very witty and a sport as well…..
That was Sam, on the other hand, Romi was the coolest chick in the house!!! Acting like a typical blonde coming out of a teen movie from hollywood, she was so opposite in real life…Smart, dynamic and sharp but a controlled loud mouth….She wasn’t the apple of everyone’s eye but whenever she met a sad individual she used to cheer him/her up like Sunflowers glazing in the morning sun!
These 2 hardly interacted in school and junior college…Even harder to believe when I reveal that both of them had adjacent roll numbers throughout school and both belonged to the same group!!!! Well the trend continued in college as well and then came a time when everyone of us had a decision to make….Post 12th std, everyone wanted something different in their life….Sam was more of the techy guy, so naturally engineering was the way to go for him…whereas Romi took the most surprising decision of them all, going in for dentistry as a profession!! They last met during their farewell party that year….The exchange of words was brief and quick:
“So best of luck for your studies, heard it is very difficult na..engg?” Romi tried to make a conversation…”Yea it is…but am looking forward to it..Congrats and all the best for your choice of career, its going to be exciting for u as well” Came the prompt reply…”You always have been mysterious…I will make it a point to run into you sometime in the future” She said….”Me too”. He quietly ended the conversation…
A good 6 years pass, after degree got over, Sam joined an IT firm whereas Romi started her internship at a local dentist clinic….
“Hi I have an appointment for 10:15 am?” Sam spoke to the receptionist…”This is killing me, requesting you to please attend to quickly”..Over the years, Sam’s outlook towards interaction seemed to have changed…”Madam, a patient for u to see…he is kinda in pain” The US sentiment in the exchange evident! “Yea send him in, lets see what he has got” Came an answer from inside…Sam went inside and sat on the seat “Sammy, is that you?” Romi shouted, “Finally after 7 years we meet and the thanks for that goes to your obviously decayed tooth!!! The chances of that to happen!!” She was good and he knew it…“6 years Romi, and yes it has been a long time..by the looks of it, you haven’t changed…Dentistry or not you would always be chirpy!” Sam in his usual sedate manner… “Yea I think they made Munnabhai and looking at the way I move around my college, the mammu style was the only thing they invented themselves!!! “ Both of them smiled and then seeing each other smile, laughed aloud!! “This is the 1st time I have ever seen u laugh!!Gosh you have changed” Romi made an uncharacteristic remark!
Then it came..on the dentist chair as she was drilling into his mouth, their eyes met and Sam said “We need to catch up…can we meet for coffee sometime in this week?” Without breaking eye contact, Romi said “You know na, too much coffee is not good for your teeth?..But I never cared about such thing ever!!” Again a sync laughter followed where she almost drilled into his tongue :)
1 coffee outing turned into multiple ones, Sam and Romi used to meet, discuss life in general and then make their way home, carry on with their lives and like this 7 months passed….One day Sam couldn’t make it for their weekly coffee and requested Romi to come to dinner with him…They met at the restaurant they had planned to….Romi was looking very beautiful that night, Sam was looking like a gentleman himself….”Sam, whats the occasion today? Why did u want to meet today, we could have met tomorrow as well na” Romi inquired, curious as she was…” it’s a special day, can I explain to you the significance?” Sam replied…”Yea yea, sure”
“Romi, sometimes in life, things don’t happen for a reason, they are made to happen that way, I still remember an angel walking into my class room, her eyes as beautiful as black pearls in snow, her hair, all bunched up like a long flowing waterfall, her attitude, as if someone won a million bucks!! I was totally floored!! I followed her throughout school, noticed her, admired her whenever she was in front of me, never missed my attendance as I went up just as she did….But I was scared, scared that she might not accept me, never spoke to her, showed an uptight attitude, but still she kept coming to me…talked to me….smiled with me…For the past 6 years, I have been building up the courage, never attended reunions just becoz I didn’t want to face her till I am ready, but kept a tab on her through friends..what is she doing, how is she fairing…where has she been employed…A cavity could have been taken care of at the very beginning but I kept it to rot just so that I could find the exact clinic, to come back, to show her that in life, there are no coincidences, no destiny, just love and a desire to be with her, to go at length just to meet her again and tell her this…on the very day 18 years ago, an angel, my angel walked into my life and here I am asking her, the most important question of my life… Will you partner me in this journey called life and make it paradise?”
“Yes I will Sammy, I will”
Friday, February 8, 2008
Need Change?
It was salary day….smiles all around….everyone checking their bank accounts and seeing a pleasant sight….a lot of cash in their kitty…like small kids eagerly awaiting to open their piggy bank, they all dream of withdrawing cash, hard cash…make their pockets heavy again so that they can party….again. With such ambitions I too made my way to the ATM counter….i had a host of things I needed to do with my withdrawal…”ahh, finally all my debts settled today!!!”….I went to the ATM machine…as expected, there were around 7-10 people in line for withdrawal…I was expecting this…and had brought my cell phone along for some gaming…..
After around 15 mins my chance finally came to get the dough…..during the course of these 15 mins, I saw a lot of happy faces…faces which reminded me of cats when they have had a lot of milk and are ready to go into the sun for a nice warm sleep….at ease....I entered the room and came out happy…I had a rocking 5K in my pocket (I had a lot of debts to settle this month) and had a lot of places I could spend it….
A day passed, and I revisited my wallet and was shocked to see the sight…a very gruesome one, total devastation…I had only 500 rupees!!! And the worst thing was…it was only a single 500 rupee note!!!! I was terrified…Getting a change is a mammoth task in a city like Mumbai!! But I kept my cool…it was snacks time so I went downstairs to canteen where I knew the owner would give me the change I most desperately needed..and I got it 4 cool 100 rupee notes and the change for the rest….it was so easy…….for now…
Next morning, I had to goto office, so I set out on my mission…got onto a bus…and was busy humming the songs thrown out by my radio….the conductor came and asked for hafta (read bus fare)..i checked my wallet to find that there were four 100 rupee notes waiting to be pulled out…I pulled out one and gave it to the conductor….An expression which would make a monkey (not used racially here) smile and giggle came on the face of the conductor…. “Chutta nahi hai kya?” (I don’t have change) came the thunderous voice (along with some spots of spits) on me….I gave a classic clueless look to which he said “tu logon ko chute paise rakhne mein kya jata hai” (what will happen for u to keep change?)…with a lot of arguing, he finally gave me a change to the 1st of four hundred rupees….
Weekend came and so did the next peril….how to get a change from an autorickshaw for my 2nd black pearl!!! The drivers never seem to carry any change….everytime it is a new excuse…”today I didn’t get any fare”…”just now I gave all my changes to that person” etc etc…u name it and they have the excuse…anyways so here I was with a 100 rupee note in my hand going around asking for change…I asked the paan bidi shop guy, a barber, cobbler, coffee shop, general stores…u name it, I asked it!!! Finally when I achieved the distinction of being a begger with 100 rupee note, I got the change I needed…came another very convenient mistake..”I don’t have even coin change”..so finally I had to donate 4 extra rupees to the rickshaw who left with a end to end smile on his face…
I kept on repeating my mistakes, after a few days, i bought the most expensive chewing gum I could ever….from a general stores, I got a chewing gum and popped it into my mouth and as I checked my wallet, horror struck!! No change to pay for the gum!! The shop owner, lazy as he was, gave a look which can easily give our angry politicians a run for their money and screamed “2 rupee ke chewing gum ke liye 100 rupee nikalte ho!!!” I tried a lot, argued, even offered to carefully package the chewing gum back and give it to him but he was adamant…he had a sole purpose in life…he desperately wanted to earn that 2 rupees and also didn’t want to fork out the change for the 100…
Finally since I was in a hurry to reach office, I had to give in and had to buy a stuff worth 37 rupees so as to get change I wanted….Finally when I reached office, I had a surprise! Something which I had forgotten…I forgot that my friend had borrowed 400 rupees from me and he was waiting to give it back!!! I got very excited and happy and removed my wallet…at the back of mind I made a promise to myself…to ensure I have change as I have in my pocket right now….Thats when I landed back at square 1!!! My friend gave me a 500 rupee note, took the hundred rupee note from my wallet and ran off to catch his bus….
Broadband…..Anyone!
All my life I was a humble follower of the dial up internet service which was provided by our govt affiliated firms…never in my school and college life did I feel the need for speed…A download rate of 3.5-4KBps was enough for me….This internet access I carried forward into my office life also where I got 1st hand exposure to the fast pace evolution of broadband…..Ah! the speed, the quick downloads, no more click-and-get-a-coffee-till-site-opens funda! I finally had a desire….a desire to promote my home internet use from dial up to broadband…
So my search began, I found that we had a variety of ways to get an efficient and affordable broadband connection. My searches were very intense and took around a month to zero down to the more reliable ISPs in the market….While my research was going on, I found a new ray of home….I came to know that there is a ISP in UK who provides broadband at home in 5 working days with installation completing in 3 days itself!!! My hope was magnified…I made plans….Since this is India and we are 3 times slower than other developed nation, I assumed that once ordered, broadband would be gracing my desktop in max 15 days!!!
I called up a number of ISPs for enquiring the amount of time it would take to get me on the information superhighway at a speed of a harley! But the fun was about to begin…
Each ISP wanted to do a “feasibility study” about providing me with a broadband connection…..I provided them with all the details that could help them in this RnD they wanted to do…The address was explained in such detail that that even a blind man would have been able to turn up at my house without any help..The address details had everything, right from BEST stop to the local paan wala and banana seller (including physical description)
However, the fun was about to start….each and every ISP person told me that the “in-depth” feasibility study would take atleast 15-21 days to complete and provided me with a reference number on which I had to call back on after some days!
I saw my dreams crash as my old Pentium 1 did…in a puff of smoke….My assumptions were thrown out an English window!!! I was dishearten….and I searched even more for getting the best and quickest internet connection…
Anyways, all ISPs took their own sweet time and the results of the feasibility were finally out….after a month for all….I failed the test miserably…My house seem to reside in an alien location…something like Area 51! No one knew where I resided…and if they did manage to trace the presence of my locality, they didn’t have the means to provide me with a broadband connection…I was depressed again…but then I saw an ad in the paper which gave me hope….”Briband” yes that’s what I want to have!!! Oh my god, why didn’t I think about this before!! It was always right in front of my eyes and I never noticed!!
“HELLO” Someone screamed into the phone…
”I am interested in Briband for my house”…
”Yes Yes, everyone is” came a crisp and delightful (NOT) reply…”Exchange ka naam toh bolo” (tell me exchange name)…
”Andheri”…
”Kaunse number be chahiyeeeeeee”(which number do you want it?”…
”123445678”…
”thik hai, time lagega, 2 mahine baad phone karma tab pata chalega ki kitna time lagega!” (Call after 2 months to know the amount of time taken)…and before I could respond, the phone came down at a speed which would have put Neo to shame….
2 months went by…I called again…
”hello kya chahiye” (what do you want)…Felt as if I called some second hand shop vendor…
”I had requested for broadband 2 months from andheri exchange” ….
”hahahahahahaha, aare yahape log 6 months se wait kar rahe hai..unka number nahi
laga..aapka toh time hai” (ppl are waiting here for 6 months, ur still in line)…CLUNK!
The phone came down but this time from me!! I cursed the location where I was residing….Then I took the decision which I didn’t want to…
Cable operator is the best…”broadband” connection in 2 hours at a cost very small service time and outages at the time when most unwanted!! And guess what….8.5 months have gone and I still call up “Briband” with a hope….”Mera Number kab aayega”!!!
So my search began, I found that we had a variety of ways to get an efficient and affordable broadband connection. My searches were very intense and took around a month to zero down to the more reliable ISPs in the market….While my research was going on, I found a new ray of home….I came to know that there is a ISP in UK who provides broadband at home in 5 working days with installation completing in 3 days itself!!! My hope was magnified…I made plans….Since this is India and we are 3 times slower than other developed nation, I assumed that once ordered, broadband would be gracing my desktop in max 15 days!!!
I called up a number of ISPs for enquiring the amount of time it would take to get me on the information superhighway at a speed of a harley! But the fun was about to begin…
Each ISP wanted to do a “feasibility study” about providing me with a broadband connection…..I provided them with all the details that could help them in this RnD they wanted to do…The address was explained in such detail that that even a blind man would have been able to turn up at my house without any help..The address details had everything, right from BEST stop to the local paan wala and banana seller (including physical description)
However, the fun was about to start….each and every ISP person told me that the “in-depth” feasibility study would take atleast 15-21 days to complete and provided me with a reference number on which I had to call back on after some days!
I saw my dreams crash as my old Pentium 1 did…in a puff of smoke….My assumptions were thrown out an English window!!! I was dishearten….and I searched even more for getting the best and quickest internet connection…
Anyways, all ISPs took their own sweet time and the results of the feasibility were finally out….after a month for all….I failed the test miserably…My house seem to reside in an alien location…something like Area 51! No one knew where I resided…and if they did manage to trace the presence of my locality, they didn’t have the means to provide me with a broadband connection…I was depressed again…but then I saw an ad in the paper which gave me hope….”Briband” yes that’s what I want to have!!! Oh my god, why didn’t I think about this before!! It was always right in front of my eyes and I never noticed!!
“HELLO” Someone screamed into the phone…
”I am interested in Briband for my house”…
”Yes Yes, everyone is” came a crisp and delightful (NOT) reply…”Exchange ka naam toh bolo” (tell me exchange name)…
”Andheri”…
”Kaunse number be chahiyeeeeeee”(which number do you want it?”…
”123445678”…
”thik hai, time lagega, 2 mahine baad phone karma tab pata chalega ki kitna time lagega!” (Call after 2 months to know the amount of time taken)…and before I could respond, the phone came down at a speed which would have put Neo to shame….
2 months went by…I called again…
”hello kya chahiye” (what do you want)…Felt as if I called some second hand shop vendor…
”I had requested for broadband 2 months from andheri exchange” ….
”hahahahahahaha, aare yahape log 6 months se wait kar rahe hai..unka number nahi
laga..aapka toh time hai” (ppl are waiting here for 6 months, ur still in line)…CLUNK!
The phone came down but this time from me!! I cursed the location where I was residing….Then I took the decision which I didn’t want to…
Cable operator is the best…”broadband” connection in 2 hours at a cost very small service time and outages at the time when most unwanted!! And guess what….8.5 months have gone and I still call up “Briband” with a hope….”Mera Number kab aayega”!!!
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