Upside Down!!!

• Some 70 people have been laid off in my company!!! I have been "invited" for an all india bureau meet soon. These people (who have been given the pink slip) have been given three months of salary in advance and asked to go home. God knows whats in store for me!!

:(

• The book that i am reading right now... The Japanese Wife is a real treat. Written by Kunal Basu, it transforms me into a different world. It opens up this can of desires that lie within each heart. Its beautifully written and Basu's imagination about the human relationships is out of this world. Lovely.

:)

• Gujarat's coast is under threat. Its not my concoction. India's Intelligence Bureau says so. So the security has been beefed up. (Now whatever this word - beefed up - means) Modi is crying hoarse again about Centre not doing enough. Meanwhile his government has activated whatever machinery they have to thwart a possible attack. As far as i know... some policemen... must be on the coastline, with their shoes off and feet buried in the sand... enjoying the sun, sand and breeze... Who cares about Lashkar-e-toiba sailing away right before our eyes???

:(

• One of my cousins messaged early morning. He has bought a piece of land in one of the most livable cities on this planet. And he is going to build his nest soon. Aaahhh.... i can already imagine myself on a holiday there... reading, eating, sleeping. Might add 'going on a walk' to it. And if my dear cousin is reading this... NO, I WILL NOT HELP AROUND THE HOUSE.

:)

• Q: Why havent they sent any married women to the moon? A: Because it doesnt need cleaning yet.

:(

• 'Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything except the obvious.' - Oscar Wilde (He's a darling... i love him)

:)

The Morning Chat!!!

Devam doesnt want me to write this blog!!! He has pleaded me umpteen times not to put our conversation on the blog... but believe me... chatting with him is one of the biggest 'botox' like shot that i can give to my life. I woke up at 5am today to cover the annual rath yatra in ahmedabad. I got home and when i logged onto write my script... viola... i found devam online.

The morning chat started from life's philosophy, went onto global warming, to this road trip i want to go on, to not wanting to get married, to ruining amul's life after marriage and finally goodbye. It was time for him to go to sleep in Barack Obama's land.


He has asked me not to reveal much about him. He wants to enter films with a bang... as if he came from no where... :)


But thats not possible when he has an elder sister, who not only talks too much but can also write and has an exclusive rights to a blog. Dear Devam, you are still to have your fans.... I already have them. :) I have to live upto their expectations. I know you will understand this bit.

So here are some highlights of the conversation.... enjoy!!!

Devam's New Found Philosophy

devam: all u want is everythin.. is tht a problem

well yes it is

materialism is a enemy of time..

me: ohhh ya

someone is becoming very philosophical

devam: ofcourse

me: the thing is

i feel... i have one life to live

and why cant i have everything?

devam: if u have 1 life to live

find the true meaning to it

and contribute to the world

me: ohhh ya????

devam: theres more happiness in giving then taking

me: dont u think i have given enough

devam: nope

me: why dont other people give me anything

devam: the process will only begin when ull realise the true meaning to ur existence

me: true meaning of my existence is that i work too hard for kind of salary i earn

i need to take it a little easy

put my feet up

chill my heels

smile a little more

devam: yes

me: close my eyes

devam: u can do tht

me: and relax

and even go to sleep

if i can do all this by a beach in goa.... nothing like that

devam: yup

n once u r done attaining calm

go help the world

give give give

n get the pleasure of giving

Observation: I couldnt believe it was my own brother talking. A person who can buy a shirt worth Rs 13000/- without thinking of those lakhs who go hungry to bed everynight... has suddenly transformed into this 'giver' of the world.

Devam on Global Warming

devam: wid Industrialization, r they growing more trees?

me: yes they are

u shall be surprised

devam: ok very good

me: but our highways are fantastic

thy have grown trees in between

devam: im very concerned abt global warming..

i dun care abt highways.. i travel by air

all im concerned is abt India bein greener than ever

me: ya... and waste tonnes and tonnes of fuel... and someone just said he was concerned about global warming.

what a farce u are devam

devam: arre farce shu ema.. i dun have time

i have to save time, so i can reach to more and more ppl

me: yes... talk about flying and global warming in the same sentence

hahahahha

devam: arre!!

me: u still have a lot to learn chotta aadmi

devam: Al gore is a Green Revolution ambassador

does tht mean he shud stop flying and go by car everywhere

me: no... he should cycle

devam: mebbe next time when he crosses the atlantic, he shud build a highway in order to save fuel

me: or even better... conduct online conferences and save paper and fuel

devam: yeah rite

me: well... ppl who are concerned... can do things

devam: only 13% of the world population is internet savvy

me: people who just need to talk... will definitely find excuses

devam: it doesnt work liddat

dun talk like a chhota aadmi

think in terms of gore or me

devam: its almost impossible to reach out to common man, which is y we have to reach out to ppl like u

me: yaa yayayaaa...

devam: who can in turn spread our msg

me: ya right

devam: n we'll cover the globe slowly wid help of ppl like u

me: i have no time for your crap

devam: arre ... im tryin to save planet earth

me: yayaya yaaa

where am i denying it

devam: n u r bein ignorant juss like everybody else

me: hahahaha

Devam on my road trip

devam: u cool of ur heels in goa

ill try cool my planet

me: i havent laughed so much before 10am in ages

yeah... cool devam.... cool planet

why dont u send me some money

i want to take a road trip

devam: go walking.. its free n planet freindly

me: i m not into global warming

devam: but i am .... which is y i wanna contribute in my own li'll way n not encourage something which is gonna emit dangerous gases

Sent at 10:17 AM on Wednesday

devam: be it ur road trip resulting into gas emission or be it tht table full of indian dishes tht u'll ultimatey turn into poisonous gases

me: so u want everyone to stop driving, flying and manufacturing

ohhh... that misal pau was brilliant

devam: read before consumption - misal pau

after consumption - missile pau

me: you owe me money...can i have it now please?

devam: y

me: i want to go on a road trip

devam: hahaha

now not possible

it takes time

me: why not now???

i want to go on a road trip before my wedding

alone

take wagon r

devam: u dun wanna start me again on global warming

r u goin to singapore in ur wagon r tht u need 2 lacs?

it'll be cheaper to go by air then

me: stopover at baroda, surat, mumbai, matheran, ratnagiri, sindhudurg, goa, bangalore, mysore, chennai, pondicherry and hyderabad, nagpur and bacck

devam: go by train

abbe save money for ur wedding

Devam on pursuing me to marry...

devam: before ur wedding, we acharyas we'll definitely go to a undisclosed holiday for 3-4 days

me: i dont want to get married...

devam: haha

abbe chal hawe ghar khaali kar.. bau rahi tu ghare..

now wats ur new excuse?

me: is there any need to change wagon r's colour, tyres, music system, garage, seat covers???

devam: i dunno.. i havent even seen tht car

me: same way... why do i need to change my name, residence, family, room, priorities....

devam: bcos car is a commodity and u r a person

me: but i am fine where i am

infact iam great where i am

devam: yes u r

me: why change it

devam: bcos u made the choice

we all have the choices.... ppl like d**** didi were successful daughter, professional..

but she never enjoyed the status of a successful wife or mother

or a daughter in law.. bcos they din choose to do so

they din choose to welcome new life..

uve made the choice, so stick by it and enjoy the ride

luckily u have a companion wid u on tht ride whom uve known for yrs n grown fond of

me: it sounds challenging...

infact i hate amul

he told me he would remarry the moment i died and i was out of his path

devam: haha

everybody waits for tht

me: why should i marry someone who's waiting for me to die so that he can remarry

devam: but majority of times the guy passes away before.. seein the ataychars from the so-called abla-naari

me: hahahahaha

devam: hahahaha

me: yes... i think i should marry

i want to do all the atyachaars on amul

devam: be peaceful, loving and giving

me: i will call him to get limbu and bateka

every evening

at 6pm sharp

even if he gets a kilo everyday... i will throw them away and remind him to get limbu

devam: dun throw them away

make limbu no ras

feed him

so tht gives him energy to bring some more limbus

Well... that was the end of it.... Devam finally was tired of talking to me... and called for a 'pack up'... He's off to sleep... while its time for me to check where Lord Jaganath along with his brother Baldev and sister Subhadra have reached in Ahmedabad.

Chao!!!

At Last!!!!

Imagine this: Your shift started eight hours ago... its the last hour... before you get to go home. Isnt this last hour the happiest hour of the day at work??? Thats exactly how i am feeling. I have finally proved myself as a professional (not taking leave during election, working on sundays, travelling at odd hours, working for endless hours, following more than one story everyday) and now i am taking a break. The one i truly deserve after this back breaking, nerve wrecking work that has kept me occupied since the elections were declared.

I guess even Sonia Gandhi and LK Advani have got their much needed break. Its my turn now. For a few days... i am going away. Not telling anyone right now... where i am going. I love keeping secrets... :)

But i guess a few who read this blog already know where i am going. So while i take a small (well deserved break) hope you guys revel in the fact that even if not on break the weekend is right here. I will return to work on Wednesday.... till then... its time to shun the formals and get into skirts... :)

Goodbye till then.

Here i go.... tata

P.S: Some great fun filled things that have happened in the past week

• We (at Amul's place) have this netraprabha time. Kalpana Aunty puts these Netraprabha eye drops in our eyes... to beat the heat... they burn for the first couple of minutes. So the entire household sits with their eyes closed, writhing with the burning sensation in our eyes, only to have clear and cool feeling a few minutes later. Its called 'netraprabha' bonding time. :)
• I have finally discovered after 10 years why does amul HAVE to go to mumbai every 15 days. Her name is Mallishka.
• My friends - Anu and Anuja are hell bent on sending Amul and me for a honeymoon. (We dont plan to go anywhere) They want me to listen to them FOR ONCE. They both think that honeymoon is equal to getting a marriage certificate. Well Darlings... its not compulsory in this country. Amul and I are not going anywhere. We plan to get back to work and take a break later on. But Anu and Anuja refuse to accept this. God give them sense and me the strength to put that sense into their heads.

Down, down, down...

Australian Cricket Team is out of ICC T20 World Cup 2009!!!! Yipeeee... serves them right.

Personally i love Australia. Its a young exuberant country. With awesome places to see and experience. But thats no excuse for treating Indian Students the way they are being treated right now. In India, we would say, "Ghar aayi lakshmi ko thapadd nahi maarte!!"... Perhaps, the australians dont know that. The age old instinct of committing a crime is perhaps coming to fore. Years ago... people who were convicted in Great Britain were sentenced to live in Australia. So Britain's thugs and murderers were transported to Australia. Now imagine all the bumble-jumble that must have taken place over years. Convicts married convicts, settled down somewhere, got education, started work and were living peacefully and then Indians happened.

This sudden inflow of Indian Students, working hard and making Australia their home, didnt go well down with the convincts. Now who likes to see another person becoming succesful and taking your place in the society???

I guess thats exactly what has happened in Australia. This is my conspiracy theory of everything going wrong in Australia right now. One sort of community jealous of another community. And when communities and in this case, races clash... it becomes a racial attack.

Victorian Police is calling these attacks 'opportunism'. Indian High Commission is going all high and dry over this. They have sent a delegation to Australia. (Now which bureaucrat doesnt like a free trip). Meanwhile, the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Dudd-sorry-Rudd is embarrassed. Rudd must be thinking... only if these stupid australians realised that beating up Indians will only bring our economy down... we dont need to add anything to the slow economy anyway, u duds!!! The embarrassed Rudd called up our docile Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who is least worried about the attacks in Australia.

Meanwhile the poor Indian students, true to their blood, (Mahatma Gandhi zindabad), are out with their non-violent protests. Indian media is going ga-ga about the attacks on Indian Students. The visuals are appealing and the students rally look just like they happen in India. Some people think Media is being biased. Infact one of the news report talked about "well-settled australians of indian origin" who said that how they feel that Indian Media is blowing this out of proportion. (Perhaps they fear they will be deported back to India if they say anything against Australia) Anyway, my father-in-law thinks the same. He told us the other night, that its not as bad as its being portrayed on television.

Well, lets put it in black and white. Here's how it is.

25 year old Baljinder Singh, came to Australia in 2006 from Haryana. On 25th May, at 10.15 pm, he alit at Carnegie station, a relatively wealthy Melbourne suburb where his friend stayed. He was walking towards his friend's house, when two white youth approached him and asked for money. His instincts prompted him to give them the cash he had in his wallet. But as he went to get money out his wallet (which was inside his bag), the two whites stabbed him in the stomach. On television, Baljinder said, "It happened so quickly that i didnt even know i had been knifed."

23 year old Shravan Kuman had just arrived in Melbourne. He was attending what you could call a welcome party where half the 20 guests were students from India who had just arrived in Australia. The party was on way. And two drunk white guys barged in. "They began calling us Indian Bastards and M***** F*****," says Kaushik, who was at that party that night. The Indians (like filmy heros) cajoled the abusive duo to return to their car, but then one of them began to throw jabs at an Indian. As one assailant was promptly pinned down to the ground, his companion fished out a screwdriver and lunged at Shravan. Shravan was admitted to hospital with severe skull injuries.

So now you decide, if Indian Media is blowing these racist attacks out of proportion? Its no movie. Its real life incidents, attacks. Reported by Australian Media first and then taken up by the Indian Media. Infact Indian Media didnt even have to go looking for follow up stories. Indians are being attacked on daily basis in Melbourne and in Victoria. And if its about Indian Students under fire... why wouldnt the Indian Media make it a headline???

Infact, Kevin Dudd-- sorry Rudd is extremely worried. This has caused immense negative publicity world over. Even Americans (as if they dont have enough problems of their own) are reporting this. I saw a story on CNN. BBC is obviously reporting it. The British are making the best use of this available opportunity. Who wouldnt like to share the blame of being racists with their Australian Brothers??? So the point is Dudd-i mean-Rudd is working overtime to ensure that all this negative publicity doesnt affect his country's third biggest export business of education sector. According to Outlook Magazine, Australia's education sector, is country's third largest export earner and generated Au$15.5 billion in 2008.

Well, So Mr Dudd-Rudd will soon have do something. Amitabh Bachchan has already rejected an honour from them. Some Australian Students, who were attacked in the past, have returned to India. While some of them are contemplating. I hope it doesnt get worse... Mr baby-face dudd rudd... do something... alarm bells are already ringing loud in the international community!!!

A New Post

I am glad a lot of people read my blog. Some of them write comments, some of them sms me and some of them refer to it, to tell me indirectly that they have read my blog. So one of them asked me what do i read? Well, for one, i read books. I read, finish that one, pick another one. I recently finished reading A case of exploding mangoes by Mohammad Hanif.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes has Pakistan Army and its functioning as a backdrop, as the book goes onto explain Who killed General Zia-ul-Haq? Well, before you get any ideas... its a work of fiction. But its beautifully written. Any literature graduate will remember the college days when ornate prose was so well appreciated. It has some beautiful quotes from Urdu Literature. Anyone who enjoys beautifully written prose, is curious about Pakistan and its army and loves history as a backdrop to the story will like reading the Case of Exploding Mangoes.

After A case of Exploding Mangoes, i read Exodus. Infact i had left Exodus midway as i had forgotten the book behind at Amul's place. I recently picked it up and finished reading it. Its written by Leon Uris. Exodus is one his best books and he's a great writer when it comes to writing historical fiction. Exodus is about the formation of Israel. Its about how people flocked to Israel following Hitler's actions in Europe. Its a beautiful plot with a lot of drama, historical facts thrown in with the right mixture of human emotions, which have been cultivated beautifully. Its a long read though... Its not about reading it over a trip. It takes time to read it but its one of those books that is a must read.

And when i am not reading books... i am reading magazines and newspapers. That comes as a part of the job. But i also read magazines which has nothing to do with work. I subscribe to Outlook, Readers Digest and People. I regularly pick up India Today, The Week, Outlook Business, Vogue and Outlook Traveller. :)

And sometimes i read blogs on the internet.... the ones that my friends write or forward me, sometimes i pick them up from other websites where they are recommended by someone. They are interesting and i like their writing styles. I guess writing is such a beautiful way to express yourself... to reveal your thoughts without actually saying it.... to talk to people without having to actually call them.... and just share things you would like to.

Reading and Writing are two of my best occupations. They provide this cushioning to life. They fill in the gaps. They accompany you when u are alone. They give an expression to the feelings pent up inside. They release all these thoughts that generate in my mind and above everything reading and writing are like soul sisters.... companions for life.

If you have any recommendations that you feel i will enjoy reading... please do share them with me... :)

Happy Reading!!

Dustbin!!!

I need a dustbin... not the usual cylindirical one which will welcome the rubbish and dirt that i collect and need to dispose... but i need a dustbin for my life. Metaphorical dustbin... the one which will take away all the dirt, negative things, things you dont want or need.... just to make your life clutter free....

I think after creating mothers... God must have created the dustbin. Its so useful. It actually is the only thing that accepts everything you dont want. It clears the mess and makes you feel so much better... and i really need one dustbin like this. The one that will happily house all the mess that i have generated over years... and help make my life clutter free....

I need a dustbin to throw away those bad moods... My mom who mostly bears the brunt of my bad moods would be so happy. For no reason today... i shouted at her on the phone.. just because she sent me to this chemist shop that was extremely crowded. Sorry mom!!

I want to dispose off those tyrannical rules established by NewsX. "If you dont have a day-plan, you will be marked absent"... "If dont submit this before 9am, its no good"... "Go to Modasa right now"... aaargh....

I want to throw that producer in the dustbin who gave me so much mental stress on Friday... "Who gave you the privilege of doing a story over five days... and dont tell me how much time it takes... and dont force me to escalate matters... you dont want me to do this... and dont tell me what to do..." Enough!!!! If she were on my desktop, i would hit the delete button and send her to recycle bin... and then go to recycle bin... and delete her forever.

I want to throw away this unpleasant negative emotions that come as a complimentary gift when things arent right with amul. I wish i could just gather all scattered negative emotions 'ohhh he is damn angry' (1am), 'oh... he's not going to believe me' (9am), 'he wont take my call' (11am), 'he wont see me' (3pm), 'he doesnt love me' (10pm) and 'its going to be over between us' (11pm).... collect all these... smash them under my feet and yup, you guessed it right... aim right for this dustbin.

At this point in time, my only want from life, is a dustbin.... metophorical one or perhaps the robotic one... which will obey my commands or perhaps just look at me in eyes and figure out whats wrong and deal with it. Who will scan all the viruses in my life... offer to deal with them... and on my command... in a few minutes of processing... all the mess will be cleared. swooshhhh!!!!