Death, so close

Nobody asks a bencher how his weekend was! So sad.. :( During the project, me and my teammates would enquire regularly about each-other’s whereabouts.. Today, it’s another Monday, but nobody near..

Listen,

We Friends were going shopping.. Waiting at the crossroads for the heavy traffic to subside.. One Tall, Fat lady next to me, accompanied with her equally Tall, Fat daughter.. They started crossing, and so did we.. But one thing did not seem to stop.. I saw THE BIG, GREEN, LOCAL CITY BUS approaching us from the right.. The ladies panicked, did not seem to move – according to me, they should have ran for their life! – But they did not! – It seemed like a pretty long moment – "Crazy people, RUN!" – I found a little space towards my left, and ran ahead, crossing the road, and my friend ran backwards.. Finding myself and my friend "intact and safe" was a relief – I had both my hands and feet, everything was just as it was when I was on the other side of the road. But these ladies were screaming at the driver! Crazy people, "Shout at yourself". I just realized that I would have died! Even though we continued with our work, My heart was in my mouth – for 15 minutes. Awe! Wonder! Laughter!

A hug that made the difference..

I come to office today and read this line in a forwarded email: A hug is the shortest distance between friends.
Then as memory recalls: We were completing this company training and getting our postings to different locations.. Some guys from the other streams got their posting a month before us.. One of my good friends was among them.. He was the first to receive the black tag, which was kind-off an achievement for every trainee.. I was very happy for him.. felt like hugging him so tight at that time, but had to control those feelings :( That hug, missed that day, has maintained the distance between us till date!

when my bus breaks down at midnight

me: Juhi,

u free or busy?

i'll tell a story

Juhi: ya tell...

me: i planned for a week long holiday

there was only one seat left in only one good volvo bus... which we usually take... i booked it....

all others went by state transport

and.. my bus breaks down at the starting point itself

at midnite they tell us, they cant repair it!!!

Juhi: hehehhhe

:-)

me: n i'm in sleepy mode

i come out.. only to see him returning the ticket amount to all passengers

wt could i have done?

Juhi: wat???

Juhi: wat u did then re

u got bus later or no

me: no bus

Juhi: then wat

???????????????

me: talked to a young lady.. asking wt was happening

Juhi: how u came then

me: she was with her hubby...

they were planning to book an innova.... along with 3 other youngsters... all planning to go to goa

she said i cud join them

Juhi: ohhhhh....

then u came with them??

me: and i said ok........ wtever the cost may be :P

taking such decisions in sleep was far easier

:)

Juhi: then

me: then i came with them

Juhi: hmmmm....

me: hehee..

Juhi: great journey.... memorable one na....

me: donno how i decided this.. since i did not know any one of them..

ya memorable

:)

Juhi: ya....

actually risky na

me: add to it... we got a sleepy driver who was so slow...

Juhi: the people where good so ok

me: this was a bigger risk :P which we got to know only after a lil bit of travel.

i introduced a lil bit of bgm to them ;-) feels like an ambassador now ;-)

Juhi: hehehe :D

Juhi: otherwise it would be a very very very very very wrong decision...

me: ya.. they were like me only.. so ok :)

but.. only other option was to go back home

n next day.. bus wud be full again... + match!!!

wt wud i do alone at home

my happy holiday wud go tie tie fish

at start oly :P

Juhi: hmmmm... but next time onward dont do like this....

ok

me: hmm.. :)

hopefully

Juhi: no make it sure....

b'coz its too risky....

anyways u r home now... so enjoy...

:-)

saw the match or no??

me: yea

HEY... i called up dad tht time only.. and told.. wt i was doing.

he knew it all.

Juhi: hmmm

hehehe.... did one work right....

me: the group was nice

Juhi: :-)

good

me: hmm.. lucky

Juhi: ya very lucky...

me: hehee

all such deadly things happen to me... and i jus sail through them swiftly, knowing nothing, jus observing.. :P

Juhi: hehehhehehe :-) :D

daring baaz gal :D

me: lol, no re.. normally i keep myself very safe... doin all such faltugiri like... coming home early, booking tickets in advance...

and i see others NOT doin this...... but i only get into such hell like situations :P

Juhi: but it is not all the time na...

some times...

me: ya

Dawn of 2011 wishes..

For me, a few of these 2011 wishes have been blooming from quiet some time, a few were being wished for ever since the end of Jan 2010 itself :P
Being posted to Hyd in mid Jan 2010, a place with countable known faces, led to a million questions like ‘why here, why me’ along with a million wishes for change, most of them being changing for something that looked attractive, easy going life with friends and familiarities around. But 2010 has sure showed me some real life. So, it’s all started now… my life’s reality show has begun.. or I have started seeing it now! Whatever!
"Time changes the way we look at things". True. Now I love life at office. But not weekends. They’r most often, boring!
Have had some real good times. Have showed around the city to many. Had some real adventures. Good fun. Seen some Thrilling life scenes, some scary ones too. Met strange types of people. Hated lots of things. Got angry more than ever before, and sad too. Still.. "Learning by living".. the process is going on..
Just feeling a lil settled over here, and then, There.. Something’s up! And I am in a fix. No clue as to what to do.
Discussions!
Sleeping on the problem!
Thinking how to act!
This is how m tackling it :P I hate it. And then I really act. So "Hatred, in disguise, is good". Now that’s my own quote ok!
There are lots of issues around.. So, already I’ve lots of work for 2011. Professionally, personally, socially, Hush! All this - I only have to do! A busy life! Well, that was one of my wishes last year – It works! :)
Wishing everyone fruitful 2011 wishes for the coming year.. Cheers! :)

nostalgia

It isn't the first time i'm leaving home for work, but somehow I don't want to go.

I came across an auntie in the city today, who recognized me easily, while I just kept wondering who she could be. Had met her about 6-7 yrs ago. When she asked me what I was up to these days, I replied saying, "I'm studying engineering. Oops, no no auntie, i've finished engineering, now working"

hush.. I need to get back to work, leaving tonight. :'(

Haunted by boredom.

I'm bored to the core.. donno from where it all came, but it's with me today.. ALL DAY!
GTH man, jus get out. But its not going. This morning, I woke up with a heavy head, did something for 2 mins, n went back to sleep. Then woke up again after a lil less than an hour, started getting ready to go to office. Everything moved slowly, I din progress a bit.
Kya yaar... pata nahi wts going on!
I'm not working the least bit. Got late to office, Talked to my best fren on the way, continued, n then reached finally reached my cubicle. Trying to read some scripts since morning, but in vain. Then I decided to pass some time until evening, put on my ear phones, n without my knowledge I started humming 'more than a friend'. My lead, n a colleague, sitting in the neighouring left n right cubes stood at once gesturing me to soften down. I was so embarressed..that too deeply! ummmmmmm! I jus pulled out my ear plugs, tried to hide my face. OMG!
*(&X(%X^Z** ........ dinno wt to do!
Jus then I got a ping for a team discussion. Right timing, we were all distracted from my topic.
Chalo, that was good enough to get me out of the embarressed mood.
btw: small boss jus peeped in, and he has told me the next time post, write 'My lead is handsome' and I won’t do tht :P

look at him

If you are NOT IN INFY, u gotta be in some neat n clean place ABROAD. Well, that’s the trend these days, I see. I say this because, their albums in picasa or elsewhere, unless it is a friend’s or relative’s wedding, contain pics taken at some nice, neat n clean location. I can only relate this to INFOSYS, because of the long hours I have to spend here. I see lush green lawns, beautifully architecture buildings, n people, sometimes lots, sometimes few, but nothing new! Well well well, there is one new person I happen to come across in lifts, at the coffee pantry - a lil often in the last few days. :) he’s smart, handsome, n his height is also appropriate ;-) and.. he roams alone! :) But he’s got a ring on his ring finger, right hand. Well, does that mean he’s already hooked up?

I don wanna fade away

home again!!! :) yup, m back home.. away from my co, away from my current workplace, away from that beautiful yet not-very-appealing dreamworld.
Yes, when I joined my campus-placed-company, it literally looked like I was picked up from home and thrown into a dreamworld. Everything in the campus looked so neat n tidy, with beautifully architected buildings, lush green lawns, a poky-dome-shaped-multiplex, quite luxurious hostel rooms, hmmmm :) it was just WOW!
Mom was the happiest, and I was indeed very glad that she saw this.. The Beautiful Infosys Campus @ Mysore.. because of me ;) ;) ;) lol.

Then they allocated me a pc, scheduled all my days for 4 hectic months which they call "training", loaded me with springs of god-knows-what modules, do-or-die tests, and heaped compre(s).. (I barely managed to keep the nights, and my Sundays/Holidays to myself)..

In the process, I forgot myself, rather found a new self, missed my gang of friends, made some new, met weird people, acted weird at times, observed their reactions, talked so much less, and Lots on the phone (hehe, they call me "infy BPO"), Lost touch with most things I used to be busy with, Lost my interests, adapted some others. Attended my Best Friend's Wedding, and missed another!
Life looks different now, hopefully I don't differ from myself.

Oh ya, m learning to take leave, and it's so much fun! You go running home, all excited, while your colleagues drag themselves to the workplace, hehe.. ;)

Shopped heavily this week, and there's still to shop for quiet a few..
Have to save now, for there could arise a need, totally new!!

An sms from my friend says, "Wassup? Enjoying lots, right?"
I'm replying, "M just relaxing at home right now.. Catching up with one of the things I love.. writing :)"

Curry leaves

All my classmates gathered for a class photo @ the lib entrance. Then, our valedictory_function()-cum-official_farewell began… It began..with an invocation song. The hostesses uttered some not-so-famous quotes appropriate for the closing ceremony of the dept association. Our staff coordinator listed out the activities of least interest carried out during the year. Princi spoke for more than 20 mins. He loves to speak. That even makes the function long enough to be noticed. The already known winners received their (kind-off) delayed certificates. A few clapped and got bored. Few others clapped just to have the fun of hearing the clapping sound. Few “prejudiced” awards were given to selected outgoing students. Literally, everyone was bugged up. Sitting like dummies, without the power to raise a voice (neither in protest nor praise…) but I was busy. Busy wondering whether what I had prepared to speak as feedback would be appropriate. Should I or should I not say what I wanted to say?

I wanted to speak. I wanted and this was a moment long awaited – 2yrs! And so I went up the stage n spoke, just because of those few good people whom we appreciate in the dept. I was shivering (a bit) wondering how it’d be. And it was fun! Absolute fun and I can happily say, it was the best part of the function that day! Big shouts for those who deserved, as I took their names, and chilled silence for those who didn’t. We all were happy. Some grateful. Everyone appreciated and I was satisfied. And..for that one day, princi knew me :P

It was like a different refreshing flavour..like the one produced by adding curry leaves to the garnish! :) lovely!

Excerpts from mobile dairy:

21st May 2009 (evening):
With an incomplete project in one hand and clothing for 3 days in another, we students are being taken- for a proj competition. lol... looks like d dept is making up for all its tortures in d past semesters by taking us for a compulsory picnic :)

We’r on our way to Hassan. After all d hotch-potch at home, of attempting to study for ia n not attending it, instead being taken on this trip, n hurriedly completing some parts of the project while learning a lot of new things so quickly, n now d cool ride.. feels gr8!
Things are turning out to be exactly opposite.. had thought it’d be very hot, but it rained all night..n d lone driver had a tough time. Its 24 hrs since he woke up, n 13 hrs since he started driving. Journeys like these keep me awake these days.. though I dozed off a few times with d sound of d heavy downpour last night. And since 6am d scenes outside have been eye cooling. We even took a wrong route with a lake on one side n a railway track on another, n came back, but it was d most beautiful route till now. Most wrong routes are often d most beautiful n adventurous ones, n I love them :) They’ll come for a very short time but leave behind memories for a lifetime. Later today will be reg n resting day. Will update later :) chao! Gudde!

22nd May 2009 (night):
Had a tiring day…along with d enjoyment of being with classmates.. Its fun to stay together like this…like, in a hostel…for a short time! Learn co-ordination… jus for those 2 days…while d thought might remain for abt a week :P Doing daily daily chores together scares off laziness coz otherwise u are sure of not getting a bathroom…in time, now warm water, or, not even plain water for that matter. Oops, need to wake up early tomo for this.. but m planning to be at leasure. For a change, hanji is seeming calm. It’s midnight n everyone is sleeping. They even seemed to be sleeping during d journey! M still here(awake), though I was awake in the bus too. But now I can see 2 mobiles, n even d words m typing are looking double! Guess I need rest :) good night.

23rd May 2009 (night):
I wanna go home!

24th May 2009: (nothing written in mobile diary.. I was jus happy, I’d be going home.. hehehe. And sir took us for a 1 hr tour to halebidu :) this was good, compulsory picnic from d dept :)

It pricks sometimes..

Achievements.. we get them, and then comes the celebration part. We think of everyone who could share that joy with us. First come the people immediately beside us at the time we hear that delightful news, then come our family n friends, with whom we share the laughter, fun, excitement, thrill.. jumping around, spreading smiles with twinkling eyes.. We immediately message the ones far away and they reply so instantly that we don’t have enough time to hold all those moments together.. we laugh and laugh, for few minutes with each one, on every call.

And then we think of our colleagues, our teachers.. but little do we know at that moment how little they’ll get involved in that joy. We excitedly go ahead the next day.. to meet them.. and share with them.. that joy for which we had waited for so long.. and finally when we meet them, nothing much happens! Nothing but an expression of outward “wow” or “oh, that’s good” and a plain dry smile:! And my happy balloon, which had reached the moon, starts to leave the air out from a tiny hole sometimes, and sometimes from a big one.

Then I think of things that matter most, things that happened way back at home, things that added so much joy to that achievement few hours ago, and things that now prick my balloon of joy! For here, there’ll always be better people, with better grades than me. People who’ll compare our grades, and people who’ll not even bother to ask.. I suddenly become invisible to them in the presence of my mates with better grades. That’s when it pricks. But I don’t bother, for I remember my little happy community of happy “frenz” with whom I’ve shared that bundle of joy already.. and a few more whom I now meet. Then I patch up the hole and blow the balloon again. And then it flies constantly, without interruption, there.. high up in the air.. :)

Re-Union

Many re-unions happening around here.. I found them to be of three types – 1. A school/college re-union where all batches meet, and u can see lots of faces, most of which will be unknown, and you’ll end up hanging around with your chosen group of few with whom you had decided to attend that re-union! Lol, So what difference did you make by attending it?

2. A class-re-union where the entire or most of your classmates meet-up and you spend some good time meeting people, recollecting forgotten faces and enjoying with them and finally getting re-connected with contact numbers, work/home addresses, etc including the discussion.. Are you on orkut? Kool, I’ll add you there. Or the lazier ones might say Add me! Anyways, fewer the better.

Meeting people after a long time is usually surprising, when they come along with their kids (a 6yr old, and another 2 ;) lol, that's when they leave you speechless, if it's too much for you to digest. That's not the case with my friends, not as yet.

And 3. Your group-re-union of intimate friends with whom you are always in contact and still wait excitedly to meet them and finally when you see them in front of you, happy eyes shed tears of joy (if not at the beginning at least at the end! ;) When with them you forget about time, and you just can’t stop talking even though you had talked the last night, or you talk nothing but still enjoy the silent conversation. Then, life simply seems worth living :)

Neat Untidy

My city is neatly lit up like as if in celebration of a wedding of some royal personality. All buildings and pathways along with the dividers of the roads shine with glowing bulbs using the same electricity that was saved by real long hours of power-cut throughout the city, leave alone the extension and rural areas. And mind you, we bared it for weeks while our electricity producers sold it to the neighbouring states. All the current decoration is just an outward show of marking the presence of our very own elected state cabinet in the city. They are here for a week to participate in the sessions of the legislative council. They are the ones who are supposed to take care of us – voters and local residents.

So how do we cast our vote? – On the basis of our voter ID cards. Last month there was a call for the required photographs of those who did not have their voter ID's. I was among one of them. My name was in the list already, but the member in-charge couldn't find it. I knew my name had to bein the list because during the last elections I had used my college ID and voted. Now am not so insane to imagine doing such a serious thing and claim it to be real. But the in-charge smiled at me (must have laughed in his heart) and gave me a new form to fill – form-no-6, so that they could add my name to the voter's list. God! Who will listen to this kid I thought after wasteful persuasion, took that form-no-6 and left. The next day I took my dad along, who found my name jumbled up in some other residential ward's list. Then they quietly took my photograph for the same. If it wasn't for my dad, I would have filled up the form again to see my name appear twice in the voter's list in the next elections. No wonder there's so much of invalidity with voter lists in our country. Regarding incorrect information I remember there was a priest having a beard (even in his voter ID photograph) whose gender was termed female in the same card. Funny mistakes, is all I can say. And today what are they doing with the ongoing sessions in our city? – enjoying the facilities and the attention provided, moving around the city during session hours, causing traffic diversions and trouble to local public.

Though, I must mention the notable improvement in the attitude of policemen especially the traffic police, who are on their toes - day and night. The usual roads with potholes are now looking better than never before, with radium lights and well directed markings. All government offices are working 24 hours a day. The poor villages display painted walls of all houses (even painted taps) in one single uniform colour to welcome the visiting ministers with a clean look that was never seen before.

Whatever all this means, to us localites it just brings a thought, that hopefully they will discuss on some implement-able strategies for the city's development, which would make a noticeable difference in the near future. Even though we know that this neat looking city will soon turn to be untidy as before, there is always the urge to expect the unexpected.

Whom are you messaging?

“Who is that messaging you so late in the night?” Mind you, it was just a while past 11:15 pm.

Arey yaar, you just can’t stop yourself from being amused on reading a joke-sms. You tend to smile, usually alone – simply because the others around don’t know about the joke. Butterflies start fluttering in your stomach and you giggle.. by yourself, in a very controlled manner, yet displaying external signs of your amusement to the others around.

Things get worse if you just can’t read out the joke, aloud. You quickly want to share it with someone and select the ‘forward’ option and there it goes..

Within no time.. rather, at an unexpected time.. you hear mom’s voice..

“Who is that messaging you so late in the night?”

You hear.. “Who is that still awake?”

You to mom – “Chill mom! Am just forwarding, not chatting.”

You to yourself – mom! Its just past 11. Don’t expect everyone to go to sleep so early. Am the only one, ********, of that kind. The world is out there, totally awake and alive!

Just then you get a chat-sms – a comment, probably, on that joke u just forwarded. And you are in a fix of mixed emotions. Expressions dont know what to say.

Yes, your heart jumps, eager to continue the chat. But first your eyes look at mom’s whereabouts, the fingers waiting desperately to start playing on the keypad.

If the field is clear, you enjoy the singles.. else, grumble on your invisible handicap! : )

It’s always friends..!!!

Sometime back, during vacations, a house in our neighbourhood was robbed; and robbed heavily. The family had been on a week long holiday for the rarest of times. And for some reason the robbers had their selected list of items – Branded clothes, Some money left open, and Mangoes! Yes, they robbed mangoes too.. Ate a few, left the peals there and took away the rest. Indeed, they were hungry robbers! (I wonder if they took away the shoes as well.. If at all they had planned for a Feast.) No electronics were even touched! Surprising! Coz they all lay there.. open.. Only ‘they’ knew why?!!!

Rumours spread. Such a planned and dined robbery was sure to be made by some known fellas (bastards). Known fellas are called friends, right? May not be best friends, but friends.. yeah!

It’s always friends..!!!

Similarly, only a friend can betray. For, for a friend to betray someone, one must have the privileges of a friend.

That’s why.. It’s always friends..!!!

Also, you do things, things in secret, and you wish them to be secret always. But you are caught. And when you are caught, it’s got-to be either by a cop Or a friend.

It’s always friends..!!!